Over the past few years, hundreds of innocent Muslims have been jailed and often brutally tortured in India on flimsy or false charges as per stories documented by journalists belonging to the Tehelka, an Indian magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations.
This Tehelka story, which says that several innocent Muslims are languishing in Indian jails even without sufficient incriminating evidence, has been discussed at length in a recent editorial in the Daily Saudi Gazette. The editorial criticizes Indian judicial system for detaining Muslims on terrorism charges without concrete evidence.
According to the editorial, “The recent acquittal of Muhammad Hussain Fazli and Muhammad Rafiq Shah in the Delhi serial blasts case once again raises important questions about how India’s criminal justice system works when it comes to terrorism-related cases. Fazli and Shah are the latest in a line of dozens of youths who were accused of being terrorists or terrorists’ sympathizers, but all these accusations were without plausible evidence. Resultantly, they were released by courts, but after spending more than 11 years in jail. Their lives have been destroyed by India’s criminal justice system.”
The things pinpointed in the editorial are based on reported facts. Now it has become a routine within the law-enforcement system of India that within hours of any terror attack, a bunch of Muslims, mostly youngsters, are arrested even without prima facie evidence, let alone concrete proof of their involvement.
Following such arrests, these youths are forced to languish in jails for years though they are released in the end by courts because of lack of evidence. Thus, so many precious years of their lives are wasted in jails along with the concomitant trauma that they have to undergo while their families are stigmatized.
The Saudi Gazette editorial also reflects upon the nexus between the Indian media at large and the Indian police as it says, “With a few honorable exceptions; the media, electronic as well as print, acts as echo chambers of the police. In September 2006, a blast killed 35 people at a Muslim graveyard in Malegaon (in the state of Maharashtra). The media blamed Muslims but investigations later showed that Hindu nationalists carried out the attack.”
The editorial continues: “Everywhere the story is the same, irrespective of the party in power. And as the data suggests, most of the arrests took place when the Congress was in power. Far too many people are arrested and most of those detained are never charged or convicted. In fact, the arrest-to-charge ratio for terrorism offences is substantially lower if compared to the charge rate for all criminal offences. Governments in the centre and in states misrepresent or exaggerate the terrorist threat. The police are under constant pressure to prove they are alive to the danger and arrest individuals, even though they might have little in the way of evidence that an offence has been or about to be committed. The need to produce results can often mean they ignore due process and announce arrests without gathering enough evidence to put before courts. Some are arrested on the suspicion that they are members of banned organizations such as the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). In the pervasive atmosphere of fear and suspicion created by the war on terror worldwide, even expressing the kind of views once falling under the category of freedom of speech would invite trouble.”
The Saudi Gazette has also quoted an example of Nisaruddin Ahmad who was acquitted recently in a blast case after remaining in the Jaipur jail for 23 years. Discussing this phenomenon further, the Saudi daily adds: “India is not the only country where the police are extra-vigilant when it comes to dealing with terror attacks, real or potential. It is also true that the police can’t afford to be complacent when the public fears for its safety. But no fight against terrorism can be effective when a section of the population loses all trust in the investigation and prosecution system. Tackling the terror threat in the wrong way will contribute to radicalization of the youths in the targeted community, a former Home Office terrorism adviser in the UK said in 2015. All countries should remember his words. As for the community leaders, they need to do something more than blaming the police or playing the victim card. The arrest in Kerala and some other states of more than 60 people on suspicion of Daesh (the so-called ISIS) links or sympathies is a warning signal. This should alert the community leaders to the need to do something to defeat the efforts of those who want to spread extremist ideas, especially among the unwary youths.
It is worth-mentioning that Pakistan’s entire political and military leadership is dealing with terrorism keeping in view humanitarian considerations, which means only those elements are eliminated which are proven enemies of Pakistan and Pakistanis. And now the National Action Plan has also gained momentum in all the provinces after the Nawaz Sharif government has finally resolved to do away with all the past shortcomings and inadequacies, albeit necessitated by circumstances.