Witch hunt,attitude to terror alienating a whole new generation: Jamia meet

Sarfaraz was called back home to Azamgarh after the Batla House encounter. “People from there still have trouble getting accommodation in the Capital,” he adds.

The Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Group (JTSG) and the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) organised a public meeting today,themed “War against terror and communal witch-hunt — victims narrate their experiences”.

Students of Jamia and passengers of the ‘Ulema Express’,that arrived in the Capital from Azamgarh on Thursday,narrated their experiences of ‘victimisation’ after the Delhi blasts and the Batla House encounter.

Families of the men detained during the investigations were also scheduled to speak at the meeting but could not attend the event after receiving permission to meet the detainees lodged in Tihar Jail. A number of students and teachers from Jamia,JNU and DU attended the meeting.

A short film prepared by the APCR,containing testimonials of people allegedly detained in the aftermath of the Delhi,Hyderabad and Malegaon blasts,was shown during the meeting.

“I,along with my father and two brothers,were detained on September 21. The next day,they let the rest of us go but detained my brother Shakeel. A couple of days later,we saw media reports that Shakeel’s name figured in the ‘terrorist team’ that had carried out the Delhi blasts,” said Farid,the elder brother of Mohammad Shakeel,who was arrested after the encounter. Speaking at the public meeting,Farid named several police officers and alleged that they had harassed his family for several days,calling them repeatedly to the Pushp Vihar police station. “They created a conspiracy and framed my brother,” alleged Farid.

Amik Jamil,a documentary filmmaker and family friend of Atif Amin,who was killed in the Batla House encounter,termed it “ridiculous” that Atif’s 14-year-old cousin Saqib was detained by the Special Cell for two days following the encounter.

“The child was told he was ‘anti-national’ because he was a Muslim. They told him ‘you can never belong here because your people are outsiders’,” alleged Jamil. “The boy was so scared that when they finally let him go,he could not talk to anyone for hours,” added Jamil. “India’s secular,democratic traditions are being deliberately eroded,” he added.

Teachers from Jamia also said educated Muslim youths were being deliberately targeted. Farah Farooqui of the Department of Education at Jamia stated,“This environment is being created so that Muslim children don’t receive an education. Adolescents of Jamia Nagar are a terrorised lot today,and a whole new generation of alienated people is being created.” she said.

The JTSG and APCR reiterated their demand of the case being transferred to the CBI.