In a significant move, the Akhilesh government in Uttar Pradesh has withdrawn terror charges against Tariq Qasmi, who was arrested in connection with the serial blast at Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad in November 2007, which killed 15 people and injured 60 persons.
Sarvesh Chandra Misra, Home Secretary, while talking to reporters in Lucknow on 24 April, said the withdrawal of charges againstQasmi has been sent to the court through Law Department and the final decision in this direction would have to be taken by the court. Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid were arrested by Special Task Force on 22 December, 2007 from Barabanki railway station. The ATS at that time had claimed that Tariq Qasmiwas the area commander of HuJI in Uttar Pradesh and Khalid Mujahid the head of the action group of HuJI. On the contrary, as per the findings of the Nimesh Commission, Tariq was picked up from Azamgarh on 12 December, 2007 and Khalid from Jaunpur on 16 December, 2007.
Intense socio-political pressure on the Uttar Pradesh government to fulfil the promise made in the manifesto during the last assembly elections to release innocent Muslims has yielded some positive results. It is certainly a welcome step and may help the party to regain lost confidence of Muslims which is paramount to exert political dominance of the party on the national stage if there is split verdict in the 2014 general elections. The party is aware of the potential of Muslim vote and if its lion’s share comes in the party’s basket then it would certainly help the party to play decisive role before and after general elections.
How much more such acquittals and withdrawals of cases will be required to wipe out the prejudices and stereotype mentality rooted in the mindset of the police,investigating agenciesand the media that after every blast only the Muslim youth are falsely implicated needs to be looked upon. The very often repeated line after every blast by the police and the media has created a wrong impression of Muslims in the minds of the people and therefore it becomestheir moral obligation to make people believe that Muslims are also law abiding citizens who love and care for their country as others do, and not to be looked upon with peculiar eyes in the aftermath of every blast. After every acquittal news stories must double the number of stories after the arrest in order to make people believe that all those arrested are not terrorists.
The prejudiced minds are demonising Muslimsin India and abroad. How the community is looked upon in India and abroad can be gauged with the fact that senior minister Azam Khan, from the same government that has announced that terror cases against Qasmi has been withdrawn, was detained for at least 10 minutes for questioning at Boston International Airport on 24 April despite the fact that he was accompanying Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavto present a study on the KumbhMeladuring a symposium on South Asia at Harvard University. Protesting against frisking of Azam Khan, both Akhilesh and Azam Khan have boycotted the event at Harvard University.