Bangladesh riots close in on India's president during visit

Samanth Subramanian and Suryatapa Bhattacharya

A fire fighter sprays water inside the burnt
compartment of a train at Kamlapur Railway
Station in Dhaka on Monday. Andrew Biraj / Reuters

NEW DELHI // A petrol bomb exploded outside the hotel where India's president was staying in Bangladesh yesterday as more protesters died in a wave of violence sparked by the government's prosecution of local Islamist leaders.

There were no reports of injuries in the explosion in Dhaka, which was the latest incident to mar Pranab Mukerjee's state visit that began Sunday. Day one of his trip coincided with the start of a two-day general strike called by political supporters of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, the vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic party, who was convicted of war crimes on January 21. At least 61 people have been killed in protests that have intensified since Sayedee was sentenced to death last week.

Sayedee supporters yesterday attacked government offices and police responded with bullets and tear gas. At least three people died and dozens more were injured.

Some commentators have raised concerns about the timing for Mr Mukherjee's three-day visit. An editorial in the Indian newspaper Asian Age said yesterday that "the wisdom of being welcomed during a major domestic upheaval in a host country appears questionable".

Mr Mukherjee's visit was planned months in advance and comes in the heels of the visit of India's foreign minister, Salman Khurshid, who was in Dhaka on February 16 and 17.

Ms Zia's aides said she was unable to attend the meeting because of the two-day strike in the country.

The Bangladesh government has prosecuted 10 leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami for their alleged role in the massacres and rapes, abetted by the Pakistan army, in Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Jamaat-e-Islami is an ally of the opposition Bangladesh National Party, headed by Khaleda Zia, who called for the strike.

Ms Zia was scheduled to meet Mr Mukherjee yesterday, but she called off her appointment in a move that was regarded as a diplomatic snub.

But India's foreign secretary, Ranjan Mathai, said security concerns about the strike changed Ms Zia's schedule. "We had the meeting with Begum Khaleda Zia fixed well in advance," Mr Mathai said in a statement. "The president was, in fact, looking forward to it. Our external affairs minister had met [Ms Zia] on February 17. She had also met the president in India during her visit in November."

Mr Mukherjee's visit was planned months in advance and comes in the heels of the visit of India's foreign minister, Salman Khurshid, who was in Dhaka on February 16 and 17.

The Indian president has steered clear of commenting on the protests, the worst violence in the Bangladesh since independence.

In a speech at Dhaka University yesterday, having accepted an honorary doctorate, Mr Mukherjee only remarked: "I am confident that democratic traditions in Bangladesh will grow stronger with time and that you will preserve democracy with your constant vigil."

Smriti Patnaik, a research fellow and Bangladesh specialist at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), said that India had to tread a fine line.

If India were to explicitly support Bangladesh's government and the secular forces, she said, it would "delegitimise" what the youth are fighting for.

"They need to figure out themselves about where they will head with this. India has learnt its lesson about keeping out of its neighbours' political affairs."

Mr Mukherjee has stuck to safe notes of optimism on bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh.

He referred to the agreement between the two countries to ratify their common border.

"We are committed to working closely with Bangladesh to avoid any untoward incidents on our border," Mr Mukherjee said. We can together make it a gateway of peace and mutually beneficial cooperation."

The border agreement includes a proposed land swap, in which the two countries would exchange tiny enclaves that have existed as anomalies since official borders merged between India and Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, in 1947. The Indian cabinet has already cleared the land swap, but it still requires a constitutional amendment that must be passed by two-thirds of parliament.

The 51,000 residents of these enclaves have remained effectively stateless, unable to vote in India or Bangladesh, and their welfare neglected by both governments.

India charges that Bangladeshi citizens cross illegally into its territory and has erected barbed-wire fences along the border, which Bangladesh protests.

Farooq Sobhan, a former Bangladeshi ambassador to India, said his country was "strongly in favour" of the pact being ratified as soon as possible.

"The ball really is in India's court," Mr Sobhan said in December. "You have your legislative and constitutional requirements. But over here, there's no protest. No one has raised any issues or objections."

Courtesy: The National

Raj Thackeray softens stand against NCP; slams IPL matches

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray today softened his stand against the NCP and also questioned the rationale of playing IPL cricket matches in the state, when it faces a severe drought.

Raj, who has been engaged in a war of words with NCP leaders, said he did not wish any confrontation and had merely responded to intimidating statements by NCP spokesperson Ankush Kakade, "daring" him to visit Pune. He clarified that he would not be visiting Pune as announced earlier.

"I am doing my job. I am criticising them (NCP) politically. I have no programme in Pune. I don't want confrontation (with the NCP)," he said.

Yesterday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had directed his party workers through a communique, not to be at loggerheads with the MNS, when Raj Thackeray visits Pune on March 7.

Raj also reiterated his demand that jobs in Maharashtra should be given to the sons of the soil.

"If jobs are being generated in Maharashtra, then Marathi speakers should be given the first priority," he said.

Citing the terrible drought in the state, Raj also said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches shouldn't be played in Maharashtra.

"Entertainment tax has been relaxed for IPL matches. Since the drought in the state is terrible, we expect that IPL matches shouldn't be played in Maharashtra," Raj told reporters.

In April and May, the situation is likely to worsen further in Maharashtra's drought-affected regions, he said, alluding to this year's 'Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013' season, called 'IPL 6' or 'IPL 2013', which will begin on April 3 and end on May 26.

He pointed out that NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had criticised his party minister in Maharashtra Bhaskar Jadhav after he hosted his son and daughter's wedding in an extravagant style.

"Therefore, is it appropriate to organise IPL matches in a state, when there is severe drought?" he asked.

Courtesy: The Times of India

A sin for 'em to live here?
Hindus in Noakhali, Banskhali look for answer after attack by Jamaat

Having lost everything, Nipu Sheel wails
sitting on the debris of her house that
was set ablaze by Jamaat-Shibir men at
Banshkhali in Chittagong. The religious
fanatics looted and torched houses and
temples of the Hindus in the district
on Thursday,following the death sentence
to Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee.
Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

The Hindu families having survived the onslaught from anti-liberation elements now wonder what protection they have in this country.

As the religious minorities in some remote pockets of Chittagong and Noakhali try to come to terms with Thursday's barbaric attacks on their homesteads and temples, there is no let-up in the assaults at other places including Barisal, Bagerhat and Gazipur.

Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad has demanded the government act immediately to resist communal attacks, arrest the culprits, rehabilitate the victims and rebuild the temples.

Moments after Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee received death sentence for war crimes, his party, in some cases allegedly aided by BNP supporters, struck terror in the hearts of Hindus on Thursday.

Visiting some neighbourhoods ravaged by Jamaat and its student wing Shibir, these correspondents encountered blank looks of the community members.

Passing three days under the open sky, without sleep and proper food, the families in Rajganj under Begumganj upazila of Noakhali do not know what lies ahead.

“It is our sin to live in this country being Hindu; it is our sin not to flee away,” Minoti Rani Das shouted. “We had a happy family. Now I have no shed, no food, no space to cook, no furniture. Now I have only some ashes.”

This is not only Minoti's story. Around seventy six families have been living under inhumane conditions since Thursday afternoon as the bigots ran riot after the pronouncement of Sayedee verdict.

While millions of compatriots across the country were celebrating following the verdict, some families were losing everything in the village.

Almost all the victims and some other villagers alleged that Jamaat-Shibir-BNP men were directly involved in the attacks.

At least 40 houses, six temples and several dozen shops were burnt and vandalised; valuables and furniture were looted. Police came at least one and half hours latter when it was all over.

While launching attacks, around 250 to 300 rioters were saying Sayedee was sentenced to death because of the deposition of Hindu witnesses, locals said. The number of attackers varied from spot to spot.

“Sayedee got death sentence because of you. You cannot stay in this country,” Bablu Bhuiyan, whose two houses were damaged, quoted one attacker as saying.

Gathered since around 10:00am, the fanatics were chanting slogans including Sayedee saheber kicchu hole, jolbe agun ghore ghore (fire will be set to each and every house, if something happens to Sayedee). Many were wearing masks.

Abdul Hashem, a tea-stall owner of Rajganj Bazaar, said almost all the attackers were young and he could identify at least three persons actively involved with Jamaat. Two of them run a pharmacy and a grocery at the bazaar.

Many Hindu families took shelter in nearby houses of Muslims during the attacks, said Benu Ranjan Chowdhury, whose house was burnt.

Some victims alleged that Harunur Rashid, chairman of Rajganj union parishad and general secretary of local BNP unit, played a murky role.

“Had the chairman taken immediate steps, the mayhem wouldn't have occurred in such massive scale,” said Bimol Kanti Acharjee.

However, Rashid refuted the allegations, saying, “The attack was launched by some outsiders and street urchins.”

Mohammad Alauddin, acting ameer of Noakhali district Jamaat, said, “The fans of Sayedee might have resorted to violence. Besides, a feud over land could have triggered the incidents. I've heard there was rivalry among some families.”

He denied Jamaat's complicity.

Mahbubur Rashid, Noakhali superintendent of police, said, “It is clear to us that the anti-liberation force launched the attack. Maximum punishment for perpetrators will be ensured.”

Like Rajganj, Chittagong's Banshkhali also bears marks of vandalism and arson led by Jamaat and Shibir on Thursday.

The attackers hacked to death 60-year-old Dayal Hari, said locals.

Dayal had come to see his daughter at her in-law's. As the armed bigots started the rampage, he hid at the latrine.

But they broke the door, dragged him out and hacked him. The man somehow escaped and jumped in the adjacent pond but the attackers caught him and hacked him again.

Dayal was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital where physicians declared him dead.

Sunil, another Banshkhali resident, said some one thousand attackers stormed the houses. They carried machete, sticks and other sharp weapons and used gunpowder to burn eight houses.

At least 70 people are now homeless.

Nipu Sheel did not understand why her house and cowshed were burnt to ashes on Thursday.

“They beat us and set our houses ablaze,” she said. ”We didn't understand what's was wrong. They looted our belongings. The cattle were burnt to death. We were lucky enough to have our kids saved.”

Rani Dash is one of many injured in the assaults; she suffered right arm fractures.

Sheikh Fakhruddin Chowdhury, mayor of Banshkhali Municipality, local BNP-Jamaat leaders instigated the mayhem.

In Bagerhat, some criminals set fire to Dumuria Sarbojanin Puja Mandir in Ramchandrapur union in Morelganj upazila around 1:00am yesterday.

The house of Narayan Chandra Bashu Chowdhury, president of Banagram union AL, was set afire around the same time, police said. Another house of a Hindu family was torched in Baharbula village.

Local administration imposed the section 144 banning all sorts of gathering and agitation at Failahat Bazar from 9:00am to 6:00pm yesterday as both local AL and Jamaat called programme at the spot around 2:00pm.

Unidentified people damaged eight idols of Sarbojanin Durga Mandir at Gaurnadi upazila in Barisal and idol of Saraswati at a temple near Kashimpur Bazar in Gazipur yesterday.

In Gaibandha, police arrested three Shibir activists yesterday in connection with anarchy over the last two days at Sundarganj upazila.

The Jamaat-Shibir rioters in Thursday and Friday destroyed 19 shops, six houses and two temples at Belka, Dhupni and Bangsher bazaar of the district.

The administration has deployed two platoons of BGB and one platoon reserve force of police and imposed the section 144 to avert any untoward incident.

~~Pankaj Karmakar and Nurul Amin from Noakhali and Arun Bikash Dey, from Banshkhali

Courtesy: The Daily Star

Deadly Ideology: Passed off as Religion..??!!

A new video shows what is being preached in the name of Islam. If these kinds of deadly philosophies are passed off as religion, then I fear to think, what will happen to the world in future. I therefore, urge upon, the sane persons of all the communities, to ponder over, this matter very seriously and find out a solution, so that a head-on-clash, between Muslims and Non--Muslims can be avoided. Also, let us find ways to bring an end to this deadly ideology, which is being perpetrated in the name of "Allah".

NCP raped Maharashtra for 14 years: Raj Thackeray
MNS chief Raj Thackeray renewed his scathing attack on Sharad Pawar-led NCP and accused the party of 'raping' Maharashtra for the last 14 years.

Photo, Courtesy: The Financial Express

 Renewing his attack on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray Saturday accused the Sharad Pawar-led party of "raping" Maharashtra for the past 14 years.

"The NCP is holding all the crucial departments, home, irrigation, power and roads since 14 years. But what have they done so far? The NCP has raped the state," Thackeray said at a public rally in Jalna, 452 km to the east of Mumbai, in the parched Marathwada region.

Referring to the drought which has afflicted several parts of the state, Thackeray squarely blamed the NCP and the party's Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for the current scenario.

"The drought has hit 72 percent of the state. With another three months of summer to go the situation can well be imagined. In all these years, as many as 336 irrigation projects have been left incomplete and they need Rs 12,000 crore to complete. But, what are they doing?" he asked.

He alleged that if the projects are completed, then money will stop coming from the contractors.

Thackeray said that at least four big contractors became affluent overnight and demanded a probe into their assets.

When the state is confronted with such a severe drought, there is no need to hold the IPL matches in Maharashtra, he said.

Naming certain NCP and Bharatiya Janata Party legislators and parliamentarians, Thackeray accused them of being hand-in-glove in looting the state. "Why are the BJP-Shiv Sena silent in the face of such a serious drought reeling across the state?"

Pointing out that he was accused by the NCP of using abusive language, but the suffering people of the state are abusing it (NCP) even more. "I shall not be polite towards those who have been doing otherwise (looting) the state," he declared.

Shifting to election gear, Thackeray said that now the Congress-NCP has just one and half years left. "After my government comes to power, then where will Ajit Pawar go? Let them slap any number of cases against MNS activists. After we come to power, we shall withdraw all of them (cases)," he assured.

This was Thackeray's first and keenly watched public rally after his Aurangabad rally last Tuesday when his convoy was attacked allegedly by NCP workers. Its direct fallout was MNS' retaliatory attacks on NCP offices in over a dozen parts of the state including Mumbai.

Thackeray had promised to "give a fitting reply" to the NCP at Saturday's rally and said he would now visit Pune - the Pawar family bastion March 7, followed by a tour of Vidarbha starting March 16.

Meanwhile, NCP state spokesperson Nawab Malik claimed that last week, the MNS had bought a used car for Rs 35,000 and then burnt it, according to police investigations.

"Same type stunt of stone-throwing on its leader's car by the (MNS) party workers and then blame NCP with the motive of attracting media and public attention. This is the real face of MNS," Malik said in a statement.

Courtesy: Mid-Day

Indians swear by arranged marriages

Despite the growth of social networking sites and online matrimonial sites, a majority of Indians still swear by the traditional arranged marriage, a new survey has revealed.

Around 75 percent of Indians, including 82 percent women and 68 percent, are conservative and prefer arranged marriages, according to The Taj Wedding Barometer, a survey conducted by the Taj Group of Hotels, Mumbai, which was released here Saturday.

While women prefer their parents' and family members' decisions in deciding their future life-partner, men tend to take an independent decision about their future spouse.

Compared to the national average of 74 percent, nearly 82 percent of young people in north India prefer arranged marriages.

The survey, conducted by IPSOS, in which 1,000 young people aged between 18-35 in 10 cities were interviewed, also found that both men and women prefer the first marriage proposal in private.

While 33 percent of Indians in western India preferred a straight-forward proposal without frills, 21 percent from the south (both male-female) wanted women to initiate the proposal, against the national average of 10 percent who felt men should take the first step.

However, 13 percent of all men wanted women to initiate the proposal compared to only eight percent of women who expressed the same view.

After the proposal, the engagement ceremony was the top favourite of all pre-wedding functions  followed by the "sangeet" ceremony at 81 percent and other religious functions trailing at 71 percent.

Indians have adopted western styles like bachelor parties and cocktail parties, for which the preferred venues (for bachelor parties) were 34 percent at a resort, 30 percent at a deluxe hotel and 13 percent opting for farmhouses.

Women considered bridal grooming very important, with 47 percent choosing it as an integral part for the pre-nuptial preparations.

Facials topped the grooming package at 46 percent, followed by spas and beauty treatments at 23 percent. As many as 50 percent from the south gave more importance to facials compared to 46 percent in the north and 31 percent in the west.

As for the three most important aspects of a wedding, the respondents put 73 percent (77 percent of the women and 69 percent men) for the wedding attire, 65 percent for the wedding day and the wedding feast coming at 48 percent.

South Indian and Chinese cuisine ranked the most preferred for weddings at 56 percent, and the rest preferring north Indian cuisine. A majority said they would serve five-15 dishes to their wedding invitees.

On the number of guests, 500 was the magic figure, with the ideal guest list between 50-500, though men from south India preferred 1,000 guests. On the other hand, women from the north and west preferred a smaller wedding guest list between 100-250.

Post-wedding, 80 percent respondents preferred honeymoons at conventional romantic destinations within a week of the marriage.

Goa ranked first in the list, followed by Ooty and Srinagar (Kashmir) on the domestic honeymoon circuit.

On the international front, while 46 percent of men preferred European destinations for a honeymoon, 36 percent women selected the US, though 25 percent of all women preferred buying a wedding-cum-honeymoon package from a five-star or seven-star hotel.

The Taj Group's senior vice president, sales and marketing Deepa Misra-Harris said that weddings at the hotel have always been iconic and "most enduring', having a special place in the hearts of the guests since a century.

Tata Institute of Social Sciences' associate professor and Centre for Human Ecology chairperson Sujata Sriram said: "Today, marriage is increasingly driven by a desire for companionship and emotional support. Grooming is also catching on in India, as men are becoming increasingly metrosexual."

She added: "There is a higher willingness to spend on looking good and this is evident with the rise of male aesthetics in India which can also be seen across film, literature and entertainment."

The survey covered Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Kanpur and Ludhiana in malls/markets frequented by people for wedding preparations.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

Four killed in fresh Bangladeshi riots

A vehicle set on fire by the  "Islamist Activists"
in Rajshahi, northwest from Dhaka
Photo, Courtesy: CNN.com

At least four people were killed on the fourth day of rioting in Bangladesh on Sunday after an Islamist opposition leader was sentenced to death for war crimes, police said.

Soldiers were deployed after protesters torched police posts, a railway station and other government facilities in the northern district of Bogra during a strike called by the opposition.

Protesters and police exchanged gunfire that left four people dead in the region 230 kilometres north-west of Dhaka, police officer Abdul Waris said.

He said thousands of activists of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party attacked public property and offices of the ruling Awami League.

The rioting began after Jamaat-e-Islami vice-president Delwar Hossain Sayedee was convicted on Thursday of murder, looting, arson, rape during the country’s 1971 independence war.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on “all political actors in the country to exercise maximum restraint, use their influence to put an end to these violent incidents, and do all in their power to avoid exacerbating the divisions in society, which have been brought to a head by recent events.”

Keywords: Bangladesh riots, Jamaat-e-Islami, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, 1971 Bangladesh war, war crimes.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

ঢাকায় হাঙ্গামা বিএনপি-র, মোকাবিলায় কড়া সরকার

নিজস্ব সংবাদদাতা • ঢাকা (আন্নদবাজোর প্ত্রিকা)

মৌলবাদী জামাতে ইসলামির পাশে খালেদা জিয়ার বিএনপি দাঁড়িয়ে যাওয়ার ফল কী হতে পারে, আজ ঢাকার রাজপথ তার প্রমাণ দিল। বিএনপি-র মিছিল থেকে মৌলবাদীদের মতো একই রকম ভাঙচুর, হাঙ্গামা দেখল আজ ঢাকা। বেশ কয়েক জন পুলিশ আহত হয়েছেন। পুড়েছে গাড়ি, ভেঙেছে কিছু অফিসবাড়ির কাচ। এর বাইরে বাংলাদেশে অশান্তির আঁচ গত দু’দিনের চেয়ে কিছুটা কমই। তারই মধ্যে ভারতের রাষ্ট্রপতি প্রণব মুখোপাধ্যায়ের সফর নিয়ে এখন উদগ্রীব সরকার। হাঙ্গামা-হরতালের ডাকের মধ্যেও প্রণববাবু সফরে অনড় থাকায় রাষ্ট্রপতি জিল্লুর রহমান ও প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনার মুখে যে হাসি ফুটেছে, সরকারি সূত্রে তা জানা গিয়েছে। বাংলাদেশের তথ্যমন্ত্রী হাসানুল হক ইনু আনন্দবাজারকে জানিয়েছেন, সরকার দেশের ৬৪টি জেলার সব ক’টির প্রশাসনের সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ রেখে কড়া হাতে আইনশৃঙ্খলা মোকাবিলা করছে। আপাতত ১৫টি জেলায় মৌলবাদীরা বিচ্ছিন্ন কিছু চোরাগোপ্তা হামলা চালাচ্ছে।

হিংসাদগ্ধ

অশান্ত ঢাকায় পুলিশের টহল। পাশে জ্বলছে পুলিশেরই জিপ। শনিবার বেশ কিছু গাড়ি পুড়িয়েছে বিএনপি ও জামাতের সমর্থকরা। ঘটিয়েছে বিস্ফোরণও। ছবি: এএফপি

দেশের আড়াই হাজার মসজিদের ইমামদের সঙ্গে সরকার আলোচনায় বসেছিল। তার পরেই পরিস্থিতি অনেকটা নিয়ন্ত্রণে এসেছে। ইনু বলেন, ঢাকায় খালেদা জিয়ার কর্মিসভার পরেই উত্তেজনা ছড়ায়। কিন্তু সেটাও মুষ্টিমেয় এলাকায়। তাঁর কথায়, পরিস্থিতির সুযোগ নিতেই বিরোধী নেত্রী নেতৃহীন জামাতের ‘আমিরের’ ভূমিকা নিয়েছেন। খালেদা এ দিন সভায় অভিযোগ করেন, সরকার ইসলাম ও স্বাধীনতাকে মুখোমুখি সংঘাতে নামিয়ে দেশকে বিস্ফোরক করে তুলেছে। সরকারের পক্ষে তথ্যমন্ত্রী ইনু বলেন, একাত্তরেও জামাত ঠিক একই যুক্তি তুলে স্বাধীনতার বিরোধিতা করেছিল। ইসলাম কেন, কোনও ধর্মই খুন, ধর্ষণকে স্বীকার করে না। হাঙ্গামাকেও গুনাহ্ বলা হয়েছে। বরং দুষ্কমের্র বিরোধিতার কথাই বলছে ইসলাম। সে হিসেবে রাজাকারদের বিচার কোনও ভাবেই ধর্মবিরোধী হতে পারে না। মানুষও তা বুঝছেন। সেই কারণেই খালেদার কৌশল সফল হবে না। রবিবার থেকে মঙ্গলবার, বিএনপি-জামাত জোটের ডাকা হরতাল উপেক্ষা করার ডাক দিয়েছেন শাহবাগের আন্দোলনকারীরা। তথ্যমন্ত্রী জানান, সরকারও এই হরতালে জনজীবন একেবারে স্বাভাবিক রাখতে সব রকম বন্দোবস্ত করছে। মানুষ আরও একবার প্রমাণ করবেন, তাঁরা হরতাল চান না। তিনি জানান, ভারতের রাষ্ট্রপতিকে স্বাগত জানাতে বাংলাদেশের সরকার ও মানুষ তৈরি। প্রণববাবু এই সফরে অনড় থাকায় সরকারও বাড়তি আত্মবিশ্বাস পেয়েছে। তথ্যমন্ত্রী জানান, দু’চারটি এলাকায় সংখ্যালঘু হিন্দুদের উপরেও জামাত চোরাগোপ্তা হামলা চালিয়েছে। কিন্তু সরকার কড়া হাতে তার মোকাবিলার নির্দেশ দেওয়ার পরে এই প্রবণতা কমেছে।

Teesta Setalvad Unmasked
~~By Sandhya Jain

Teesta Setalvad, a Mumbai-based journalist, who, like former IAS officer Harsh Mander, shot to national and international fame due to high profile activism over the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in March 2002, has been unmasked in a most unseemly manner. Over the past decade, Setalvad survived controversies with former protégé Zahira Sheikh and employee Rais Khan Pathan, besides a Gujarat Government investigation into illegal exhumation of graves, thanks to unstinted backing from the media, the Supreme Court, the Congress and the UPA Government.

But now she has fallen foul of the residents of Gulbarg Society whose cause she vociferously espoused. Setalvad has been publicly accused of the same crime that Best Bakery survivor Zahira Sheikh once accused her of — collecting money in the name of the riot victims and failing (or refusing) to distribute (or even share) it. She overcame the dispute with Zahira by demonising the young girl, but now residents of Gulbarg Society have sent her a notice demanding that she distribute the funds she collected among the riot victims. Relations have soured to the point that Setalvad failed to attend the memorial service for victims this year.

The residents (all Muslims) are demanding that the money “collected over the dead bodies of those who died in this society” must be divided among the riot victims as it “has been taken in our name”. Claiming that the residents were unaware that a trust had been formed for making the collections, they said that what the human rights activist had done “amounts to cheating”.

The dispute goes back to 2006 when Setalvad proposed to purchase the 5,200-square-metre Gulbarg Society land from the residents to set up a museum. The deal failed to materialise, but Setalvad’s Trust collected donations, which the residents say must be distributed among riot victims.

This is not Teflon Teesta’s first brush with controversy. Former aide Rais Khan Pathan accused her of tampering with witness affidavits when at least six women of Naroda Gam denied before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in 2008 that they were raped during the riots. The witnesses said they did not know this was being said in the affidavits as the documents were in English, a language they were not familiar with.

More recently, in January 2013, Rais Khan accused Setalvad’s NGO, Citizens for Justice and Peace, of violating the provisions of the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act regarding receipts of funds from abroad. He demanded cancellation of CJP’s FCRA registration and initiation of criminal proceedings against its trustees.

Pathan averred that CJP’s FCRA permission was under the economic and education categories, but the NGO had no such activities. Infact, CJP, as per its constitution is a non-political, registered social organisation established to promote communal harmony, make legal interventions to prosecute those guilty of killing innocent citizens and assist others petitioning before the courts for redressal of grievances.

Setalvad’s worst victim by far is young Zahira Sheikh who, like Rehmatnagar tailor Qutbuddin Ansari, was projected as the female face of the Gujarat riots, and exploited to the hilt to demonise Chief Minister Narendra Modi, while building the profiles and careers to his tormentors.

Now, as voices against Setalvad’s functioning get louder, it may be in order to mention some facts. Zahira Sheikh lost several family members in the attack on the Best Bakery, owned by them. Zahira’s testimony in the Vadodara fast-track court in June 2003 led to the acquittal of 21 accused persons. But in July 2003, she was airlifted to Mumbai where she was warmly received by Javed Akhtar; here she claimed she had testified out of fear.

Setalvad then whipped up great frenzy, drawing the National Human Rights Commission into the fray. The NHRC asked the Supreme Court to transfer the riot cases out of Gujarat. The Supreme Court duly obliged by sending the Zahira Sheikh and Bilkis Bano cases to Mumbai and directing the Gujarat Government to re-examine all other cases.

Then, in 2005, Zahira Sheikh accused Teesta Setalvad of physically controlling her from July 6, 2003 to November 3, 2004 and tutoring her to give a certain type of testimony in court. She said the affidavit submitted to the NHRC in the name of Zahira Sheikh by Setalvad (600-odd pages of documentation) was unsigned! They were, Zahira sneered, mere pamphlets.

In other words, the NHRC and the Supreme Court had acted without scrutinizing the documents – that is, without legal basis. Unfortunately, Zahira was denied the right to cross-examine the then NHRC chairperson AS Anand when she said that an oral testimony given to the chairman and two members of the Commission differed from the record NHRC presented to the Supreme Court. This was a serious allegation, but it was brushed aside by the Apex Court which continued to give a free run to Setalvad.

Zahira Sheikh was the first to demand a probe into Teesta Setalvad’s post-Gujarat assets. Instead, the Apex Court appointed a probe committee headed by Registrar General BM Gupta and punished the feisty victim for perjury, startling even senior jurists. The Court also ignored reports beginning to emerge in the media about witnesses claiming to have received money for giving testimony in the post-Godhra trial cases.

As if this were not enough, in December 2005 Teesta Setalvad illegally exhumed bodies of Gujarat riot victims from graves near Pandarwada. When the State Government initiated action against her on grounds of fabricating false evidence, tampering with evidence, criminal conspiracy and outraging religious feelings, the apex court stayed criminal proceedings against her and called it a mala fide case and a “spurious” case to victimise Setalvad.

Teesta Setalvad has been richly rewarded for her activism with a plethora of national and international awards, including the Nuremberg Human Rights Award 2003, Parliamentarians for Global Action ‘Defender of Democracy’ Award, jointly with Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand 2004; M.A. Thomas National Human Rights Award from the Vigil India Movement 2004, Nani A Palkhivala Award 2006, and Padma Shri 2007.

But now her aura of greatness is beginning to falter. With her, the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court cannot evade public scrutiny of their actions and attitudes in the Gujarat riots cases. The young orphan, Zahira Sheikh, was made to suffer terrible victimization, and has since vanished into oblivion; she deserves a public apology and decent compensation.

It is also imperative that the accounts of Setalvad, and indeed all NGOs associated with the Gujarat riots, are audited to see how much money they collected and what relief was actually distributed to the victims.

Courtesy: NITI CENTRAL

Bangladesh death toll rises to 47, clashes continue

Bangladeshi Hindus wave black flags

Bangladeshi Hindus protest against
Jamaat-e-Islami activists in Dhaka
on Saturday.

At least three people were killed in clashes between Jamaat-e-Islami activists and Awami League activists & the police in Bangladesh, as the death toll from the deadly riots rose to 47 since Thursday, a Daily Star report said.

At least three people were killed and hundreds were injured in attacks on law enforcement officials and ruling party men on Friday by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, the report said.

On Saturday, a man was killed and 10 others were injured in a gunfight between Jamaat activists and police in Satkania upazila of Chittagong. Jamaat activists also vandalised two hospitals, four vehicles and a petrol pump in Comilla town, the report said.

According to witnesses at the scene, men belonging to Jamaat, and its student wing, Shibir, started throwing brick chips and vandalised two local hospitals, four vehicles and a petrol pump early on Saturday.

Jamaat-Shibir have wreaked havoc in the country since Thursday when a war crimes tribunal sentenced Jamaat vice president to death for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War, according to the report.

Early on Saturday, unidentified miscreants set fire to a Hindu temple and houses of two Hindu Awami League men in different parts of Morelganj upazila in Bagerhat, the report said.

Sources say the temple was set fire by members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, an ally of the Jamaat.

On Friday night, detectives arrested five students of North South University (NSU) for their alleged involvement in the killing of Shahbag blogger Ahmed Rajib Haidar, who was found stabbed in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on February 15, a report said.

Haidar, a Shahbagh movement activist, was found stabbed dead near his residence in the city’s Mirpur area on February 15.

Also on Friday, Jamaat-Shibir activists blocked highways, threw brick chips at police, vandalised vehicles and roadside shops, and removed railway sleepers disrupting rail commutation, according to the report.

Courtesy: NITI CENTRAL

Temple, houses of Hindu AL men torched in Bagerhat

Miscreants torched a kitchen of the house of Hindu Awami League leader in Morelganj upazila of Bagerhat early Saturday. Photo: STAR

Unidentified miscreants set fire to a temple and houses of two Hindu Awami League men in Bagerhat and ransacked a temple in Gazipur on Saturday.

BAGERHAT:
A temple and houses of two Hindu AL men were set ablaze in Morelganj upazila early Saturday.

The temple was situated at Ramchandrapur union of the upazila while the houses at Banagram union and Baharbula village of the same union, reports our Bagerhat correspondent.

Miscreants set fire to Dumuria Sarbojanin Puja Mandir in Ramchandrapur union at any time from 12:00am to 1:00am, said Aslam Hossain, officer-in-charge of Morelganj Police Station.

The dress of goddess Durga gutted before the locals managed to douse the fire, the OC added.

Meanwhile, some criminals also set fire to the house of Narayanchandra Bashu Chowdhury, president of Banagram union AL unit around the same time, the OC said.

A store room and kitchen of the AL leader was gutted in the fire.

Hearing the hue and scream of Bashu's family members, locals rushed to the spot and managed to quench the fire.

Bashu claimed that local BNP men might have set the fire for achieving political gain.

Another house of a Hindu community people was torched around the same time at Baharbula village in the same union, the police official said.

Taposh Sen, whose house was gutted, is an AL activist, said Bashu.

Meanwhile, MD Jahor Ali, Morelganj upazila nirbahi officer, and Pankaj Chand Roy, additional superintendent of police in Bagerhat, visited the spot.

On the other hand, Khandaker Rafiqul Islam, superintendent of police in Bagerhat, termed the incidents 'mysterious'.

They are now investigation the incidents, the SP added.

GAZIPUR:
Unidentified people vandalised the idol of Saraswati in Kashimpur Namabazar area early Saturday.

Saiful Islam, a sub-inspector of an outpost under Joydevpur Police Station, confirmed the incident to The Daily Star.

Courtesy: Daily Star

STOP EXECUTIONS

No one has the right to take another life!

Revenge is not justice  

~~Mani Shankar Aiyar

I had just boarded a flight when someone from a television channel called me on the mobile to ask for my reaction to the hanging of Afzal Guru. I did not know till then that he had been strung up to die. I instinctively replied that I felt saddened. It is a comment that is likely to haunt me, for many well-wishers have asked me why I did not hold my tongue or tailor my remark to the popular mood, for it seems that there is national rejoicing at the hubris that has overtaken those who sought to end our democracy in one fell blow on Parliament.

It may have been an instinctive reaction but it reflected my deeply held abhorrence of the death penalty. I had certainly articulated the same position when Nalini was spared the death sentence for her part in the assassination of my friend and patron, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. I had felt relief then that we were not taking a life to punish the taking of a life, even the taking of the life that was the staff of my life; my belief is that all life is infinitely precious, howsoever misused; that to imitate assassination by assassination is to become complicit in assassination.

I had felt the same when I heard of Ajmal Kasab’s hanging, with this one difference — it can be said that Kasab had sought martyrdom when he embarked for Mumbai, and the Indian state was helping him realise his most ardent desire. On the other hand, Afzal Guru sounded resigned to his fate, rather than welcoming it.

Revenge is not justice. For revenge often engenders counter-revenge. That is why so many terrorists are born in the crucible of the injustice they see themselves being subjected to, or believe they have been subjected to — whatever the facts of the case. So, putting them away — for all of their natural life in high security prisons in the “rarest of rare” cases — is a reasoned response to terrorism. But leaving them dangling in the air is almost certain to be fertile breeding ground for more terrorism.

As for the hanging of ordinary murderers — as distinct from ideological murderers — the record seems to show that the death sentence is hardly ever a deterrent. That is why a vast majority of countries, some 139 of the member-states of the United Nations, have abolished the death sentence. They have discovered that murderers, whether ideological, like terrorists, or personal, like killers, tend to be either schizophrenic or psychotic or both, neither being a category that yields to the common fear of retribution, especially final retribution. Even in cogent moments, the psychopath is likely to regard the risk of death in inflicting death as a risk worth taking. Perhaps that explains why, in the United States, where it is state law rather than federal law that prevails, those states that have retained execution tend to have higher murder rates while states that have abolished execution have lower murder rates.

The nexus between awarding the death penalty and deterring crime was discredited centuries ago with the saying that one might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. The origins of that expression lie in 17th-18th century England, where almost every crime was punishable by public hanging — and so the highwayman consoled himself with the profitable thought that if one were going to be hanged anyway for stealing a lamb, one might as well steal the whole sheep. The relationship between death and deterrence has never been established. This explains why our Supreme Court has long held that death may be awarded in only the “rarest of rare” cases.

Except, of course, in Afzal Guru’s case. There, the Supreme Court confirmed that the only evidence against Afzal Guru was “circumstantial”, that is, uncorroborated by other evidence that would link him to the heinous crime. Yet, decided the learned judges, death would be the appropriate condign punishment to salve the “collective conscience of the nation”. Certainly, this was the rarest of rare judgments. Challenging the collective conscience of the nation is an everyday occurrence in a vibrant democracy. It is perhaps the highest duty of the public intellectual. There would have been little human progress without radical challenges to the received wisdom that constitutes the collective conscience of any nation.

But I felt saddened at Afzal Guru’s hanging, not primarily because it might constitute a grave miscarriage of justice but because I am perforce part of a system that considers the taking of human life as “justice”. I am diminished as a human being. For, as John Donne sang centuries ago, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls/ It tolls for thee”.

Note:The writer is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, express@expressindia.com

Courtesy: The Indian Express

BAER, FREDERICK MICHAEL ON DEATH ROW SINCE 06-09-05 DOB: 10-19-71 DOC#: 910135 White Male Madison County Superior Court #1 Judge Fredrick Spencer

Prosecutor: Rodney J. Cummings, David L. Puckett

Defense: Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Bryan R. Williams

Date of Murder: February 25, 2004

Victim(s): Cory Clark W/F/26; Jenna Clark W/F/4 (No relationship to Baer)

Method of Murder: slashing throat with knife

Murderers Also Repent For Their Acts

Summary: On the afternoon of February 25, 2004, Cory Clark and her 4-year-old daughter were alone in their home near Lapel. Her 7-year-old daughter was at school and her husband was outside the state. Baer entered the residence and used a knife to slit the throat of Cory Clark, then chased down 4-year-old Jenna and slit her throat as well. Baer had attempted to rape Cory before her death. Baer had been working at a nearby construction site that day, left work, committed the murders, then returned to the job. The apparent motive was to feed a drug habit and a deviate sexual appetite. Baer also faces Rape and Burglary charges in Marion and Hamilton Counties.

Trial: Information/PC for Murder Filed (03-03-04); Amended Information and Death Sentence Request Filed (04-07-04); Recusal of Presiding Judge (12-16-04); Change of Venue Granted (01-31-05); Motion to Plead Guilty But Mentally Ill (02-28-05); Plea Rejected (03-01-05); Motion to Sever Unrelated Offenses Granted (04-04-05); Voir Dire in Huntington County (04-26-05, 04-27-05, 04-28-05); Amended Information Filed (05-02-05, 05-12-05); Jury Trial in Madison County (05-03-05, 05-04-05, 05-05-05, 05-10-05, 05-11-05, 05-12-05); Verdict (05-12-05); Amended Information Filed (05-17-05); DP Trial (05-19-05, 05-20-05); Verdict (05-20-05); Court Sentencing (06-09-05).

Conviction: Murder, Murder, Robbery (Class A Felony), Attempted Rape (Class A Felony); Theft (Class D Felony).

Sentencing: June 09, 2005

Aggravating Circumstances:
b(1) Robbery, b(1) Attempted Rape, b(8) Two Murders, b(9) On Parole, b(12) Victim Less Than 12

Mitigating Circumstances:
Mental Illness, Paranoid Personality Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Severe Drug Dependency, Difficult Childhood, Toxic Parenting, Bad Report Cards, Impulsive, Mother had Chenotherapy, Sister Got Killed. 

Courtesy: Clarkprosecutor.org

Former Florida Warden Haunted by Botched Execution

~~By Ron McAndrew

During my tenure as Warden at Florida State Prison it was my duty to oversee the executions of three men: John Earl Bush, John Mills Jr. and Pedro Medina. Remembering every gruesome detail of their deaths is haunting.

The flames that consumed Pedro Medina's head when the execution went seriously awry, the smoke, the putrid odor, and his death by inferno is deeply embedded in my brain.The memory of telling the executioner to continue with the killing, despite the malfunctioning electric chair, and being at a point of no-return, plagues me still.

When I became warden I learned that it was tradition for the "death team" to go out for breakfast the morning after an execution. On the early morning after John Bush's execution the 'traditional breakfast' was held 15 miles south of the death chamber at a Shoney's in Starke, Florida. This was my first execution and I felt that tradition was important and moreover, the well being of the 'team' was my responsibility. In this small town of 5000 most everyone works at the prison, is retired from the prison or has a family member in the business. Everyone in the restaurant knew who we were and what we had just done...there were even a few 'high five signs.' While stirring my scrabbled eggs into hot grits, I began to realize the full import of the spectacle around us. Looking across the room, I could see the female attorney who had represented Bush. I saw my own sickness on her sad face and decided that breakfast after executions just didn't fit. It was my first and my last traditional death breakfast. It simply appeared celebratory from too many angles.

STOP EXECUTIONS

Minutes before an execution it's the warden's responsibility to sit with the prisoner and read the death warrant aloud after explaining that it is a state law requirement. I asked the condemned men if there was anything that could be done for them or if there was anyone I could call or if they had something very personal and confidential they'd like me to pass on...following of course, their imminent death. While I shall never share any of the words passed to me during those quiet moments it can be said that the whispers were sincere and promises were kept.

Searching my soul for answers that would satisfy the question on just why were we killing people and why our governor and politicians would do their 'chest pounding' over these ghastly spectacles was difficult. I began to remember myself as the person who went to Florida State Prison with a firm belief in the death penalty. And even though I still professed this belief, the questions of why we were doing this and if it were necessary, would not leave my mind. While appalled by the physical act of tying a person to a chair and burning him to death, I did not deny the reasons for the act.

Here I want to say that one must be careful in searching his soul…one may just find that God is there and that He does not support the barbaric idea that man should execute man.

During the renewal of my faith and my conversion to the Catholic Church, I was asked to speak out about my feelings on the death penalty.

After twenty-three years in Corrections, I have come to the conclusion that killing people is wrong. We have no business doing it, except in self-defense, in defense of someone else or in defense of the nation. And it's wrong for us to ask others do it for us. Looking back I wish I had never been involved in carrying out the death penalty. We have an alternative that doesn't lower us to the level of the killer: permanent imprisonment. It is cheaper, keeps society safe and offers swift justice to the victims.

I have found that my experience and notoriety as a warden who carried out executions provides a good platform to reach the public. I say to the many groups I've spoken to in the past few years that I'll 'tell my story to anyone who'll stand in front of me long enough to hear it.'

Note: Ron McAndrew is a 22-year veteran with the Florida Department of Corrections. He also served as Director of the Orange County Jail in Florida for one year. For the last three years he has worked as a prison and jail consultant, and as an expert witness He is a member of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Community in Dunnellon, Florida. To learn more about McAndrew's journey, visit: www.RonMcAndrew.com.

Courtesy: Death Penalty Focus

The US Executions

(i)  Michael Gonzales: 

Convicted of fatally stabbing his elderly neighbors in 1994 after they awakened while he was burglarizing their home. In 2009, Gonzales received a new punishment trial because of testimony from a former psychologist for Texas prisons who cited race and ethnicity as reasons for his future dangerousness. A March 2013 execution date was set, but a federal judge issued a stay at the request of Gonzales's attorney, who sought time to prepare a motion to strike his death sentence on grounds of mental incompetence. A convicted and twice sentenced murderer received a stay of execution that will prolong his case even longer than the almost 20 years it's been in the system. Department of Criminal Justice executioner after 6 p.m. on March 21, 2013, but the actual date is a little murkier now. Federal District Judge Robert Junell granted Gonzales a stay of execution after three attorneys with the Texas Habeas Assistance and Training Project filed a motion to delay his death date until they could formulate proper motions to show his execution is not warranted. Gonzales, who was convicted in the 1994 stabbing deaths of Merced and Manuel Aguirre, was originally sentenced to death in 1995. However, that ruling was overturned and sent back to state court, where he was resentenced in 2009, again with the death penalty. After often being disruptive and displaying lewd gestures and foul language throughout his resentencing, Gonzales waived his right to state habeas appeal, one of the appeal options after his automatic direct state appeal. Fernando Aguirre, one of the sons of Manuel and Merced Aguirre, said that he is no longer holding out hope for a quick resolution and execution in this case. “It's very frustrating because we were told he'd exhausted all of his appeals and they set the date for the execution,” Fernando Aguirre said. “And then they said ,nope, guess what, he can file another appeal.” Fernando Aguirre said he was present at both the original trial and the times. Instead, Fernando Aguirre said he believes the continuing battle is mostly legalese, and harms the family members more than anything. “I've made it a point not to put my life on hold for this. It's not what's going to define me,” he said. “Otherwise, that bastard wins. He's not going to win.” Fernando Aguirre said he believes it will be at least another few years before the case is finalized, as he said the defense attorneys are just trying to prolong the situation. But the attorneys filing court documents on his behalf claim that Gonzales may have been mentally incapable of standing trial, explaining that drugs, alcohol
and abuse from his father played a role in deteriorating his psychological state. The document filed by the attorneys claims defense attorneys and the trial court did not explore Gonzales' competence well enough and that his original attorneys “saw Mr. Gonzales as bad, rather than mad.” In his order, Junell allowed defense attorneys until May 24 to present an amended federal habeas corpus petition. Fernando Aguirre said Gonzales made it up in his mind he was going to kill the elderly couple, despite a good rapport between the Aguirres and Gonzales'family. “Anytime his mom needed help on something, my parents were right there,” Fernando Aguirre said. “My parents were great folks. They were very good, hardworking people. They always helped people who asked for

Execution (State Sponsored Murder): Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 6:00 pm. (Stayed)

(ii) Kimberly McCarthy:

A former crack addict who was sentenced to death for the 1997 slaying of an elderly woman during a home robbery near Dallas. McCarthy, 51, is the former wife of New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels, with whom she has a son. She is one of 10 women on Texas death row. Since the date was announced Sept. 12, she has been the only one with a scheduled execution. Three of the nearly 500 people Texas has put to death in the modern era have been women. Hours before her scheduled execution Jan. 29, 2013, a Dallas judge put it off until April 3, based on her attorneys' assertions that jury selection in McCarthy's trial was tainted by racism.
Execution: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 6:00 pm.

(iii) Rigoberto Avila Jr:

The 40-year-old veteran from El Paso was convicted in the February 2000 slaying of his girlfriend's son while babysitting. On 02/29/2000, El Paso, Avila was babysitting a 19 month old Hispanic male and his sibling at their residence.  Avila struck the victim in the abdomen, causing the death of the child.Avila served in the military during Desert Storm. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2010 to hear an appeal filed by his attorney, Robin Norris. Avila, of El Paso, was born Aug. 5, 1972. He arrived on death row in 2001. Before being incarcerated, he worked as a laborer.

Execution: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm
(iv) Ronnie Paul Threadgill:

Threadgill, 38, was sentenced to death for a slaying in 2001 outside a Navarro County nightclub. He was convicted of firing two shots into a car, hitting a 17-year-old who was in the back seat. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in 2012 to review the case. Threadgill's appeal asserted that his lawyers should have negotiated for a felony murder charge instead of capital murder and should have rebutted an alleged shooting in Freestone County that was brought up during the trial. Judge John Jackson on Monday set April 16, 2013, as the date Ronnie Paul Threadgill will be executed for murder.
Threadgill, 38, who was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of a 17-year-old outside a Navarro County nightclub, sat quietly in the 13th District
Courtroom Monday to hear his execution date in a brief, 10-minute hearing.
Navarro County District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson said Threadgill made no statement to the court during the hearing, answering “No” when asked by Jackson if he had any statement.

Execution: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(iv) Elroy Chester III:

A jury sentenced him to death after he pleaded guilty to the 1998 fatal shooting of a Port Arthur firefighter who was was slain after arriving at his sister's home during a robbery. The high court (The Supreme Court) refused to hear an appeal from Elroy Chester. Lawyers for Chester say he is mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution under the U.S. Supreme Court guidelines for the 1998 shooting death of Willie Ryman III. Ryman was trying to keep Chester from raping his two nieces at their Port Arthur home when he was killed.Prosecutors have argued that Chester was not mentally impaired.Chester, who has been linked to at least five murders and three rapes, pleaded guilty to Ryman's slaying.

Execution: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(v) Richard Cobb:

One of two men condemned in a 2002 robbery-slaying in the small, East Texas town of Ruskin. He and Beunka Adams (executed April 26, 2012) were convicted of forcing three convenience-store workers into a car, driving them to a field, raping one of the women, and shooting all three with a shotgun. One worker, a mentally disabled man, died. The women survived by playing dead. Prosecutors said the murder happened after Adams and another man robbed the store in the small east Texas town of Rusk in September 2002. On September 2, 2002, in Cherokee County, Texas, Cobb and co-defendant, Beunka Adams, abducted three victims: a man and two women. They fatally shot the man, Kenneth Wayne Vandever, sexually assaulted and shot the two women and left their bodies in a field.  Cobb was sentenced to death in January 2004.
Execution: Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 6:00 pm.

Summary:
Beunka Adams (Executed April 26, 2012 06:25 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Texas): Along with accomplice Richard Cobb, Adams robbed a convenience store in Rusk, Texas. At the time of the robbery, Candace Driver and Nikki Dement were working in the store, and the only customer present was Kenneth Vandever. Adams and Cobb were wearing masks and after getting cash from the register, forced the two employees and the customer into a Cadillac parked in the lot and drove to a remote location. After forcing Driver and Vandever into the trunk, Adams and Cobb sexually assaulted Dement. They later made all three victims kneel on the ground, shooting all three with a shotgun. Believing all were dead, both fled the scene. Vandever died from his wounds, but Driver and Dement survived and testified against Adams and Cobb. Accomplice Cobb was convicted and sentenced to death in a separate trial eight months before Adams. Evidence tied the two, met as ninth-graders at a boot camp, to a string of robberies that happened around the same time.
Final/Special Meal:Texas no longer offers a special "last meal" to condemned inmates. Instead, the inmate is offered the same meal served to the rest of the unit.
Final/Last Words:"To the victims, I'm very sorry for everything that happened. Everything that happened that night was wrong. If I could take it back, I would ... I messed up and can't take that back." Adams expressed love to his family and asked his victims and their families not to be taken over by hate. "I am not the malicious person that you think I am. I was real stupid back then. I made a great many mistakes."

(vi) Carroll Joe Parr:

Condemned for the shooting death of a man in a drug deal outside a North Waco convenience store in 2003. Parr and his fall partner, Earl Whiteside, were accused of approaching two men sitting in a car, forcing them to the side of the building at gunpoint, and robbing and shooting them. The second victim survived. Whiteside is serving a 15-year prison term after pleading to aggravated robbery. As he was led from the courtroom after the date was set, he yelled, “Death is a prize.”Members of his family were crying and some called out words of encouragement to him.
Parr and Earl Whiteside were accused of approaching the two teenagers outside of the store, pointing guns at them and ordering them to get out of their car. They forced the two victims to the side of the building and demanded money, authorities said. The two teenagers handed over their wallets and then were shot after one of the
victims told Parr they didn't have any more money. Parr was convicted of capital murder on May 21, 2004 and was sentenced to die five days later. Whiteside entered a guilty plea in March 2004.
Execution:Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(vii) John Quintanilla Jr:

Arrested in a Victoria, Texas, robbery that turned deadly, Quintanilla was convicted - along with Jeffrey Bibb - of slipping into an amusement arcade wearing a mask and brandishing a rifle, demanding cash from a worker and ordering customers to lie down on the floor. The murder victim, a former sheriff's deputy, was shot three times when he stood up and grabbed Quintanilla's weapon. Bibb and Quintanilla were charged with capital murder in the 2002 slaying. Bibb received a lengthy prison sentence.
From his prison cell he writes: 
Dear reader,
Hi, my name is john m. Quintanilla Jr. I am an inmate on the Texas Death Row. I’ve been here for a little over 3 years. I try to fill my time with things like drawing, writing poems, writing letters and listening to my radio.On Texas Death Row I am confined to a cell for 22 hours a day. i was born in Port Lavaca Texas.  But I have lived in places like Texas City, Palacios, Bloomington and Victoria. but mostly in Texas City and Victoria.
I was born on December 9, 1976. I have about 22 tattoos and a few piercings. I am on Death row for a robbery/murder that `i did not commit although i did claim responsibility. but I did have my reasons for that and if your interested in finding out, all you got to do is write and I’ll explain it.
As you can guess there is not much to do in this small cell and sometimes 22 hours a day can seem like a very long time. So I am asking anyone and everyone with a little tome to drop me a few lines. It would really be nice. thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
John M. Quintanilla Jr.
#999491
Polunsky Unit
3872 F.M. 350 South
Livingston, Texas, 77351
USA
Execution: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(viii) Jefferey D. Williams:

Condemned in the 1999 shooting death of a Houston Police Officer who was trying to arrest him for driving a stolen Lexus. The officer was alive when backup arrived but died later of his wounds. A delay in the arrival of an ambulance sparked a probe of the Houston Fire Department's dispatching procedures. The contention was that the officer might have survived had he received treatment sooner. Investigators found that the dispatcher initially misdirected the ambulance to a location miles away. Jeffrey Demond Williams, 23, was arrested moments after the shooting and charged with capital murder. Police have retrieved the 9mm handgun they believe was used to kill Blando.
Execution: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(ix) Robert Lynn Pruett:

An argument with a prison guard who had written him up for a minor infraction of the rules led Pruett to stab the guard to death with a shank, according to prosecutors in Corpus Christi who obtained the death penalty against him. The guard was killed in the maximum-security McConnell state prison unit in Bee County, where Pruett was serving a life sentence he began when he was 16. At the time, he was believed to be the youngest person in the state's adult prison system. Most of those in the courtroom were armed security personnel when Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officers walked in with Robert Lynn Pruett. Senior District Judge Ronald Yeager sat on the bench, presiding over the 156th District Court. Yeager was only minutes away from telling Pruett he was scheduling his execution by lethal injection for May 21.
Pruett turned 33 in September and has been on death row since he was convicted in a Corpus Christi courtroom on April 30, 2002, of murdering 37-year-old Daniel Nagle. Nagle had been discovered, lying in his own blood, near a multipurpose room in the William G. McConnell maximum security unit in Bee County on Dec. 17, 1999. He had been stabbed repeatedly with an inmate-made “shank,” a steel bar sharpened on one end and wrapped with cloth on the other end..
Execution: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(x) Vaughn Ross:

A former architecture student at Texas Tech, he was condemned in the 2001 murders of an 18-year-old woman he was feuding with and a Texas Tech associate dean who happened to be with her. Ross's attorneys argued that police contaminated DNA testing by mishandling it and suggested the slayings stemmed from Birdsall's visits to "a high-crime area" to patronize prostitutes. Family members of the victims said the death sentence brought them little peace. The relatives included Birdsall's son, Nat, who opposes the death penalty and said his father did, too. A murder victim's sister ex pressed empathy for the mother of Vaughn Ross after a jury sentenced him to die for killing two people last year. "My heart goes out to his mother," Liza McVade said. "We lost something, and today she lost something too." The same jury convicted Ross for the Jan. 30, 2001, capital murder of Douglas Birdsall and Viola Ross McVade. He faced only two possible punishments —life in prison or death. Ross showed no reaction when District Judge Cecil Puryear read the sentence. Ross' mother and sister, who attended the entire trial, were not in the courtroom.
Execution: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 6:00 pm.
(xi) Douglas Feldman:

The former financial analyst from Richardson, Texas, was convicted of shooting to death two truck drivers in separate road-rage incidents in 1998. A federal appeals court in September rejected Feldman's appeal, in which he claimed his trial lawyers were deficient, the jury received incorrect instructions, and a prospective juror was improperly dismissed. In his appeal, Feldman contended that he had deficient legal help at his trial, that the jury received improper instructions and that a prospective juror was improperly dismissed. Feldman, testified at his 1999 trial that he carried a 9mm handgun when riding his motorcycle because he thought his life was in danger. His lawyers presented evidence showing that he had been treated earlier for substance abuse and paranoia. He told jurors he was cruising on his Harley-Davidson on southbound Central Expressway in August 1998 when a truck “came out of nowhere, just flying.” He said he feared for his life and became angry. Feldman testified that he fired at Everett's truck “because I felt like I needed to try to stop that man.” When the truck continued on the highway, “I chased Mr. Everett down, and I shot him to death” near the Plano-Allen line. Moments later, he spotted Velasquez at a gas station at Hillcrest and Arapaho roads, “exploded again in anger” and shot him, even though Velasquez had done nothing to him. “I felt emotionally compelled,” Feldman told jurors. “I was consumed by anger.” A third man was shot at a northwest Dallas restaurant parking lot, but he survived. The jury took 24 minutes to convict Feldman of capital murder. Among evidence were letters Feldman wrote to prosecutors in which he confessed to the shootings and referred to jurors hearing his case as “a bunch of fat, ignorant slobs.”
Execution: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 6:00 pm.

Courtesy:
(i) Execution Watch
(ii) Prison Pen Pals
(iii) Prosecuting Attorney, etc.