Journalism of Courage
One father is a retired mathematics teacher who breaks down less than ten minutes into talking about his imprisoned son. Another is an orthopaedic surgeon who says he counts the hours, waiting for justice, by letting patients stream into his clinic well past midnight. A third is an 18-year-old student who runs a half-room library in his village. This is my comfort, he says, helping others read, as he waits to hear from his brother, in jail for six years.
There are five more.
Eight of 22 families in Azamgarh from where 14 men have been arrested over the last six years, accused of being part of the Indian Mujahideen’s terror plots. Seven others are missing, two have been killed.
One Sunday ago, Amit Shah was in town calling it aatankvadgarh (the house of terror). Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is contesting from here, has taken these families for granted. Narendra Modi was here, too, on Thursday. He made one reference to the “youth” of Azamgarh: “you will write the future of India”.
These eight families have 72 votes on May 12.
The Sunday Express meets them in the last days of Campaign 2014 for an opinion poll, of sorts.
1.
Family Spokesperson: Mohammed Haneef, 64
Relationship with suspect: Father
Name of suspect: Mohammed Sarwar
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 29, B.Tech, Electronics and Communication Engineering
Location of suspect: Jaipur jail since January 2009
Accused of: Planting bombs in 2008 Jaipur serial blasts (59 killed)
Status of case: Trial on
Are you satisfied with your lawyer?: Yes. But we cannot afford Ram Jethmalani or Fali Nariman
Who else in suspect’s family: Parents, three brothers, two sisters
Source of income: Pension as retired math teacher
Last time you spoke with him: In jail in March
One thing that reminds you of him: The memory of when I boiled milk for him, ran after him when he was a boy so that he grows up strong
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: All this has happened in your government, when your party was at the Centre and in the state (Rajasthan). I never hear you mention us even once.
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: You telephoned me after they took away my son, you told me we will get justice. How long do I have to wait?
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: I don’t want to meet him.
Number of votes in family: 9
2.
Family Spokesperson: Dr Javed Akhtar, 59
Relationship with suspect: Father
Name of suspect: Asadullah Akhtar alias Asad Haddi
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 24, B.Pharma
Location of suspect: Tihar jail, Delhi, since August 2013
Accused of: Plotting and execution of May 2008 Jaipur blasts (59 killed); July 2008 Ahmedabad blasts (56 killed); September 2008 Delhi blasts (26 killed); April 2010 Bangalore blast (15 injured); July 2011 Mumbai blasts (26 killed); February 2013 Hyderabad blasts (18 killed)
Status of case: Remand in process
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? No lawyer takes up these cases, so I helped set up the Association for Welfare, Medical, Education and Legal Assistance (AWMELA) to look for lawyers
Who else in suspect’s family: Mother, sister and brother
Source of income: Orthopaedic clinic
Last time you spoke with him: In jail, I am in regular touch
One thing that reminds you of him: His letter came last month, he asked if I was doing well
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: Digvijaya Singh arranged for my meeting with Union ministers but nothing came of it.
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: You could have put pressure for a judicial inquiry but you didn’t. Maybe defeating (him) this time is the only way to teach a lesson. (Akhtar contested in 2009 as an Independent candidate.)
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: Those we voted for didn’t help, why should those we didn’t vote for listen to us?
Number of votes in family: 3
3.
Family Spokesperson: Syed Ahmed, 48
Relationship with suspect: Uncle
Name of suspect: Chota Sajid
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 17, Class XI dropout
Location of suspect: Killed in Batla House encounter, Delhi, September 19, 2008.Accused of: Conspiracy linked to Jaipur blasts, Ahmedabad blasts, September 2008 Delhi serial blasts
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? Why do we need a lawyer, he is dead
Who else in suspect’s family: Mother; father died on April 19 this year
Source of income: Agriculture
Last time you spoke with him: All I remember is going to Delhi to collect his body, then burying it
One thing that reminds you of him: When I close my eyes, I see the gunshot marks on his skull
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: Please order a judicial inquiry. If it finds that my nephew was guilty, tell that to the whole world. If not, please put the policemen in jail.
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: We are the ones who vote for you. If you don’t help, who else will?
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: Let him tell us what he wants to tell us. I have nothing to say.
Number of votes in family: 8
4.
Family Spokesperson: Abu Saad, 42
Relationship with suspect: Brother
Name of suspect: Abu Rashid
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 34, studying for optician’s diploma
Location of suspect: Missing since September 24, 2008
Accused in: Not named in any case yet but investigators say he is key IM operative absconding
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? We don’t have our own lawyer. AWMELA is helping us
Who else in suspect’s family: Wife and seven-year-old son
Source of income: Agriculture
Last time you spoke with him: I got a call from Mumbai, my relatives said, please send him here because police are looking for him. I saw him board the train to Mumbai
One thing that reminds you of him: His child, he doesn’t know where his father is; I cannot even tell him that he is dead
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: You have to answer where my brother is. It was your government at the Centre and in Maharashtra. Where should I go?
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: We kept praising you and now you are contesting from Azamgarh. When will I find my brother? Or will the police one day say we arrested him near Nepal? Or found him dead?
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: He thinks we are all terrorists. What can I say?
Number of votes in family: 13
5.
Family Spokesperson: Amir Hamza, 28
Relationship with suspect: Brother
Name of suspect: Arif Naseem
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 24, Class XII
Location of suspect: Sabarmati jail, Ahmedabad, since September 2008
Accused in: Jaipur serial blasts and Ahmedabad blasts
Are you satisfied with your lawyer?: We don’t have a lawyer. AWMELA is helping us find one
Status of case: Trial on
Who else in suspect’s family: Parents
Source of income: Cellphone repair shop
Last time you spoke with him: In jail in February, for 25 minutes. He asked me how our mother was
One thing that reminds you of him: Everything at home reminds me that he is not there
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: You should have set up a fast-track court for all terror cases. How long do we wait for justice?
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: Please help us before our mother dies.
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: What can I say, he worked on the ek tihai (1/3rd) principle. (Excluding 1/3rd of the population.)
Number of votes in family: 10
6.
Family Spokesperson: Abu Amir, 40
Relationship with suspect: Brother
Name of suspect: Mohammed Habib
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 24, madrasa graduate
Location of suspect: Sabarmati jail, Ahmedabad, since December 2011
Accused of: Conspiracy, Ahmedabad blasts; attending terror training camp in Ernakulum
Status of case: Trial on
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? We have two lawyers in Ahmedabad arranged for by AWMELA
Who else in suspect’s family: Parents
Source of income: Readymade children’s wear in Azamgarh
Last time you spoke with him: In jail in April
One thing that reminds you of him: His letter came last month, he asked if I was doing well
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: Digvijaya Singh came and said he would help, he did nothing
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: Please ensure that there is a fast-track court for the cases
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: He has counted us all out, what’s there to tell him?
Number of votes in family: 10
7.
Family Spokesperson: Abul Qais, 18
Relationship with suspect: Brother
Name of suspect: Abul Bashar
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 28, Deoband graduate
Location of suspect: Sabarmati jail, Ahmedabad, since 2008
Accused of: Ahmedabad blasts, attending Ernakulum training camp, SIMI membership
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? I don’t know who our lawyer is
Status of case: Trial on
Who else in suspect’s family: Parents, wife and child
Source of income: Agriculture, elder brother is a religion teacher in Mysore
Last time you spoke with him: I met him in jail in March for 30 minutes but it seemed like five. He told me what an elder brother tells his younger one, to take care of our parents
One thing that reminds you of him: His letters from jail
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: The courts will give us justice but you had your prime minister. He never once talked about us.
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: You said Muzaffarnagar riots wasn’t because of your government. We agree, but then what?
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: Why should he listen to me?
Number of votes in family: 8
8.
Family Spokesperson: Mohammed Shakir, 41
Relationship with suspect: Brother
Name of suspect: Bada Sajid
Age, educational qualification of suspect: 22, Class X, jewellery course
Location of suspect: Absconding since Batla House encounter, September 2008
Accused of: Conspiracy in 2006 Mumbai train blasts (187 killed); Jaipur blasts, Ahmedabad blasts, Delhi blasts
Are you satisfied with your lawyer? We can’t afford our own lawyer. We are being helped by AWMELA
Who else in suspect’s family: Parents, three brothers, two sisters
Source of income: Agriculture
Last time you spoke with him: We talked on September 18, 2008, the night before the Batla House encounter
One thing that reminds you of him: How can I answer such a question? Please let this remain within me
One thing you want to tell Rahul Gandhi: You make such a big issue of the encounters in Gujarat, you have CBI going after IB. Why don’t you probe the Batla House encounter?
One thing you want to tell Mulayam Singh Yadav: You promised to get us justice. You had enough seats to put pressure on the government, you did nothing.
One thing you want to tell Narendra Modi: His people say we should go to Pakistan, what can I tell him?
Number of votes in family: 11
