afzal guru – The Metrognome

What did it take to defend Parliament attacker Afzal Guru in court? In her book, lawyer Nandita Haksar explains all.

by Humra Quraishi

I confess I am appalled by the Afzal Guru hanging. Hanged and buried in absolute secrecy, without informing his family and without sensitivity to basic human rights – but there is also a bigger picture here.

I did not know Afzal Guru and had never met him. A few years ago, I read his lawyer, the respected activist and human rights campaigner Nandita Haksar’s book, Framing Geelani, Hanging Afzal: Patriotism In The Time of Terror. Published six years ago by Bibliophile South Asia, I had attended its launch here in New Delhi, where some of our best-known academics spoke as well.

Former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Professor Upendra Baxi was one of the speakers, and all of them focused on some harsh realities in terms of human rights violations, biased machinery, communal politics and so on. Reading the book later, several more realities hit me, through the series of open letters that Nandita (in pic on right) writes, including one to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, where she highlights the brutalities this system heaps on its people.

If the top rung of our current leadership would take the time out to read this volume, they would not be able to sleep at all. The 348-page volume carries all the possible facts about SAR Geelani and Afzal Guru in the context of this case, and the serious offshoots that follow.

I reread this book on Saturday, as the morning brought the news of Afzal Guru’s hanging. I quote Nandita from her book, more specifically from the chapter, ‘Letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’:

‘I am sure you know that I have been part of the defence team of SAR Geelani, the man who was first sentenced to death on charges of conspiring to attack the Indian Parliament, and then acquitted by the High Court of Delhi. I have been accused of being anti-national and people have expressed shock that a daughter of a nationalist father should betray his ideals. I feel the need to explain why I took up the case and what I learnt about our country in the course of this case…

‘I do not know how many Kashmiri prisoners there are in Tihar Jail. Most of these men are locked inside the high security cells of the jail. They are denied basic facilities and are subjected to torture and brutalities inside the jail, and often their lives are in danger. There were at least two attempts on the life of Geelani while he was in jail. More recently, two other prisoners have been attacked inside the high security cells of the Tihar Jail.

‘I have details of other atrocities, brutalities and crimes committed by the jail authorities. Where do I go and file a complaint? I feel so helpless, despite being a lawyer and well-connected in society, what do you think the Kashmiris feel? Can we win the hearts and minds of the Kashmiri people by treating them like subhuman beings?’

With that start, she takes the reader to what’s been happening inside and outside our jails and prisons, and in the corridors of power and in those international and national conferences. This volume is a must-read for those who want to study the facts around the Afzal Guru case in the context and backdrop of the prevailing political scenario. Nandita has laid out every single detail, right from the basic ‘why’ she took up this particular case, to the very system and police machinery, and everything else in between.

I also known Afzal Guru’s other lawyer, ND Pancholi. On two earlier occasions, I had asked him about Afzal’s conduct in jail. He had said, “He keeps reading the Quran and praying…he is kept in isolation, but he is calm.” Pancholi was also of the firm view that Afzal was implicated in the case would never get a fair trial.

After the hanging, our ‘democratic’ setup gagged the protests and mourning in the Valley with a curfew. Here, in New Delhi, right wing goons blackened the faces of left wing protestors, all under the watchful eyes of the cops. Added to this, senior journalist Iftikhar Gilani (who works with DNA) and his family were detained and questioned for several hours in their South Delhi home.

I end this piece with lines by Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet, who spent 35 years in prison because he was a Communist:

‘The moment you’re born

they plant around you

mills that grind lies

lies to last you a lifetime.

You keep thinking of your great freedom

a finger on your temple. Free to have a free conscience.

Your heart bent as if half –cut from the nape,

your arms long, hanging,

you saunter about in your great freedom: you’re free

with the freedom of being unemployed.

You love your country as the nearest, most precious thing to you.

But one day, for example,

they may endorse it over to America,

and you too, with your great freedom – you have the freedom to become an airbase.

You may proclaim that you must live, not as a tool,

a number or a link, but as a human being.

Then at once they handcuff your wrists.

You are free to be arrested, imprisoned and even hanged.

There’s neither an iron, wooden

nor a tulle curtain in your life;

there’s no need to choose freedom:

you are free.

But this kind of freedom

is a sad affair under the stars.’

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Featured image courtesy deccanchronicle.com)

The killing of a poster boy

Jatin Sharma wonders if Afzal Guru was really a terrorist, or yet another name in a disenchanted Valley. Or both.

Before reading this column, I have a request to make of you.

I request all of you to junk all the images that you have in mind, shed all your preconceived notions that have been served by the media, remove all the biases and the prejudices that you may have developed over the years.

Be untainted by the ‘truths’ of the world, unmoved by the emotions that the media has garnered and for the next few minutes, think that you are in an ideal world.

Now that your mind is sufficiently cleared of your personal feelings, read on.

Centuries ago, the world was divided into kingdoms. India was a land that was akin to a sone ki chidiya. See, already I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, the time when India was the fabled golden sparrow, its people were still ailing. The people had no food and were constantly at the mercy of their kings. While the kings fought wars once in a while to double or safeguard their riches, the common man fought every day for food and other necessities. Whenever the king was challenged by a common man, either that man was sent to confinement or was silenced forever. His crime? Disrespecting the king.

Centuries later, the world is divided into countries. India is a land known as an ‘upcoming superpower’. There, I can feel the pride that you are feeling right now. Your chin went up by an angle of 10 degrees, and you just inflated your chest. But the truth is, that while India is an upcoming superpower, its people are still ailing. The people don’t have the freedom to express themselves (writing a blog is not something major, and even this column is not that big a change) and live a life where they are not at the mercy of the police, the bureaucrats and the politicians. While the politicians are letting us protest over lesser issues (like rape, as no politician is involved in that high-profile case; Lokpal, as they know a Bill will only be passed with their consent or a diesel-petrol hike, because they know they will decrease 50 paise and all will be well); the common man is fighting every day to be heard. Whenever the government is challenged by a common man, either that man is tagged as a threat to the nation, or a terrorist, or a Maowadi.

There are hundreds and thousands of stories of oppression on the people, by the people in power. We fear FIRs, as we fear that we would be tortured instead of the culprit. We fear going to politicians as they will tell us to shell out money or leave the matter like it is. We fear questioning bureaucrats because they know that they can’t be replaced till the time that they decide to retire. We fear the election process because we are afraid of the gallery of dacoits we have to choose from.

Are we really free then? Are we really an awesome country, if our ‘safe’ blogs will just be discussed and dismissed? Are we a free country if till the time I follow what those in power want me to follow, I am safe? Are we a free country if the moment someone questions things, we term them terrorists?

Afzal Guru was hanged the same way that Kasab was. But the difference is that Afzal Guru was an educated man, an MBBS student who had surrendered to the BSF.

My point is: no amount of money can lure you to be a traitor unless there is a long pending issue that the Government has ignored for long. No amount of money can force you to insult your motherland unless the kings of democracy let people come out and hear them out without bias. Look at Kashmir – more than anything else, the issue is now an ego tussle between two nations, with the Kashmiris suffering in between. They are hostile, yes, but so is the Government. Right now the people of Kashmir want to protest in the wake of Afzal Guru’s hanging. But the Government has imposed a curfew there, and jammed mobile networks, apart from cutting Internet lines.

When was the last time that people actually responsible for several crimes were brought to book? When two Indian soldiers were beheaded on the border, what did our powerful country do to those who beheaded them? Did our upcoming superpower nation book them in any manner? Forget anything else, were those involved in the beheadings even caught?

A Kashmiri all-girl rock band had to give up music because some idiot issued a fatwa in their name. The government failed then, too. The rape ordinance was passed, but one recommendation was not taken into consideration: that politicians who are rapists should not be able to contest elections. This recommendation was scrapped by the Government, while the rest were approved.

If you think about it, Afzal Guru the terrorist could have been Dr Afzal Guru, and he could have treated several patients in the Valley, but he didn’t. Why not? We should know the entire story before passing a judgement. We should acknowledge that Kashmir is burning every day. Right now they are going through a ban on Internet and mobile services, and not for the first time. How would you feel if that happened to you? To be reminded constantly that you are under somebody’s control, that you would be silenced if you don’t say what is not favourable to the one who controls you?

Terrorism and internal terrorism are two different issues. While terrorism can be tackled with power and force and killings, internal terrorism has to be tackled with love and tact. We rejoice Afzal Guru’s hanging because he was the poster boy for the Parliament attacks. But are we sure that no more Afzal Gurus will erupt from the Valley in the future? Did we really kill an attacker, or did we just kill another name?

I’m sure you’re a bit confused. But your confusion tells me that you are starting to think, and that is most important.

Don’t let the media or a few Facebook statuses and emotionally-charged tweets turn your mind. That is what the people in power want. They want you to be just a tool, a vote that is remembered only once in five years. Think and you start living every day.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who says he doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Picture courtesy indiatvnews.com)