Manju - 15 years

It is 15 years, since Manjunath Shanmugam, fondly called Manju was shot dead while doing his job right. Am happy to recollect that several good people worked hard to put his murderers behind bars amd emsure his memory is not lost by doing good deeds in his name. Here's a moment to remember Manju.

Manju - 14 years on

I am a little embarrassed that I remembered this a week before the 19th, when I was travelling and forgot to post. Today (26th when I am actually making this post) is a week and 14 years since Manju was shot dead on the job.

So much has changed in the country that I am unsure whether most people care about honesty and corruption. Still, one does hope that one gets better and so does our country.

Here is a brief moment in memory of that brave man. I still remember you Manju. Bless your soul as ever.

Remembering Manju - 9 years on

My batchmate, Manjunath was killed on this date 9 years ago. I have made various posts in the past, on this topic - see posts tagged "Manju" on this blog. This eve, Zee Movies will telecast the movie version of the story.

Please watch it if you can and while you are at it, spend a minute reflecting on Manju's unplanned sacrifice. Even if you don't see the movie, spend a minute in Manju's memory today.

9 years since Manju was shot dead, just doing his job. Bless your soul, Manju

Remembering Manju

My blog has had a permanent side-bar link dedicated to remembering Manju for a while now.
It is 7 years to the day since Manju was murdered while on duty. See this link for some minor posts I have made in the past.

This post is to just make everyone who reads this observe a moment of silence while reflecting on why Manju lost his life.

Bless his soul.

Manjunath's death anniversary

It is four years since Manju was murdered lest we forget. Manju, we will not forget you...

And as if his memory was not sobering enough, there is dishearterning news of this person named Anand Prakash who has been abducted on his job in Uttarakhand
What will it take for us to demonstrate we have a conscience?

Remembering Manju

It is 3 years since Manju left us. May his soul rest in peace.
Manju, you will be in our hearts and minds always

Still Remembering Manju

Today is the 2nd death anniversary of Manjunath.
Spare a thought for him while you go about your day.

Read the other posts and associated links for who Manju was and what he did. Use the label "Manju" below.

Special thanks to the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust for their tireless work.

Manju, we do remember you.

Sentences in the verdict on Manju's case

This page should have the details soon, but the summary is that capital punishment has been announced for Monu Mittal and life imprisonment for the others found guilty

Judgement in Manju's Case

Read this
All 8 accused have been found guilty.
The sentence will be announced on 26th Mar.

This brings to fruition a lot of hardwork put in by the Trust and others. We bow to their humble, sustained and selfless efforts

Manjunath Shanmugam case verdict on 23 March, Friday

Mail from Anjali starts here ->
This is it. The trial is over, with closing arguments concluding on
2nd March, less than 9 months after trail started on 5 June 2006.
The Judgement will be delivered on Friday, 23rd March, at Lakhimpur
Khiri Sessions Court, 3 hours from Lucknow.

Those of you who had planned to attend the'next hearing' - there
won't be any more. Please plan to attend this one.Logistics
arrangements - pick up from airport, stay at IIML, transport to/from
Khiri - can be arranged.

Your attendance is critical as our prime support group, IIML PGP2s
will have finished convo and returned home by then. PGP 1s will have
exams. The Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award ceremony is on 24
March at Bangalore . Hence attendance from core Trust group will be
divided.

Email me at amullatti@gmail.com, and I will put you in touch with
people travelling from Delhi. Work the phone and attend with friends
and colleagues.Please post on your batch/work egroups as well.

Regards,
Anjali Mullatti
IIML '93
Trustee, The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust.

<- Mail from Anjali ends here

CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN MANJUNATH MURDER TRIAL FEB 26-28TH

Mail from Anjali->
Barely nine months after the trial started (June 5th 2006), the
trial is coming to an end with closing arguments scheduled for Feb
26-28th, 3 days in a row. The defense did not produce any witnesses .
Kamini Jaiswal ,noted Supreme Court lawyer, and I.B. Singh, reputed
Lucknow High Court lawyer, will be working with the Public
Prosecutor for the arguments. Ms. Jaiswal will be travelling from
Delhi for this.
These lawyers have made the cause their own. So much support has
been received by them, by the media, by the police force - now is
the time for all of us, the professional corporate community, to
show that this is our cause, too.

Please attend one of the days. Email amullatti@gmail.com /
h.jaishankar@gmail.com for logistics arrangements.

Regards,

Anjali Mullatti
IIML (Batch of 1993)
Trustee,
The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust
Dir: 91.821.4288 688
<-

Mumbai Marathon 2007 & Manju

The defence in the hearing of Manju's case begins on Jan 19th. As during last year, I will be running in Mumbai on Sunday, the 21st of Jan, with a bandanna in Manju's memory. I hope this will serve to draw attention to Manju's case.

As with last year, I continue to hope that justice will prevail and the wrongdoers punished.

Here is a thought for that brave friend who lost his life while doing his job.

Dear Manju,
May your soul rest in peace.

Manju R.I.P

Its exactly a year today since Manju got murdered while doing his job.
May his soul rest in peace.

In the meanwhile we wait for some justice.

I looked back at what I wrote a day after I found out last year.

Nothing has changed.

TV channels today did mention this. CNN IBN even ran a special segment with some of my batchmates chipping in and the tireless Anjali also saying a few words.

Hope justice is served.

Also lend your support to the trust to fight Manju's case. Contribute money to fight the case. Speak up when needed.

I would think Manju is perhaps best remembered by trying our best to not compromise when we have the choice in our own lives.

May god bless his soul.

Manju and Rang De Basanti...

For those of you in India, please read on. For the rest, maybe we can get that capsule recorded and put it up on the web somewhere...

Apparently Aamir Khan himself asked for Manju's story to be included...

At 12.30 p.m on Monday, 2nd October, watch Star Gold. Why? Because, prior to the 1 p.m. premiere of Rang De Basanti, the channel is showing a feature 'Rang De Basanti salaam'. This feature offers a salute to ,quote, 'five unsung heroes who have risen above and beyond their everyday lives" unquote; Manju is one of the five. Manju's 5 minute story will cover (based on what was shot), his family, friends and the Trust; as also shots of one of the IIM campuses and recreation of the incident. The other four stories are also really worth watching, from what we have heard.

Update on Trial of Manju's killers

The following is from a mail from the MST.
Mail starts here ->
UPDATE - FIRST TRIAL DATES, 5-7 JUNE 2006 (also posted on
www.manjunathshanmugamtrust.org)

- Media informed; press note released.Much preliminary preparation done by the prosecution team.Mr. IB - our lawyer - has been completely committed, involved and done star quality work. He is well known with a strong and good reputation, even amongst the media.
- Trustees met with HT editor in Lucknow and reached Lakhimpur Khiri on 5th morning.
- Big crowds; 5-6 TV channels, plus TOI, IE and HT reporters apart from local press.Our endeavour - no individual names, photographs or quotes. Press note only, which talks of the Trust as a group.
- All eight accused brought in with larger police contingent as they got violent with the press and raised slogans of `bandhi union zindabad'
- Hearing started at 12.30 p.m, and this was the only case heard
till court closed.
- Two policemen - who caught two of the accused with the body - gave evidence and were cross examined.
- There are seven defence lawyers, as except for two of the accused, every one else has his own lawyer - and each is given an opportunity to cross examine.
- That ended Day One. Trustees returned to Lucknow and thence back - on Day Two, Kamini Jaiswal, the noted Supreme Court lawyer, with a Trust volunteer (also a friend and batchmate of Manju's) - took over.
- Ms. Jaiswal's presence also created a big impact. The volunteer's presence showed that more people are involved, and he was asked for quotes on Manju.
- Day Two was the start of examination of the non-state witnesses: Manju's landlord, and a neighbouring petrol pump owner.
All three gave proper and relevant evidence. This was important. They were confident during the intensive cross examination.
- Ms. Jaiswal and Mr. IB left after discussing the strategy for Day Three.
- Day Three saw the proceedings being adjourned. The witnesses could not be produced due to unavoidable reasons.
- The Judge is proceeding on vacation and has given us next dates only of 6-7 July
- We have sent letters requesting daily hearings to The Hon'ble Sessions Judge, The Hon'ble Chief Justice, Allahabad High Court, and The Hon'ble CJ, Supreme Court.
- If necessary we will meet the CJs to push this.
Days of mixed feelings - relief, optimism, and much sadness. It is distressing to see the accused; to hear the graphic details; see the photographs. The resolve gets reinforced.. Quote from one of the Trust attendees: "I am happy that I came. I can't express the way I am feeling."
PLEASE JOIN US AND ATTEND THE HEARINGS. NEXT DATES 6-7 JULY. EMAIL US. THIS WILL HELP PRESENT A SHOW OF STRENGTH

<-Mail ends here

Trial of Manju's Killers - 5,6,7 June

The trial of Manju's killers is scheduled for the 5th (6th and 7th) at Khiri (near Lucknow). A few Manjunath Shanmugam Trust (MST) members will be attending the trial.

Anyone else interested, please contact the trust.

It would be of great help if the system witnesses a display of normal Indians throwing their might behind someone who was gunned down on duty.

Manjunath Shanmugam Trust

This is from a post on my alumni egroups and almost verbatim. For those of you who had asked about how you could contribute to Manju's cause, here is some info.

Message Starts Here ->

Today, Feb 23rd is the birthday of Manjunath Shanmugam - an IIM L (2003) alumnus who lost his life for his fight against corruption. He died on November 19th, 2005.

As a Sales Manager with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Manju turned down bribes and ignored threats, to do his job – check rampant adulteration of petrol. He was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri by a petrol pump owner and his gang.

To most of us, though we never met him, Manju is extremely familiar and is, in part, within every one of us. This is one cause we CANNOT turn away from. We have no excuse. We must ensure that his death does not go in vain.

The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust is now a legal entity with 2 trustees - Anjali Mullatti (IIML '93) and H. Jaishankar (IIMB '91).

The immediate and urgent focus of the trust is to take up the legal battle and ensure quick justice for the murder case. The murderers must not go free.

The broader objectives of the trust are

a. To establish and maintain an award for individuals/institutions working to uphold the values of truth and honesty in the face of danger to themselves.

b. To provide aid to individuals fighting a legal battle to uphold the values of truth, honesty or justice in the Indian corporate, government or public matters.

For updates on what we have done to date and our next steps, please visit the trust website: www.manjunathshanmugamtrust.org

How can you help?

Firstly – funds are needed to pay lawyers' fees, case costs, build an award corpus.. this will be a long and tedious battle. Please donate just one day's salary for the cause.
Our first donors: Rs. 44,500 ($ 1000) from Sanjay Khanduri, Wharton Class of 2006, and Rs. 30,000 from Akhil Krishna, IIML 2003.

Secondly, if you can commit time and effort, please write in and be part of the team.

Thirdly, if you have close contacts in media, police, legal, judiciary who can help, please let us know.

It is heartwarming that so many people have already reacted immediately and generously – across the spectrum of media, legal, police and the IIM fraternity. Be part of that group.


How do you donate?
1. Write a cheque favouring `The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and courier it to:
2909/1, Raghavapriya, 3rd Main, V.V. Mohalla, Mysore 570 002, India
2. Write a cheque favouring `The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and deposit it in any HDFC bank drop box, with a deposit slip, account number 0651000091870.
3. Do an online money transfer , to the HDFC Bank a/c , from your ICICI /HDFC/Citibank a/c. Account number 0651000091870.

Currently FCRA regulations prohibit us from accepting foreign remittances - we're working on getting special permission. For now, please route all overseas donations via your regular Indian rupee accounts.

We have also applied for income tax exemption for donors under Section 80 (G).

Please contact the undersigned for any further clarifications.
Anjali Mullatti
Class of '93
91-821-4288688 or 98801-91323

<- Message Ends Here

Update on Manju's Case

The chargesheet has been filed in Manju's case by Mr. Zaki Ahmad, SP of Lakhimpur. One of my batchmates who has met him in person was touched by his sincerity and efforts to get to the heart of the matter in Manju's murder. We hope that the rest of the official machinery is up to the task to deliver justice.

Audio File of my Radio Interview

You can download from here. You need to wait for a few secs before the download link is activated since it is a free service. Thanks to Anti for the software link that helped me convert this from the tape of the interview.

The Radio Interview

This morning I was at the studio of Radio City for the interview. I met Vasanthi, the host and the producer, Preeti. They asked me if I wanted coffee or tea or badam milk! I politely refused saying my mom had made some awesome filter coffee and I did not want to ruin the taste. Vasanthi remarked that maybe I knew about their vending machine! I said that even my office had the same lousy contraption.

Since I did not start right away, I waited for sometime and chatted with Preeti about Manju in particular and life in general, about running, etc. I did get Preeti to read Manju's profile in IIMPRINTS, the batch memoir. She was fairly touched herself and mentioned the encounter of a friend of hers with adulteration in Rajasthan.

And then the ebullient Vasanthi said I could go into the recording studio. The first thing that hits you when you enter is, is that it is so bloody small for something that produces so much music! We started off with an introduction to Manju as I knew him. I also talked about what the idea behind my message on the bandanna was . I had a list of songs we knew Manju liked and had taken it. Sadly 2 of the 5 were in Tamil and the 5th, Kandisa by Indian Ocean was not available. So we could play only 2 of the 5, I would have wanted. The good thing is that I had carried IIMPRINTS. So when Vasanthi asked me what Manju was like, I did manage to read out an excerpt from what was written against Manju's entry. We closed out with a song.

Vasanthi managed to record the entire interview and gave me a tape. I shall try and convert that to mp3 soon and get it uploaded somewhere. It should be 10 MB, since the interview was about 10 mins, although I was in the studio for about 30 mins. And when
I left, Vasanthi made one valiant attempt to be the gracious hostess and get me drink the output of the vending machine. Today was not the day for the machine. I met Cindu, the hostess of the matinee show, on my way out. Also witnessed some yuppie talk between Vasanti and someone outside the studio, during the show, when they were comparing the color of their denim and what not (until today, I had only heard this high energy exchange every morning on radio)! I guess the energy level is needed to run a 4 hr show.

My mom cannot stop calling me Dharmendra after hearing it close to a dozen times on radio today! It sounds so weird! Somebody stop her. Its driving me nuts.

I am really happy that this went well and the entire interview was about Manju. Thanks to Radio City once again and all involved in making this possible, incl. Sweety who painted my bandanna in the 1st place.