Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Delhi & Haryana, organised a Jan Sunwai (Mass Hearing) programme on September 10, at Gandhi Peace Foundation, where the victims of illegal and unconstitutional arrests unveiled their harrowing tales of atrocities and brutal torture they met at the hands of police. The problem of illegal arrests is not just about some particular states, but in fact it is a national phenomenon, engulfing the whole of India.
Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, General Secretary Welfare Party of India, while throwing light on the subject said, “Muslims are becoming victim of State Terrorism.” He said the issue of terrorism got a new reprise after 9/11 and it was a time when NDA government was in power. He raised some very interesting point and said SIMI was banned immediately after the Parliament attack just as a war was immediately waged against Al-Qaeda after 9/11. He said one of the ministers at the centre under the UPA government clearly said that “the attack on Parliament was fake and no Pakistani had died in the firing, instead they were some Kashmiri youth”.
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, in his presidential speech, lamented how media jumps to conclusion without checking the veracity of any news. “Can anyone think that Muslims can go on killing other Muslims? Immediately after the attacks of Ajmer, Malegaon, etc., media, in its knee-jerk reaction, pointed the fingers at Muslims,” he added. Taking a dig at the recent exodus of the North-easterners, he questioned how come it became possible that trains were arranged for all of them in such an emergency situation (indicating that the whole episode of exodus was planned). “Why no newspaper or TV channel showed the news where Muslim groups were persuading North-easterners to stay back in Bangalore and assuring them security?” he asked. “
It is now high-time for right-minded people to come forward and brainstorm the ways to tackle with the utter preposterous inhumanities that are taking place,” the Jamaat leader appealed.
Mentioning about the conversation of Abu Lulu Feroz, a poor man and Umar, the Caliph of the Islamic State, he highlighted how Umar refused to take any action against Feroz as there was no proof against him, though he had threatened to kill him.
Mohammad Ahmed, Secretary JIH, talked about the dehumanisation of individuals and narrated some heart-rending tales of barbaric and inhumane treatment during police remand. He also expressed concern about the fear psychosis that is gripping the lawyers of the country who refuse to take up the cases of Muslims, fearing the fate of Shahid Azmi.
SR Darapuri, former IG Police, UP, said all this is the handiwork of some sections of Police and IB. “Atrocities in the name of terrorism are carried out under a planned policy of the government which it follows relentlessly,” he alleged.
Ajit Sahi, a senior journalist, expressed a little satisfaction over the fact that in the span of four years people have been able to muster courage and have come up to that level where they are openly declaring police biasness and brutalities, which was not possible a few years back. He however stressed materialising the way forward to deal with this menace as judiciary alone could not do solve this issue. “If one Aamir will be released, 10 other Aamirs can be arrested,” he added.
ND Pancholi, Advocate Supreme Court of India, human rights activist and President PUCL, said the need of the hour is mass movement and agitation, and emphasised the power of the people. He also questioned the way the government is dealing with terrorism and accused it of dealing superficially rather than not digging at the core of the issue.
When victims came to tell their stories, almost all of them, echoed relatively the same thoughts. Being the victim of injustice and oppression, not by individuals, but by the state and central agencies backed by the government, they all have lost all the hopes of getting justice.
Father of Saqib Nisar, who got arrested in Batla House encounter case, said they have cut off all the hopes from any individual as almost all of them have their vested interests in it. It is now that Jamaat-e-Islami came and offered some help. “Only Allah can do justice to me,” he added.
Mohammad Aamir, who spent 14 long years behind the bars without any proof of involvement in any case against him, narrated his painful story. “I was walking down the road and was dragged into a jeep and my hands and eyes were tied. Initially I thought I had been kidnapped, however it was only later that I got to know that they are not kidnappers, but police…I was kept for eight days in illegal confinement where I was tortured brutally….They made me sign 100s of blank papers, my nails were ripped off from my body and I was given electric shocks…The number of cases against me were much more than my age…,” said Aamir.
He further lamented the fact that a section of media feels patriotic in defaming and aggrandising Muslim suspects, which must be stopped. He remembered how newspapers went on to such an extent that one day they projected me as a Pakistani. “When Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Purohit enter the court, they are showered with flowers but when my mother used to come to pass her hand over my head she was thrown by the authorities saying ‘go and take the permission first’. What kind of justice is this?” he asked.
Mr. Abdur Rehman, father of Zia-ur-Rehman, said his son’s age was 22 and the number of cases slapped against him was 40 and that too without any proof. This is nothing but a clear strategy to prolong the trial, he added.
Saifullah Jamali, brother of Ghayyor Jamali, who was picked up from his home, on charges of terrorism, said his brother never went to Delhi but there have been charges against him in Delhi state.
Mr. Shakeel Siddiqui, brother of Qadeel Siddiqui, narrated how Qateel was picked up by Delhi police, kept and was tortured for 6 months only to be handed over to Pune to be killed. He further narrated the harassment by some IB personnel who time and again go to his house and question about the friends of Qateel. “They never bothered to ask about our well-being,” he cried.
Engineer Mohammad Saleem, Secretary JIH, compeered the programme and announced that a Jan Sunwai (Mass Hearing) programme was organised in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and soon there will be programmes in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and other states as well to make people aware of such grave injustices the very citizens of our country have gone through and are going through.