Mumbai Serial Blasts: Seeking relief for Zaibunissa, daughter turns to RSS

Kazi submitted a letter to Kumar, the RSS minority affairs in charge, highlighting her mother’s case. Incidentally, Kumar had himself been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation after the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah Bomb blast.

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Comparing the case with actor Sanjay Dutt’s, Shagufta Kazi said, “The Supreme Court was lenient to reduce Sanjay Dutt’s sentence from six years to five years but there was no leniency shown in our case.”

Zaibunissa was booked under the stringent Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act after the 1993 serial bomb blasts. The Supreme Court had sentenced her to five years for possession of illegal weapons. Actor Sanjay Dutt was convicted under the Arms Act, which is more lenient than TADA.

“There has been a clear discrimination in my mother’s case. There was no recovery of any weapon or any confessional statement. On the other hand, in actor Sanjay Dutt’s case, an AK-56 rifle was recovered. The CBI did not file an appeal against Dutt’s acquittal under TADA but appealed against my mother’s acquittal from the conspiracy charge, which was dismissed by the SC. Is it not discrimination?” she asks.

In spite of her age and deteriorating physical condition, Zaibunnissa, lodged in Pune’s Yerwada jail, has been able to get out on only two occasions. The first was a month-long parole last year and then a 14-day furlough in January this year.

Former SC judge Markandey Katju was among those who came out in support of an early release for Kazi. In 2013, Katju had termed evidence against Kazi as “weak” and called for her early release.

“My mother is suffering from a life threatening disease. She was recently operated for malignant tumour in her left kidney. She has been awarded rigorous imprisonment but with no proper home food, clothing and bedding in jail it gets very tough for her,” she adds.

Shagufta has tried to get an audience with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis but has not got an appointment so far.
“I have written to Fadnavis a couple of times but he has not reverted to my emails. I have even been to his office and residence but failed to get an appointment. All I want to tell him is that my mother is in her sunset years and deserves mercy,” she says.