The Ishrat Jahan encounter case refers to the encounter killing of four people claimed to be Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives by the Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch in 2004. The victims included Ishrat Jahan Raza, a 19-year old college girl from Mumbai, and three men: Pranesh Pillai (alias Javed Gulam Sheikh), Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar. Multiple judicial inquiries by Indian authorities, in 2009 and 2011, concluded that the encounter was fake, and the victims were killed in police custody.^[1]

The encounter was carried out by a team led by DIG D.G. Vanjara, who was later jailed for his involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter.^[2] The police alleged that Ishrat and her associates were LeT operatives involved in a plot to assassinate the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Later, an investigation was launched into the allegations that Ishrat was killed in a fake encounter. In 2004, a Lahore-based publication affiliated with LeT claimed that Ishrat and her companions were operatives,^[3] but in 2007, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the political wing of the LeT retracted the statement as a "journalistic mistake", offering apology to Ishrat's family.^[4] After a long investigation, in 2009, an Ahmedabad Metropolitan court ruled that the encounter was staged.^[5] The decision was challenged by the Gujarat State government, and taken to the High Court. In 2010, some media outlets reported that the convicted terrorist David Headley had implicated Ishrat in terrorist activities in a statement given to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).^[6] However, the NIA called these reports as "baseless".^[7] After further investigation, in 2011, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) told the Gujarat High Court that the encounter was not genuine, and the victims were killed prior to the date of the staged encounter.^[8]

The victims[link]

Ishrat Jahan Shamim Raza

Ishrat Jahan (1985 – 15 June 2004) was a second year Bachelor of Science student at Mumbai's Guru Nanak Khalsa College.^[9] She was the second of 7 siblings. Her lower middle class family, hailing from Bihar, lived in the Rashid compound in the Muslim-dominated area of Mumbra in Thane district in Mumbai. Having lost her father Shamim two years before her own death, Ishrat taught tuition and did embroidery work to support her family. Ishrat’s father Mohammad Shamim Raza was the proprietor of a Mumbai-based construction company called Asian Constructions while mother Shamima worked for a long time at a medicine packaging company in Vashi.^[10]

Ishrat had been hired by Javed Sheikh (also killed in the "encounter") to do some accounts-related work in his (unlocated) office at Pune for which he used to pay decent money. Whenever Ishrat came back to her home in Mumbai, she would hand over some money to her mother and tell her that the family's problems will be over once she finished her studies and got a permanent job.

Pranesh Pillai (alias Javed Gulam Sheikh)

Pranesh Pillai was the son of Gopinatha Pillai, a native of Noornad in Kerala. He was married to Sajida, and had three children, including a daughter.^[11]

Pranesh had migrated to Mumbai in search of a job. Before his death, he had been booked for four assault cases in Mumbai and Pune, and had also been charged with involvement in a fake currency racket.^[12] In the mid-1990s, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Javed Sheikh to marry a Muslim woman called Sajida. Gujarat Police recovered two passports from Javed: one obtained using his original name Pranesh and the second one in his new name.^[12]

Ishrat's family first time met Javed Sheikh just two months before her death.^[10] He had taken Ishrat to Nasik, Bangalore and Lucknow, where he is believed to have met Amjad.^[12]

Amjad Ali Rana

Amjad Ali Rana, also known as Akbar or Salim, was allged to be a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist from Haveli Diwan, Pakistan. He was reportedly found dead with an AK-56 rifle near his body. Amjad is believed to have met Javed several times in Oman, and also Javed and Ishrat in Ibrahimpur once.^[12] Amjad introduced Ishrat and Javed to Zeeshan, the fourth victim.

Zeeshan Johar

Zeeshan (alias Jisan Johar alias Abdul Ghani Son of Kalu alias Janbaaz), along with Amjad, is said to have been caught in a trespassing case in Srinagar in 2003.^[12] Nobody claimed the bodies of Amjad and Zeeshan after the encounter.^[12] An identity card with a Pakistan address was reportedly recovered from Zeeshan's dead body. However, a later report by the metropolitan magistrate SP Tamang stated that identity cards were forged by the police and the two men were Indian citizens, although it did not give any evidence on this.^[13]

The alleged encounter[link]

Ishrat had left her house on 12 June 2004, three days before she was killed. Ishrat made her last call to her home at Mumbra on 11 June 2004, three days before her death and spoke with her mother Shamima. According to her mother, Ishrat called her from a public phone booth outside a Nashik bus stop, and told her that "Uncle (Javed Sheikh hasn’t come yet." A few minutes later, Ishrat made a second call and told her mother in a terrified voice that Javed had come but with some "strange men".^[10]

On 15 June 2004, the Gujarat police stated that Ishrat, along with three other people, had been gunned down near Ahmedabad by a police team belonging to the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of the Ahmedabad City Police.^[14][15] The four were allegedly killed after the police chased their blue Tata Indica car.

The police claimed that all four were connected with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba and were in Gujarat to assassinate Narendra Modi, in order to avenge the communal riots of 2002 which had led to the deaths of numerous Muslims.^[15] The police team was led by then Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay G. Vanzara, who was later jailed for involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing.^[16][17]

Allegations of fake encounter[link]

A probe into the encounter was ordered after Ishrat's family insisted that she was innocent, and the Mumbai police said she had no criminal background, and their investigation did not find anything that could implicate her.^[14] A number of politicians and the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission demanded an inquiry.^[16] Ishrat's funeral procession was attended by over 10,000 people in Mumbra, and the Samajwadi Party state President Abu Azmi said that he would demand a CBI probe into the killings.^[18]

In 2004, a news report published in Lahore-based Ghazwa Times (considered to be a mouthpiece of the LeT) claimed that Ishrat was its operative, and was with her "husband" at the time of her death.^[3] Ghazwa claimed on its website that "veil of Ishrat Jahan, a woman LeT operative, was removed by Gujarat police and her body kept with other mujahideens".^[19] However, in May 2007, Jamaat ut Dawa, the political wing of the LeT retracted the earlier statement and offered an apology to Ishrat's family. It said that the earlier news report was based on Indian newspaper reports, and was a "journalistic mistake".^[4]

The Gujarat government had faced strong criticism by human rights groups for anti-Muslim human rights violations, following the communal riots of 2002.^[14] During this period, there had been several police encounter deaths in the Gujarat, three of which have been attributed to attempts to kill Narendra Modi in retaliation for the alleged involvement of the state machinery in the riots. Some human rights activists have alleged that many of these alleged encounters actually happen in police custody.^[20] They claimed that there is a pattern that many of these encounters followed: they always took place in the wee hours of the morning in a deserted area, with no witnesses; a vigorous exchange of fire resulted in the deaths of all the terrorists, while the police received no injuries; and the diary of the accused was often recovered, and contained incriminating evidence.^[21] In 2007, several of the policemen held responsible for the death of Ishrat faced trial in connection with the 2005 fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife. The police officer D.G. Vanzara, who led the encounter was later jailed for his involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter. This resulted in an investigation into the encounter involving Ishrat.

In Ishrat's case, the Gujarat police claimed to have received information on the assassination plot from the Mumbai police. The Mumbai police however denied there was any such information.^[21] According to People's Union for Civil Liberties, the Gujarat police did not follow normal procedures in their investigations. No FIR was lodged with the local area police station where the encounter occurred,no charge sheet, no inquest report, and no witness statement.^[21] No bullet marks or damage was observed on the road or surrounding area.^[21]

S P Tamang report[link]

In 2009, a judicial probe into the incident found the four victims were killed in police custody. The report by the Metropolitan Magistrate S P Tamang submitted in the metropolitan court Ahmedabad on 7 September 2009 said the four persons were killed in police custody.^[14][22] It implicated a number of top police officials for the deaths, which were allegedly staged in order to win promotions and rewards.^[14]

The Ahmedabad Metropolitan court ruled that the killing of Ishrat Jehan was a fake encounter,^[5] and Ishrat's family stated that she was not connected with LeT at all. A petition led the high court to constitute a police team, headed by Additional Director General of Police Pramod Kumar to look into the incident.^[23]

In the 243-page report, Tamang named the "encounter specialist" of the Gujarat police, the then head of the DCB, D.G. Vanzara, among others, as the accused in the "cold-blooded murder" of Ishrat and three others.^[15][17]

Tamang's report said the Crime Branch police kidnapped Ishrat and the others from Mumbai on 12 June 2004 and brought them to Ahmedabad. The four were killed on the night of June 14 in police custody, but the police claimed that an "encounter" took place the next morning on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Rigor mortis had set in between 11 p.m. and midnight the previous night, indicating that the police had later shot bullets into Ishrat's body to substantiate the encounter theory.^[15]

Tamang said there was no evidence to link the victims with the LeT. There was also nothing to indicate that they had come to Gujarat to kill Modi.^[15] The report said explosives, rifles and other weapons allegedly found in the car, and the weapons found on their person were all planted by the police.^[15]

Claiming that the police officers were motivated by their personal interests in getting promotions and appreciation from the Chief Minister, Tamang included a list of top police officers, whom he held responsible. It includes Vanzara and his then deputy Narendra K. Amin, both of whom were already arrested in the Sohrabuddin encounter killing case. The list also included K.R. Kaushik, who was then the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner, P.P. Pandey, who was then the chief of the Crime Branch, and another alleged encounter specialist Tarun Barot.^[15]

The Gujarat High Court stayed the Tamang report on 9 September 2009 but said that Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Court could use the report.

Further investigation[link]

The Gujarat State Government challenged the report of the metropolitan magistrate, saying that the policemen accused of fake encounter were not given an opportunity to present their side of the arguments. The case was thus taken to the Gujarat High Court. The Gujarat high court stated that Ishrat Jahan staged shootout case was of national importance, and ordered the police witnesses to be placed where they would not be working as subordinates to officials accused in the case.

In July 2010, some media outlets reported that the American terrorist of Pakistani descent David Headley had named Ishrat as a member of Lashkar.^[24] However, in a letter to the Gujarat High Court, the NIA clarified that these media reports were false and David Headly did not speak about Ishrat Jahan.^[7]

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Karnail Singh, was set up to probe the case further. The SIT sent four teams to Srinagar, Delhi, Lucknow and Nashik to probe Ishrat's alleged terrorist links.^[25] The team's forensic and ballistic experts, reconstructed the events of the encounter.^[26]

On 21 November 2011, the SIT told the Gujarat High Court that the Ishrat Jahan encounter was not genuine. After the SIT filed its report, the High Court ordered that a complaint under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) has to be filed against those involved in the fake encounter.^[8]

References[link]

Narendra Modi નરેન્દ્ર મોદી
Chief Minister of Gujarat
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2001
Governor	Dr. Kamla Beniwal
Preceded by	Keshubhai Patel
Constituency	Maninagar
Personal details
Born	(1950-09-17) 17 September 1950 (age 61) Vadnagar, Gujarat, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence	Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Alma mater	Gujarat University[1]
Religion	Hinduism
Website	Narendra Modi
As of 9 March, 2009 Source: Government of Gujarat

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950^[1]) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben.^[2] He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat.^[3] In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously.^[4] He was elected again for a third term^[5] on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".^[6][7]

Personal life[link]

Modi was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State, India.^[8] During the Indo-Pak war in the mid sixties, even as a young boy, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations.^[9] As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation and was involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirmāṇ ("Reconstruction") Movement. After working as a full time organiser for the organisation, he was later nominated as its representative in the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[10] As a teenager Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother.^[11] Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He earned a masters degree in political science from Gujarat University.^[12]

Early activism and politics[link]

Modi was a pracharak (campaigner) in the RSS during his university years.^[12][13] He took up the challenging task of energising the party cadres in right earnest. In partnership with Shankersinh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Vaghela was seen as a mass leader, while Modi was recognised as a master strategist.

The party started gaining political mileage and formed a coalition government at the centre in April 1990. This partnership fell apart within a few months, but the BJP came to power with a two-thirds majority on its own in Gujarat in 1995. During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organising two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a political rally through India on a converted Toyota van) of L.K. Advani and a similar march from Kanyakumari (the southernmost part of India) to Kashmir in the North. After the exit of Shankarsingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to New Delhi as a General Secretary of the Party.

In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001. In 2001, Narendra Modi was chosen by the party to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel.

Tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat[link]

Personality[link]

Modi is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. He has a personal staff of just three. He is known to be a workaholic Chief Minister and an introvert.^[14] He ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanction which earned him the ire of VHP^[11] He is a crowd puller as a speaker. Modi has also tried to turn his image from an Hindu Nationalist politician to an image of able administrator. He wears business suits and is improving his command over the English language.^[15]

Awards and recognitions[link]

Modi was awarded Gujarat Ratna by Shri Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on celebration of centenary year.^[16]

Development of Gujarat[link]

As a Chief Minister, Modi started various 'yojanas' or plans. This includes:

• Panchamrut Yojana,^[17][18][19] a five-pronged strategy for an integrated development of the state,
• Sujalam Sufalam, a scheme to create a grid of water resources in Gujarat in an innovative step towards water conservation and its appropriate utilisation.
• Krishi Mahotsav – agricultural research labs for the land
• Chiranjeevi Yojana – To reduce infant mortality rate
• Matru Vandana – Providing preventive and curative services under the Reproductive and Child Health Programme
• Beti Bachao – Campaign against female infanticide to improve sex ratio
• Jyotigram Yojana – Provide electricity to every village
• Karmayogi Abhiyan – To educate and train government employees
• Kanya Kelavani Yojana – To encourage female literacy and education
• Balbhog Yojana – Midday meal scheme for students to encourage school attendance from poor backgrounds.^[20]

Vibrant Gujarat[link]

Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the Government of Gujarat in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat. the event has been held continuously since 2003.

Gujarat earthquake[link]

The biggest challenge which he had to face when he took over as the Chief Minister, was the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by the massive Gujarat Earthquake of January 2001.

Gujarat violence[link]

On 27 February 2002, a train was burned by a Muslim mob in the town of Godhra leading to 59 deaths, most of them Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodhya.^[21] Riots broke out in the state after it was suspected to be caused by Muslims, leading to 1180 deaths, many of them Muslims. Modi administration was accused of inaction over the riots and for encouraging them.^[15] As an aftermath of the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue. Even Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), allies of the BJP, asked for Modi's resignation.^[22][23] Modi submitted his resignation to the Governor and recommended the dissolution of the 10th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.^[24][25] In the following state re-elections the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.

In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a special team of investigators to look into the role Modi had played in the alleged anti-Muslim conspiracy.^[15] The team was appointed in response to the complaint of zakia Jafri, the widow of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was murdered in the riots.^[26] In December 2010, a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its report to the Supreme Court seeking answers pertaining to the Ehsan Jafri case, submitted that they had found no evidence against Narendra Modi.^[27]

However in February 2011, the Times of India reported that a confidential report from the SIT indicted Modi on several counts of alleged complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002.^[28] Most other sources have noted that the SIT report does not indict Modi for the riots due to lack of evidence.^[29][30] The Indian Express too said the report did not find any Modi involvement in the violence, though it did accuse him of watering down the seriousness of the situation.^[31] According to the Hindu, the report not only found that Modi tried to water down the seriousness of the situation, but Modi also implicitly justified the killings of Muslims, and failed to condemn the attacks on them.^[32] The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded an investigation into the publication of the report, claiming the leak was politically motivated.^[33]

The apex court refused to pass any order on the case and referred it to the Ahmedabad magistrate for a decision.^[34] In April 2012, a Special Investigation Team found absolved Modi of any involvement in the Gulberg massacre, arguably the worst episode of the riots.^[35]. On 7 May 2012, a Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae, Raju Ramachandran observed that Modi can be prosecuted under sections 153 A (1) (a) & (b), 153 B (1), 166 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity among different groups during the 2002 Gujarat riots.^[36]. However the amicus report has been criticised by the Special Investigation Team for relying heavily on the testimony of a perjurer^[37].

2007 elections[link]

Modi made a speech at Mangrol in which he justified the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, During the election campaign In response to Sonia Gandhi's speech calling him a "merchant of death",^[38] and referred to Sohrabuddin's killing. For this speech the Election Commission of India, a constitutional body governing election proceedings in India, cautioned Modi as it considered it as indulging in an activity which may aggravate existing differences between different communities.^[39] Modi won the election and continued his post as the Chief Minister Of Gujarat, he won with majority of votes of 122 seats out of 182 total assembly seats.^[40]

Conflicts with Governor Kamla Beniwal[link]

On 25 August 2011 Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal appointed Justice R A Mehta to the post of Lokyukta of Gujarat, a critical anti-corruption post that had been lying vacant since 2003. Justice R A Mehta was recommended for the post by the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in June. Since Governor Beniwal had made this decision without consulting and getting the approval of the chief minister and his council of ministers, the action angered Narendra Modi and his BJP party.^[41]

This marked the beginning of a strained relationship between Modi and the Governor. On 25 September 2011, Narendra Modi accused the Governor of running a parallel government in the state supported by the Congress. He demanded that she be recalled back.^[42] He also later accused her of delaying the progress of bills by not passing them.

The decision of the governor in the appointment of R A Mehta was challenged in the high court by the Modi government. The two member high court bench gave a split verdict on 10 October 2011. Later, a third member upheld the governor's decision in January 2012.^[43]

Foreign visits[link]

As the Chief Minister of the Gujarat State, to attract foreign investment in the state, Narendra Modi has made visits to foreign countries, including China and Singapore.

Narendra Modi made his first China visit in 2007 to invite investors Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit,^[44] and second visit in November 2011. One month after the second visit to China, the Chinese Government released 13 Diamond traders from India jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which the Chief Minister described as the consequece of his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.^[45]

In 2005 Narendra Modi was denied of diplomatic visa to the United States, in addition to this visa denial, he was also revoked from his already granted B-1/B-2 visa.^[46]

Sadbhavna Mission[link]

In the late 2011-early 2012 Narandra Modi practised a series of fasts in the name of Sadbhavna Mission. The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with 3 day fast with a view to strengthen the atmosphere of peace, unity and harmony in the state. He observed total 36 fasts in 26 districts, 8 cities including Ahmedabad.^[47]

Views and opinions[link]

Modi's position on terrorism[link]

On 18 July 2006 Modi delivered a speech criticising Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" like the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the Centre to empower states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the blasts in Mumbai.^[48] Quoting Modi:

Narendra Modi has frequently commented that if the BJP came to power at the Centre, they will honour the 2004 Supreme Court judgement to hang Afzal Guru.^[49] Afzal was convicted of terrorism in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack in 2004 by the Supreme Court of India and is in Tihar Jail.^[50]

On account of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, on Thursday 27 November, Narendra Modi held a meeting to discuss waterfront security along the coastline.^[51] The meeting decided to ask the Central government to urgently sanction the following:

• Increase the number of police stations along the coast to 50 (from 10)
• Increase the number of police to 1500 from 250
• 30 modern high-speed surveillance boats.

The 30 coastal boats, under construction at Goa's shipbuilding yard, will have the capacity to run at the speed of 25 nautical miles per hour. These are being manufactured under the Centre's Rs 58-crore grant for coastal security.^[51]

Views on criticism of Modi's governance[link]

In 2003, when Narendra Modi was asked about the conflict of his dreams for Gujarat's future with international criticism of his past activities, Modi said,^[52]

Modi's decision to link Gujarat's violence with the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US drew criticism from some observers, who contrasted it with the then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani's unpleasant apology for Gujarat in London a year ago.^[52] Modi responded to this criticism by The Guardian,^[52]

See also[link]

• Chief Minister
• Gujarat
• Bhartiya Janata Party

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Narendra Modi

Official

• @narendramodi Official & verified Twitter Account
• Narendra Modi Official website
• Narendra Modi Personal blog

Other

• Profile at BBC News

v t e Current Chief Ministers of Indian states (list)     Andhra Pradesh: Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy Arunachal Pradesh: Nabam Tuki Assam: Tarun Gogoi Bihar: Nitish Kumar Chhattisgarh: Raman Singh Goa: Manohar Parrikar Gujarat: Narendra Modi Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda Himachal Pradesh: Prem Kumar Dhumal Jammu and Kashmir: Omar Abdullah Jharkhand: Arjun Munda Karnataka: D. V. Sadananda Gowda Kerala: Oommen Chandy Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chauhan Maharashtra: Prithviraj Chavan Manipur: Okram Ibobi Singh Meghalaya: Mukul Sangma Mizoram: Pu Lalthanhawla Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio Orissa: Naveen Patnaik Punjab: Parkash Singh Badal Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot Sikkim: Pawan Kumar Chamling Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa Tripura: Manik Sarkar Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav Uttarakhand: Vijay Bahuguna West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Delhi: Sheila Dikshit Pondicherry: N. Rangaswamy

Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal
Born	(1968-06-16) 16 June 1968 (age 44) Hissar, Haryana
Education	B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering
Alma mater	IIT Kharagpur
Organization	Parivartan (परिवर्तन) Public Cause Research Foundation India Against Corruption
Political movement	2012 Indian anti-corruption movement 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement Right to Information Jan Lokpal Bill
Religion	Hinduism
Children	3
Website
http://www.pcrf.in/

Arvind Kumar Kejriwal (born 16 June 1968) is a retired Indian Revenue Service officer and an Indian social activist fighting for greater transparency in Government.^[1] He was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, for activating India's Right to Information movement at grassroots and social activities to empower the poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding the government answerable to the people.^[2][3][2][2] Kejriwal is also a Saathi (fellow) of the Association for India's Development,^[4] a Global Impact award winning NGO.^[5]

Early life[link]

Arvind Kejriwal was born in a Marwari family in Hissar, Haryana in 1968.^[1] His father was an engineer and he spent most of his childhood living in small northern Indian towns like Sonepat, Mathura and Hissar. He did his schooling from Campus School.^[6] Kejriwal graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Mechanical engineer in 1989.^[7][8]

Career[link]

Kejriwal joined Tata Steel right after his graduation from IIT Kharagpur. Kejriwal quit his job with Tata Steel in 1992^{[citation needed]} and spent some time working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, the Ramakrishna Mission in the North-East India and Nehru Yuva Kendra.^[9][10]

Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1995 after qualifying the highly competitive IAS examination.^[10] In February 2006, he voluntarily resigned from the IRS as Joint Commissioner in IT Department.^[11] After voluntary resignation from job, he founded Parivartan, a Delhi based citizens’ movement which works on ensuring a just, transparent and accountable governance. In December 2006, Kejriwal along with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri started Public Cause Research Foundation, which works for promoting better local self governance and RTI related campaigns^[12]

Right to Information[link]

He along with Aruna Roy and others, campaigned for the Right to Information Act (RTI), which soon became a silent social movement, Delhi Right to Information Act was passed in 2001^[7] and eventually at national level Indian Parliament passed the RTI in 2005. Thereafter, in July 2006, he spearheaded an awareness campaign for RTI across India.^[13] To motivate others Arvind has now instituted an RTI Award through his organisation.^[14] Kejriwal has been using RTI in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi Electricity Board and others.^[9][15]

Jan Lokpal Bill[link]

As a member of India Against Corruption (IAC) Kejriwal is an active participant in the movement for the enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill. He is considered a key figure along with social activist Anna Hazare.^[16] On August 16, 2011, Key members of the India Against Corruption including Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, and Manish Sisodia were arrested four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike by Hazare.^[17] Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare under a legal provision that bans public gatherings and protests at the park in Delhi where Hazare was planning to begin his hunger strike. Activists were later released same day although they spent two more days in the Tihar jail negotiating conditions put on protest.^[18] Kejriwal left the jail on August 18 and the protests started the following day from Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.^[19] After twelve days of protests and many discussions between the government and the activists, Parliament passed a resolution to consider three points in drafting of Lokpal bill.^[20]

Controversies[link]

Swami Agnivesh a former colleague of Kejriwal in Team Anna accused Arvind Kejriwal of diverting money from India Against Corruption (IAC) fund to his (Kejriwal's) own NGO. Kejriwal allegedly deposited Rs 70-80 lakh from IAC fund in his own NGO. The money was raised as the donation to IAC.^[21] Mr. Kejriwal responded to the allegation that the IAC was a "movement" not an institution and that PCRF was working as a secretariat for IAC.^[22]

In an article published in the Hindu newspaper in 22 August 2011, Booker prize winning author and civil rights activist Arundhati Roy alleged that an NGO run by Kejriwal received a donation of USD 400,000 from the Ford Foundation in the past 3 years.^[23] Arvind Kejriwal has since admitted that the NGO Kabir he runs along with Manish Sisodia, did receive funds from the New York-based Ford Foundation, but pointed out that it had stopped about two years ago. Kejriwal dismissed the view held by some which suggested that Ford Foundation has historically been linked to CIA, the US intelligence agency that used it for channeling funds to its recipients in foreign countries.^[24][25]

Personal life[link]

Kejriwal is married to Sunita, who is an IRS officer his batchmate from National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.^[8] They live just outside Delhi with their two children.^[10] and presently Additional Director in Serious Fraud Investigation Office.