Fire At Your Doorstep

Unlike Kafka’s Joseph K., Iftikhar Gilani is now free. Feeling the freedom of being free in his owncounty. Free of all the false charges, lies and accusations imposed upon him by the home ministry and thepolice. But who will wipe away the wounds on his mind and body, and the humiliation and suffering of hisfamily? If this government is not responsible for this grave injustice, who is?

For seven long months, Iftikhar Gilani, senior journalist with the Jammu-based Kashmir Times, was keptunder detention under the instructions of the central government. He was labelled a terrorist and charged withbeing in possession of deadly secrets which allegedly endangered the security of the country. His continueddetention was also cited as the BJP-led government’s commitment towards its ‘war against terrorism’.

His protests that the ‘deadly secret’ with him was a published article freely available on the internet  fell on deaf ears. Bail was repeatedly denied to him under government pressure. Now, after seven months, thegovernment has decided to withdraw the case against him, but only after the director general of militaryintelligence (DGMI) told the court that the document found in possession of Gilani was not only a publishedarticle freely available in the public domain, but also of no security significance.

At first, the home ministry was inclined to contest the opinion of the DGMI, but then sensing the adversepublicity being generated both nationally and internationally, decided to withdraw the charge. Thus, afterseven long months, Gilani will be able to see his wife and two small children.

There is then the case of Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, an academic in Delhi University, who has been chargedand convicted by the designated court for being involved in the conspiracy to attack Parliament. The onlyevidence produced against him was:

• That he was known to and had been in touch with Shaukat and Afzal who have also been held to be involvedin the conspiracy.
  
  
• That a day after the attack, in the course of a conversation with his brother on the telephone, when hisbrother asked, "What happened in Delhi?", he reportedly replied, "that was necessary".

Knowing the other conspirators, who hailed from the same district, or being in touch with them is hardlyadequate evidence to conclude that Geelani was involved in the conspiracy. If this becomes the basis forconviction, then all politicians would be guilty of being involved in conspiracies in which any of theircolleagues has been involved. The telephone conversation between Geelani and his brother was on all kinds ofissues including the syllabus and prospectus of an examination. In the course of this conversation,Geelani’s brother asks him, "What happened in Delhi?"

Though Geelani’s response to this question is unclear in the tape produced by the police, the policeproduced a vegetable vendor who translated his reply as, "that was necessary". Geelani explained that thisconversation referred to some domestic problem between him and his wife. This is a plausible explanation.Under the law he cannot be convicted — far less sentenced to death — in such circumstances.

Even if the conversation did refer to the attack on Parliament and Geelani’s response was what the policeclaimed it was, at worst it shows a casual lack of condemnation of the attack. Several people I spoke to onthat day said that it was a pity that the terrorists had not been able to accomplish their mission. This wasnot a serious reaction. This was simply a populist reaction based on utter cynicism and disgust at the stateof affairs in the country. Also, such is the contempt with which politicians are held today.

Geelani did not stand much chance of getting a fair trial in the atmosphere created by the government,which had made this trial not just a test case of the draconian POTA, but also a demonstration of their toutedcommitment against ‘Pakistani sponsored terrorism’. The fact that the Zee telefilm, based on the policeversion which graphically depicts Geelani as having been involved in the conspiracy, was slated to be telecasttwo days after the judgment of the designated court was scheduled to be delivered, tells its own story.

Would Zee have dared to show this film (which was endorsed not just by the Delhi Police but also by L.K.Advani and the prime minister) two days after the judgment was to be delivered, if they were not certain thatGeelani would be convicted? What if he had been acquitted? For Zee to telecast a film two days later showinghim to be involved in the conspiracy would have made it an open and shut case of civil and criminal libel. Butthey spent a huge amount of money from December 6 onward to advertise that they would show the film onDecember 13. It appears that they knew that Geelani would be convicted, or that the delivery of the judgmentwould be postponed from December 11 to 16, or perhaps both. In any event, the showing of such a film during atrial would unfairly prejudice the accused, and amounts to criminal contempt of court.

The Shiv Sena has now threatened Ram Jethmalani, indeed any lawyer who takes up the case of Geelani, withdire consequences. A mob of Sena activists, armed with lathis, went to his office in Bombay, almost broke openhis office door and shouted slogans to intimidate him. The Delhi Shiv Sena chief threatened Jethmalani withviolence if he dared to appear for Geelani.

All this has been happening in full glare of the media and of the police authorities (and the home ministryand PMO). It not only amounts to criminal intimidation but to a gross contempt of court, since it’s a clearinterference with the administration of justice. Yet, no cases have been registered against these Shiv Senaanti-socials who appear to have the tacit support of the Centre.

All this is of a piece with Praveen Togadia’s repeated public threats to give "death sentence to thesecularists", etcetera.

The similarity of the rhetoric and methodology that the VHP, Shiv Sena and top BJP leaders are now using tothat used by the Nazis in their pursuit of power is unmistakable. The arousal of pseudo ‘nationalisticfervour’ by the continuous invocation of a foreign threat as the source of all problems is only the firstpoint of similarity. The demonising of an entire community to build communal support is the second point ofsimilarity.

The open advocacy and use of violence against not only the minorities (as happened in Gujarat with fullState sponsorship) but also against those from the majority community who stand up for the fundamental rightsof all Indian citizens, including the minorities, was the trademark of the Nazis who are being emulated by theShiv Sena, the VHP and allied fronts of the Sangh parivar. These are unmistakable portents of fascism that weare seeing in the country today.

We would be deluding ourselves if we believe that Vajpayee or Advani is too moderate to allow the State tobecome fascist. Though they may choose to distance themselves from Togadia to appear more statesmanlike nowand then, the entire campaign in Gujarat was spearheaded by the Modi-Togadia duo and repeatedly blessed byAdvani. Even a flip-flop Vajpayee did not do anything to stop the communal campaign in Gujarat. In fact, hehas now openly taken a hardline Hindutva stance, as his recent utterances show.

In any case, after Gujarat, Vajpayee and Advani are only marginal factors; it is the Togadias and Modis whowill be calling the shots.

We would also be deluding ourselves if we believe that the Hindus will be safe from this brand of fascists.No one can be safe for long from people who have no respect for human rights and think nothing of killinginnocent people or sending them to prison or to the gallows in their lust for power.

India is a land of minorities. Everyone belongs to some minority. When the fascists are through with theMuslims and Christians, they will turn on the others. Soon it would be you or me. The fire is at our doorstep.If we do not act now, it will soon consume us all.

(The writer is a public interest lawyer, Supreme Court of India. This article was first published by TheHindustan Times)