Aarefa Johari - NIA does a U-turn on Malegaon blast case, accused Muslim men plunge back into helplessness
The National Investigation Agency can’t seem to take a stand on the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case, and nine Muslim men accused of the crime are paying the price for its flip-flops.
In 2014, the NIA had
asserted in special court in Mumbai that there was no evidence linking the nine
Muslim accused to the September 8, 2006 blasts that killed 37 people in
Malegaon. Instead, the Agency had implicated members of the Hindutva extremist
group Bajrang Dal in the case.
In July 2015, Sharad Kumar, the director general
of NIA, told theEconomic Times that when the
agency investigated the case, it found the Muslim accused were
"innocent". This Tuesday, even while maintaining this stance about
its own investigations, the NIA refused to discharge the terror charges against the
nine Muslim men.
On April 12, the NIA’s
counsel Prakash Shetty told the court that the discharge of the case against
the Muslim accused could not be allowed because two other agencies –
Maharashtra’s Anti Terrorism Squad and the Central Bureau of Investigation –
had named them in the case and the court had to look into their evidence too.
Of the nine men who
were arrested in 2006 and released on bail in 2011, two have already died. The
rest have been left feeling helpless and clueless about their fate, as the tag
of “terror accused” continues to dangle over their heads. For now, they have
their hopes pinned on the special court’s verdict scheduled for April 25.
‘We sensed
something fishy’ : Farogh Anwar Magdumi, an Unani doctor in
Malegaon and one of the nine Muslim accused, says he sensed a danger to their
fate soon after NIA prosecutor Rohini Salian claimed, in 2015, that she was
under pressure to “go soft” on the Hindu accused in the Malegaon blasts case.
“I believe there is
definite political interference in this case. Ever since Salian stopped
representing us, the NIA has not taken a clear cut stand on whether the charges
against us should be withdrawn,” said Magdumi, speaking to Scroll from Malegaon
soon after Thursday evening prayers.
“The NIA is the only
agency that has prosecution rights in this case. But we’ve seen that the
prosecutor representing the Maharashtra ATS is always present in the court even
now, when he has no legal right to interfere,” he said. “We just sensed that
there is something fishy going on.” Magdumi, the son of a
retired school principal and father of two, was arrested after the blasts on
charges of being a member of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India. He
describes the past 10 years of his life as painful and full of sorrow. “When I
was in jail, my family had to survive on my father’s meagre pension,” he said.
Although Magdumi was
able to renew his private clinic practice as a Unani doctor after getting out
on bail, work has not been the same. “I have to leave work and lose income
every time I have to visit Mumbai and attend court hearings. I am used to such
pain and hardship because of my jail experience, but now that the state of
Maharashtra is clearly against us, I feel rather helpless.”
‘We are innocent,
should not have suffered’ : Noorul Huda
Shamsuddoha comes from a different socio-economic background from Magdumi, but
his ordeal has been similar. Accused of planting one of the bombs and allegedly
belonging to SIMI, Shamsuddoha says he faced third degree torture for 48 days
at a stretch when he was arrested in 2006. He works as a labourer folding
clothes at a powerloom factory, but often feels weak even for such work.
“Five years in prison
have taken their toll on my body, and I often have to miss work because of
court hearings,” said Shamsuddoha, who makes between Rs 1,200 and 1,500 a week
to support his wife and two babies. “I spent my jail time fruitfully,
completing my BA degree and teaching Urdu to other inmates. But all nine of us
are completely innocent and should not have had to suffer so much.”
Shamsuddoha claims he
began to lose faith in the NIA when he saw the Agency’s prosecutors mingling
with counsels of the ATS and defence lawyers of the Hindu accused in court.
“How can both groups be considered accused at the same time? Something definitely
felt wrong,” he said.
As they wait for the
decisive April 25 hearing, Magdumi, Shamsuddoha and the five other accused draw
strength from the fact that at least in Malegaon, they have public support.
“All of Malegaon believes in us and supports us,” said Shamsuddoha. “Now all we
can do is pray to Allah to take this case off our backs.”
see also
Public Appeal - Resist degradation of Indian criminal justice system
Smruti Koppikar - Maharashtra CM has no will to pursue my father’s murder
Petition in Supreme Court Accuses NIA of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases
After Malegaon, Ajmer Blast Case Faces Allegations of Sabotage // Witnesses turn hostile in Samjhauta case
Smruti Koppikar - Maharashtra CM has no will to pursue my father’s murder
Petition in Supreme Court Accuses NIA of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases
After Malegaon, Ajmer Blast Case Faces Allegations of Sabotage // Witnesses turn hostile in Samjhauta case
"The masterminds of the 26/11 attacks are treated like heroes in Pakistan. We are not there yet, but if hidden hands nudge the judicial system to free murderers of the saffron variety, we will be soon"
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
