In A Free State

I am sure AnanyaVajpeyi means well, and I share her belief that "if Geelani is grievously wounded (no matter who aimed the barrel of a gun at him), it is our freedom that lies bleeding at thedoor," but when she asserts, "Geelani wassuspected of being part of a plot to attack the Indian legislature for reasonsthat had nothing to do with his overt or covert political activity: he was of Kashmiri origin and in contact with relatives still living in the Valley, he was a Muslimin the regime of a BJP-led coalition government," it leaves a very badtaste in the mouth, to say the least.

Let me point to Outlook's own reportage on the subject which remindsus that "the cops had managed to trace them on the basis of calls made to the terrorists'cellphones".

The same is repeated even by Prem Shankar Jha in his defenceof SAR Geelani:

"The only evidence brought against him at his trial is that "from the study of printouts it also came to notice that all these mobile numbers (Guru's, Afzal's and Gilani's) were also in contact with each other just before the attack on Parliament on 13.12.2001".

I entirely agree with Jha and all those who rightly protested the arrest ofSAR Geelani in the Parliament attack case, but it would be obvious to all thatto invoke one's being Muslim or Kashmiri "in the regime of a BJP-led coalition government"is as pathetic and absurd a charge as Mohammed Azharuddin claiming that he was being involved in thematch-fixing scandal because he was a Muslim. I feel personally violated anddeeply insulted by this cheap gimmick. Yes, the Delhi police,under pressure to solve a high-profile case, grievously erred, to say the least (more about thatsome other time), in going by merely circumstantialevidence, but the fact that he was exonerated and released in fact brings me to mymore urgent problem with Ms Vajpeyi's piece.

Which is that that she seems to blithely elide the fact that senior journalists and respected members of the Indiancivil society spoke out in protest and that competent lawyers fought his caseand, more importantly, that he was released by the HighCourt -- which also, by the way, alluded to the fact that the evidence linking Geelani to the attack was the phone conversation he had with Afzal and Hussain,which, it pointed out, "by itself, and without anything more on record ... is notsufficient...." -- should in fact restore our faith in the Indianstate. Indeed, even senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani welcomed Geelani’s acquittal, saying the verdict "will restore the confidence of J&K’s inhabitants in the integrity and competence of the Indian judicial system".

But Ms Vajpeyi would have us believe otherwise andmake it analogous to some figure in ancient Roman law and indict the Indian state itself:

The homo sacer is placed under a ban – that is to say, he is banished from the company of other men, and at the same time abandoned by the legal and juridical order. This state of banishment and abandonment renders the life of the homo sacer less than the politically-defined and legally-protected life of a citizen: he is reduced to what Agamben calls "bare life" or "naked life". In this state, which lies outside the realms of both politics and the law,

the homo sacer may be killed, without any entailment in the form of punishment or reward, by anyone who wishes. The killing of this person is neither a crime (for no law is broken), nor a sacrifice (for no ritual is fulfilled). The ban excludes him from both human law, which governs the sphere of political activity, and divine law, which governs the sphere of religious activity. The life of the homo sacer is less than a life; consequently, it can be extinguished with impunity..

Consider this startling fact: S.A.R Geelani is the homo sacer of the Indian state, which seeks to bolster its fragile sovereignty by sequestering this man, chosen at random, from every discourse of law, justice, politics or religion, and killing him, plain and simple, because it can.

Much as one sympathises with what has happened to Mr Geelani, it seems absolutely ridiculousto me that someone would even seek to draw an analogy with the verypitiable and pathetic -- and, in this case, irrelevant -- home sacer.

Geelani has not beendenied recourse to the legal and judicial process. The civil society has rallied around him.The courts have given him justice (even if we can all, in a different debate,bemoan the fact that an innocent man was harassed and that he and his familysuffered). It is therefore strange that Ms Vajpeyi should claim that Geelani"effectively has been rendered less than a citizen, and deprived of his fundamental rights, his legal protections, and his proper place in the bodypolitic".

It is obvious, but it needs reiterating for those whomight get taken in by rhetoric, that the "armour of citizenship"has not fallen "away from Geelani" even when he declaresgrandiosely that the "Kashmiris want their state to be unified, and independence from both India andPakistan". (I would be accused of being a sarkari musalman, a BJPpartisan or, worse, a Sanghi and the colour of my knickers might become the subject ofdiscussion if I were to point out that Mr Geelani's notions of azaadiseem garbled at best, and that what has befallen to KashmiriPandits in the Valley -- or the Shias in PoK and the Northern Areas andGilgit -- is actually more akin to what Ms Vajpeyi so grandiloquently describes asthe fate of the homo sacer, so perhaps I better desist, for now atleast).

Let us remember that the judiciary which set Geelani freeis very much a pillar of the Indian state. That is what distinguishes theIndian state from the rogue states that surround us, where the judiciary iscompromised and civil society hasbeen rendered impotent. It is not the time to address the issue of the status ofminorities in our immediate neighbourhood, but let us not forget that it is thesame derided and demonised Indian state, however imperfect, that finally delivered justice to MrGeelani.

While one appeals to its highest judiciary, it would also be useful to alsonot forget that sometimes innocent individuals undergo tremendous personalhardships, as indeed Mr Geelani has (and may no one ever be in his shoes), but Iwould argue that this price is not too high when it comes to ensuring that the legitimacy of the state is ensured, for after all it is thatand its instruments which provides us collective security. Instead of saluting the robustness of the Indian civilsociety and judiciary that steadfastly stood by Mr Geelani, all we get instead are these highly impassioned andhighly illogical parallels, and, yes, lest we forget, some equally vacuous vituperations on howhorrible the Nazis were and why they succeeded. All of that might get one laurelsfrom liberal and confused academic circles abroad (and it would seem, here) but it insults the very intelligence of anydispassionate reader.

I therefore respectfully submit with due humility that while all the gyaanabout the homo sacers et al is highly useful in increasing the general knowledgeof those less privileged us who are not as erudite as Ms Vajpeyi, it hasnothing whatsoever to do with the case under question. Even the fictional hacklawyer Perry Mason would have objected to these invocations of "Kashmiriand Muslim", BJP, homo sacers and Nazis on the grounds that it is all "incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial".

Indeed, au contraire, I would go to the extentof saying that Ms Vajpeyi's misplaced analogies do serve an unwitting butimportant function of reminding us of the role of the civil society in anymature democracy -- and that of the Indian civil society, I am proud to say, hasbeen exemplary. And I must also place on record my compliments to Ms Vajpeyi for explicitly stating that she was not accusing the Delhi Police for thisattempted murder.

I am in entire agreement with her, as I stated at the outset, that if Geelani is grievously wounded (no matter who aimed the barrel of a gun at him), it is our freedom that lies bleeding at the door.But leaving aside Ms Vajpeyi's article, the current "discourse" in general once again reminds us of the disturbingtrends and questions that need urgent attention and engagement..

The presumption of police complicity and "staged encounters" raisesits own set of questions and would require a more detailed examination, perhapsin another article at another time. The motive of this attack andthe identity of the assailants and their patrons remains murky and unclearat this point, but do those who, unlike Vajpeyi, assert with conviction that theDelhi police or "rogue elements" in it are behind this attack realisethat they are at least as guilty, if not more, of presumption without evidence,as Delhi police can be alleged to be in pursuing its case against Geelnai in theSupreme Court in the Parliament attack case? Or at least of gross, criminalnegligence because it derails the whole discourse and debate that we shouldinstead be having?

The role of the police, as always, leaves much to be desired, to put itpolitely, but one would expect more responsibility from "Delhi Universityteachers in Defence of S.A.R Geelani". Sadly, their approach reminds one of MrBush's "if you are not with us, then you are against us"..

Unfortunately, the same double standard seems to apply to issues that get pickedup by polarised groups on either side of the fence. Be it Goa (just imaginethe hue and cry if the recent coup by the Governor had happened when the "BJP-led coalitiongovernment" was in power), Godhra (contrast the reaction to the"interim" Godhra report released tactically before Bihar elections andthe hushing up of the Nanavati Commission report on 1984 riots), grant of Padmaawards (those on the hate list of the earlier government get awarded, as does, interestingly, MrGhulam Nabi Azad's wife) or, for that matter, let's take the Shankaracharya case (we buy the policeversion in that case but not the police version in the Geelani case? Whyis the Shankaracharya assumed to be guilty? Should it only be left to thosewho are his followers or those who wish to make political capital out ofthis case to speak up in his defence? I would, en passant, also like totake this opportunity to place on record my appreciation for Mr Prem Shankar Jha,the sole exception in almost the entire English press, for having at least spoken out. )

What does it say about us as a people? That we are allpartisan, prejudiced and polarised? That the selective screams and silences are deafening?And that the very concept of "secularism" and"civil society" sometimes does sound more than hollow? Perhaps theproblem, as insightful commentators would remind us time and again, is not withthe victims but their self-styled spokespeople? That perceived partisan attitudes might actually be coming in the way of seeking thetruth and over the top charges may even be shifting the focus away from victims?That the sympathy for them may actually be getting diluted by the antipathy forthose who presume to speak on their behalf?

This long rant is not to imply even remotely that those protesting the attackon S.A.R. Geelani should not do so unless other crimes of commission or omissionhave been redressed, but just to point out that some of their assertionsactually would do a great disservice to the cause itself. The road tohell, we are often reminded, is paved with good intentions, and all those whopresume to speak on behalf of entire communities or for such cherished ideals asliberty, fraternity and justice would do well to seriously introspect on theharm they have done to the very causes they speak to espouse. And that appliesequally to the Islamic, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or, indeed, the Left or Right orsecular fundamentalists.

Shabnam Ali is a post-doctoral researcher who works with disadvantaged children.