http://tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne130908YetAnotherScapegoat.asp
Yet Another Scapegoat? A conviction in the Varanasi blasts is based only on the statements of the investigators SRAWAN SHUKLA IT WAS a packed court in Lucknow on August 26 when Waliullah Qazmi was convicted for his alleged role in the Varanasi twin blasts of March 7, 2006. As Additional Sessions Judge Shamsher Chandra sentenced the 32-year-old Phulpur imam, allegedly the Area Commander of the Harkat ul Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI), to 13 years in jail, he remarked on how the prosecution had supplied "conclusive evidence" that the arms allegedly recovered during Waliullah's arrest were meant for terrorist activities. Waliullah thus became guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which earned him 10 of the 13 years of his sentence; a further charge of "illegally keeping weapons" made him additionally culpable under the Arms Act, getting him another three years. How incontrovertible was the evidence against Waliullah may be ascertained from the fact that of the prosecution's eight witnesses, all were policemen and not one was an eyewitness. Apart from the "recovery" of RDX and arms allegedly found in Waliullah's possession, no other material evidence was produced to substantiate charges that he was a HuJI terrorist and the mastermind of the blasts. As he readies to file his appeal against the conviction, Qazi Sabi Ur Rahman, Waliullah's counsel, says he has found many gaping holes in the prosecution's case. "There are substantive grounds on which Waliullah should actually have been let off instead of being sentenced to prison," he claims, adding that Waliullah would certainly benefit from the August 26 verdict in the cases against him in Varanasi and Ghaziabad where, too, he is being tried. A scrutiny of the verdict, Rahman says, lays open inconsistencies and investigative cornercutting galore. Most witnesses gave contradictory statements. The charges under the Unlawful Activities Act were not part of the original chargesheet but were added later by investigating officer VP Tiwari, with no evidence to justify them apart from the investigating team's own statements. Says Rahman, "Statements given by investigating teams are always suspect as in most cases they are concocted and cannot be counted as conclusive evidence." Further, no sanction was taken to file the second chargesheet as the case diary, necessary for seeking sanction, had been submitted to the court. No attempts were made to obtain a photocopy. When the case reached court, committal was done under the Explosive Substances Act without waiting for the Agra Forensic Science Laboratory report on the explosives seized during the arrest. When this lapse was pointed out, Chandra took it lightly and termed it a "clerical error". The gravity of the "error" is compounded, however, when one considers how the 1.5 kg of RDX, two detonators and fused wire allegedly recovered from Waliullah were never sealed. This was revealed during the cross-examination of Pancham Lal Yadav, the Platoon Commander of the Bomb Disposal Squad, who admitted during cross examination that he had been given an unsealed consignment of "some material" to be destroyed on April 21, 2006 at the Gosainganj police station. Another witness in the case, BR Saroj, then SHO, Gosainganj, categorically admitted in court that, except for the accused's confession, he had no other evidence against him. Observes Rahman, "This is in blatant violation of the Indian Evidence Act, which says that confessions to police officers are not admissible as evidence." Due to the charged atmosphere on the verdict day, Waliullah's family members were not present in court at the time of the judgment. A week before, however, Waliullah's 90-year-old father, Habibullah, stopped taking his medicines, swearing to stay off them until his son was cleared of the charges against him. with the verdict clearing Walilullah of sedition charges, the family is jubilant. "I knew he was innocent," says Humera, Walilullah's 30-year-old wife. His mother, 80- year-old Zohra, wants to know why all of Phulpur turned out to block roads to protest his arrest last year if he were a terrorist. Zohra's words testify to the esteem Walilullah is held in around his locality, particularly because of the school he set up here on his return from studying in Deoband. "All he wanted was to teach poor children," says Humera Khatoon, who used to help him with the school. "We had regular teachers for Hindi, English and Maths and he had planned to start vocational training to help our students earn a living." Agrees neighbour Mohammed Ahmed, "He earned respect throughout Phulpur because of his zest for teaching poor children." As for his own family, Walilullah has three children, all less than five. His youngest, a daughter, was born after he was jailed and he has not yet seen her. According to Habibullah, his youngest son's trouble with the law goes back seven years and extends to his brothers, Obaidullah and Wasiullah as well. Habibullah says his sons have been declared terrorists because, in 2001, they refused to supply wooden cots from Obaidullah's sawmill free of cost to the Phulpur police. At the time, they were threatened they would be falsely implicated in criminal cases if they did not comply, and indeed, three months later, all three were behind bars on terrorismrelated charges to languish in jail for seven months. Since then, the family has been made scapegoats each time there is a terror strike in the state. Their worst fears came true when Waliullah was arrested by the Special Task Force on March 26, 2006, and suddenly became the Varanasi twin blasts mastermind and a key HuJI operative in Uttar Pradesh. On August 26, as he was escorted from court, Waliullah was seen offering thanks — associates of his, arrested on similar charges, had been given life sentences and convicted on the much graver IPC charges of sedition, waging war against India and criminal conspiracy. They may also have fallen victim to the prejudicial attitudes of the law enforcement agencies: in Walliullah's case, no one was willing at first to represent him, and the sole lawyer who tried to do so withdrew when Fast Track Court judge Dharam Raj Mishra questioned his contesting the case of a "terrorist". Mishra is also reported to have said that "Waliullah was a member of the Lashker-e-Toiba and should be hanged". Waliullah applied for and was granted a transfer of his case to another court, but his associates were not so lucky. NOW, AS his counsel says, the central question is: how is it possible for Waliullah Qazmi to be punished under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 when he was acquitted of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the state and sedition? Assistant District Government Counsel (ADGC) Aslam Javed Siddiqui is asking the same question, though from the other side of the fence. He plans to file an appeal to press for prosecuting Walilullah under various terrorism- related IPC laws, and blames the state home department for failing to bring these more serious charges against him. "When the court declared Waliullah a terrorist by sentencing him under the Unlawful Activities Act, how could he be let off under sections of the IPC," he wants to know. It's a conundrum that just may have to go all the way to the Supreme Court before it is finally resolved. • |
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Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
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MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
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