For the last few years, all across India scores of young Muslim men are being jailed and tortured for their alleged links to terror. However, the police are invariably unable to muster clear-cut evidences except in few vague theories. Sheer communal prejudice and a copycat war on terror mentality on the part of keystone cops seem to have led to a bizarre kind of situation wherein hundreds of arrests of innocent Muslim youths are taking place without actually catching the real culprits.
Social prejudice and religious discrimination must be separated from terror investigations. So far, with the exception like the Additional Sessions Judge Vijendar Bhat’s scathing denunciation of police conduct in terror cases in February 2011, ironically no one sees the courts warning the investigating agencies strongly enough. It is a positive sign that the NIA has developed a culture of admitting it was wrong.
Lastly, the police should be completely transparent on why the Muslim youths were caught and must openly state on what basis the youths were arrested. It is only when the cult of secrecy on flawed investigations is broken, that we can make sure that other innocents are not caught and those who are continuing to bomb with impunity are brought to justice.
Mohd Ziyaullah Khan
Nagpur