..Not Guilty

..Not Guilty

     Huge tall doors make sound, a young man of 32 comes out of a small door carved in the bigger one. None of us need any prompting to help understand what those doors mean. The smart handsome man steps out. Looks back, lifting his chin to see the top of the door, walks silently but in style. A friend, a close relative is waiting for him, he completes his walk, a style statement as well, gives a great hug, eyes shine, tears appear, roll down the chicks. His face exhibits the satisfying, calm look, revealing a sense of relief. The destiny has finally swung in his favour, the truth has prevailed, the man was declared not guilty by the court a day ago and is now a free man. Breathing fresh air, hugging relatives. At home parents wait for him with wet eyes and somewhere in the remote corner two beautiful eyes are killing time with overflow of mixed emotions, every second is worth hundred years, desperate to end the wait which is definitely in sight, the deserted look in the eyes are gone. An atmosphere filled with emotions, sentiments, romance, relief, all the stuff needed to captivate the audience. It could have been a storyline of an Amirkhan movie, perfectly setting the scene for the great flashback, keeping all of us spellbound in the expectation of a interesting unfolding story. But not any more for Mohammad Amir.

      His story also travels along a similar path to an extent... a handsome man of 32, walking free after acquittal by court... but unfortunately follows the trajectory of a tragedy. He is out of the jail but after spending unenviable 14 long years in it, went in at 19 after arrest by police. He is declared not guilty by court but has lost more than count of fourteen years. His father left this mortal world, mother paralyzed, almost all the assets exhausted in trial, and his youth lost in the tall confined walls. As he comes out, he has for his welcome deserted youth, destroyed education, uncertain future and worst a stigma of a traitor that he was forced to adorn for all these 14 years. His father ran a toy business. He was to join the family business. One morning he was on his way to market, a green gypsy moved parallel to him. Before he could understand anything he was picked up by the police. He was arrested as suspect in the serial blast that took place in New Delhi in 1997.

    One Pakistani national was also arrested in the same connection. The chargesheet claimed that he was an LeT operative, he had been to Pakistan for training in arms and ammunition, learned to make and explode bombs and was involved in serial blasts that shook Delhi in 1997. He says he was tortured, beaten up in an isolated cell and finally forced to confess his role in the blast. He admits that he had been to Pakistan for visiting his elder sister who lives in Karachi where he had to prolong his stay for more than a month as he contracted jaundice there. His defense is he went to Pakistan eight to nine months after the blast, making a point as how could he have got training after the blast. All the charges against me are fabricated, false and police have framed me in this case, argues Amir. The court gave verdict in his favour, he now is pronounced innocent but the question is, is the justice done? He spent 14 years in jail, lost all his youth in confinement, today he is innocent but at what cost?

            The financial condition is in shambles, mother in vegetative health what the future holds for him? What are the options left for him?  If he is not guilty then what about those fourteen long years in custody? What is compensation for it or rather can that be compensated? The story of Amir appeared in Indian express almost fifteen days back. In our country of billions one youth with destroyed future is not going to get the headlines but headline or not he has his life ahead of him, a small world cracking under the impact of systemic apathy, his trial hasn’t ended, it simply has began the day verdict was given. All the talk of justice done or denied converges at questions like what’s next? Who is responsible for the punishment he had been through for no crime of his? Who will rise for him? Community leaders, NGOs, humanitarian organizations, but can the govt. escape responsibility? One question leads to another without an answer that can address the woes of Amir.

     The fundamental question is why was he arrested? Was he arrested only because he belonged to a particular community? Whenever there is a terrorist attack all we do is search for the suspects in a particular community. When the pressure mounts on the police the arrests are made and are often done recklessly. The Malegaon and Samzauta Express investigation later revealed that the culprits were different from the initial arrest. To some extent it is understandable that the police search for the suspect in area with high probability but what if the arrests are made under public pressure, just to save skin? All that the society needs is an immediate solution to any investigation, once some people are behind the bar the public outcry stops, the society forgets everything, after fourteen years when somebody like Amir comes out there is no outcry, no sympathy for him. Do we really expect that only his society should stand for him? Is his case a community issue or a humanitarian issue that needs attention of whole society? What about our judicial system that took 14 years for declaration of innocence of a man languishing in jail? He almost has served a term for no fault of his.

     There are some broader concerns about the behavior of society. As a society we tend to victimize a particular community in the wake a blast, an assassination or a terrorist attack. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated there was violence against Sikhs. Hundreds were killed in the riots. When we hear of blast in our first thoughts we try to relate the crime to a community. We tend to believe that all of them are sympathizers of terrorists, a notion politically suitable but detrimental to the social harmony. Terrorists don’t belong to any religion for the bomb that goes off does not differentiate people on the basis of religion, caste, creed; it just destroys everything that falls in its striking range. They are only criminals. Any religious, community labels only generate hatred and it is often counterproductive. It also tends to set dangerous trends, under pressure police tend to make arrests just to cool impatient society. It is always easy, make arrests from a community labeled as compassionate towards the terrorists. Society is not surely going to wait for the final verdict of court. It only is content with the quick fix solution of arrests. The system is aware of this; the reason why men like Amir suffer. It is always easy to support the laws like POTA but when its juggernaut flattens hopes of an innocent to get justice, a ground fertile for the germination of seeds of new breed of terrorists becomes available.

                                                                                            

        We are not the only society that responds like this. After 9/11 even in the developing world the reaction about the Arabs was one of terrorist. Anybody wearing turban was instantly looked with suspicion. In the crisis we respond in different ways. First we try to get closer to the community we belong to. Once safe we search for the people responsible for it. Then the answers are sought in the communities whom those people belong to. It is then followed by hatred and victimization of community. In the process the dreams of men with no privileges are lost without any mention. Since the answers are sought at wrong place we don’t find them, and when the reality points to an uncomfortable zone, planting of stories begin, facts are twisted to suit the political agenda. Minorities start feeling insecure, majorities become belligerent, ultimately opportunists make merry and fabric of social harmony gets damaged. The so called developed world is no exception. The cycle of violence breaks only when a leader with strong will and better vision takes lead.

      Amir’s case is a representative of systemic apathy, societal indifference, political neglect but for an individual it is a matter of life ahead. His arrest must have made headlines but his acquittal did not. A story on the second page is what a fortunate mention he got. Saif’s martial art exploits in a restaurant hit the headlines, the Tv channels were filled with breaking news of the insignificant brawl, allegations and counter allegations just flew around, columns were wasted in print media… simply because we read. The associated glamour blinds us.

Amir … unmentioned, forgotten…left to himself sits in the single room …looks in the dark... for a ray of hope… a thread to a future… safe and satisfying…

Will he ever hit the headline?

** Based on a news in Indian Express dated 8^th February 2012 by Vijaita Singh**