Justice
and Last
It would be easy when you read a
book like the one Mufti Abdul Qayyum Husain Mansuri has penned, I am a Mufti
And I Am not a Terrorist in Gyarah Saal Salokhon Ke Peechen, a
book recounting the unspeakable experience of being dubbed a terrorist for a
crime he and others did not commit. Though it took close to eleven long years,
on May 16 2014, the day the man who was home and chief minister of Gujarat (and
indicted by the judgement dated May 16 2014) swept to power in Delhi, the Mufti
was set free acquitted.
It was past 8.30 p.m. on the next
day that he and the others walked out of the prison in Ahmedabad to a changed
reality. That city charred and scarred by the genocidal carnage of 2002 had
seen Mufti (like so many other community leaders ) set up relief camps for the
shelter and succour of the maimed and the traumatised. For that he had to pay
and suffer the ignominy of being dubbed a traitor to his own country. Another
Mufti, Maulana Umerji underwent a similar tragic faith after he had run the
Godhra Relief camp where among others, Bilquees Bano had sought shelter.
The rank unprofessionalism of
sections of the Gujarat Police’s Crime Branch (evident to this day...remember
Vanzara walking of jail in February 2015 saying “Acche Din Aye Hai ???...”
as also their Kashmiri compatriots shows a cross state, bonding by the security
agencies when it comes to ‘terror’ attacks that is a real challenge to the
Constitutional bedrock of our democracy.
There are many things we could say
about the book published by the Jamiat Ulama Gujarat and Maharashtra, about the
quality of printing editing production etc. All that could have been better,
much better. But much more than the obvious, it is the courage of conviction
that shines through in the very act of publishing. Regardless of the not most
presentable quality, the fact that an organisation like the Jamiat has brought
this shame faced truth before us all, raw and questioning, should make all of
us Indians, think. Will it?
We live in a state of de-santised
emotions where the daily firing squads led by some television anchors prevents
any introspections into systemic lapses. Serious injustices.
It was bad enough to read about the
pathetically cruel attempts to make the Mufti write and re-write the letter
that would damn him (and which was so convincingly disbelieved by the Supreme
Court) with a pack of lies concocted by the sick minds of the Gujarat crime
branch. One sentence that struck me deeply was towards the end of the book when
the Mufti is describing the undescribable joy he feels the day of the
‘convicts’ release. Outside the jail, his jail companion, Hjai Farooq had
made a bed of flowers that looked like a carpet...it was an emotional scene as
fellow convicts, relatives all hugged each other. Loud and victorious slogans
rent the air. Large sections of the print and electronic media were present and
detailed euphoric interviews were taken. Very little got pubished or telecast,
however. As the Mufti charmingly puts it, “But perhaps it was the censorship of
the media, they censored thee whole talk.” Remember it was also the day when an
election result had been declared.
As Mufti Abdul Qayyum Mansuri says
the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court is a symbol of true justice which,
in this fearlful and depressed environment is a ray of hope and motivation for
all, including Indian Muslims.The Judgemet apart from acquitting the innocent
has exposed the lies of the oppressor and the incompetence of the investigation
agencies. Here was a case where the Supreme Court had used its special powers
and re-examined chits in Urdu, so called Fidayeen’s clothes, dissected the
cynically concocted evidence.
The moment the historic judgement
was delivered, one of the senior advocates for the accused Ms Kamini Jaiswal
stood up and said that “As our clients have been proved innocent and stayed
imprisoned for 11 years, the Court should take immediate action for their
release...because even after being acquitted the formalities and legal
procedures are lengthy in which the Sessions court and Jail Authorities take
many days.”
A wireless fax message was sent to
the Sabarmati Jail authorities by the Supreme Court thanks to which the
unfairly and unjustly held accused were released the next day!!
The quiet drama that was unfolding
here in the Supreme Court, a human drama that reaffirmed faith in justice and
non-discrimination meant that the Court accused all accused including those
sentenced to lesser sentences. The Court held that the case was totally foisted
on them and they were uninvolved and innocent.
What
is remarkable is that the POTA Trial court and the High Court of Gujarat had
both convicted the accused and therefore the SC effectively was overturning the
concurring judgments of 2 courts. The entire case rested on confessions given
by the accused, which were repudiated later on (i.e. withdrawn by them). The SC
pointed out that there were so many inconsistencies amongst the confession
statements themselves, that they could not be believed, apart from a important
point, that there was no independent evidence to lend support to the
confessions. The SC pointed out poignantly that the effect of such failure to
notice inconsistencies was that the accused found themselves convicted and
sentenced for serious crimes.
The
following quotes are poignant and tell their own story:
Para.
131: " ..... take note of the
perversity in considering this case at various stages, right from investigation
level to the granting of sanction by the State Government ..... We being the
apex court cannot afford to sit with folded hands when such gross violation of
fundamental rights and basic human Rights of the citizens of this country were
presented before us.”
Para
136: "Before parting with the judgment, we intend t express our
anguish about the incompetence with which the investigating agencies conducted
the investigation of the case of such a grievous nature, involving the
integrity and security of the Nation. Instead of booking the real culprits
responsible for taking so many precious lives, the police caught innocent
people and got imposed the grievous charges against them which is resulted in
their conviction and subsequent sentencing".
Such
verdicts no doubt reaffirm each citizens faith in the judiciary. The tale of
trauma and injustice deserves fair recompense and prosecution of the
perpetrators.
Ends
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