Long before Babubhai Katara, the BJP MP from Dahod, made it to the blot charts for trying to smuggle a woman out of the country on a false passport, his son Bhavesh had been in the news. For all the wrong reasons, of course. He was arrested in February for the murder of four people in the 2002 post-Godhra carnage. He is not the only famous name in the rustic town of Jhalod, Dahod, that has, of late, been brought up for public scrutiny and found wanting. In a drive that has seen nearly 11 politicians, police officers and other officials being brought to book, three young men are taking centrestage. Irfan Patel, Hamid Jiva and Gudala Rafi are fast turning into modern-day superheroes out to tackle injustice. Using the Right To Information Act, Microsoft Excel sheets and their knowledge of the law, the three men take on cases for free on behalf of anybody who walks through their door. Not associated with any NGO or political party, these men have learnt activism the hard way—through personal experiences in the post-Godhra carnage. “After 2002, all of us were bogged down by babudom and the police-politician nexus. We decided that something had to be done to change it,” says Patel, whose brother was shot dead by Bhavesh in 2002. Adds Rafi: “We started about two years ago when we realised we couldn’t let the government get away with its languid approach. We basically whip up a storm with the judiciary and get things moving.” While Rafi runs a graphic designing business and takes care of computer-related work, Patel, who has a transport business, handles finance and paperwork. Jiva, an advocate, deals with the nitty-gritty of law. One of their recent successes was the high court order in November last year to investigate P.P. Asari, a deputy superintendent of police, who had tried to hold back a riot case. “The case involved a police sub-inspector who had not registered a complaint in the 2002 carnage. When we tried to lodge a case against him, Asari refused.” The three then filed a case, after which the high court ruled that the SI be suspended and an investigation be conducted into Asari’s involvement. According to police sources, the trio hounded Asari for over six months with court summons and notices. “Asari was so tired by the end of it, he didn’t want to see the three again, and was transferred to another district,” says an official.No wonder then that the three have a long list of happy clientele. Rekha Ghari is one such client. “Without their help I don’t know what I’d have done,” says the woman who was kidnapped by her own father for marrying a man the family didn’t approve of. Her case is currently being tried in the high court. Other cases include that of Kalubhai Garachia from Moudi village in Jhalod, who was shot at by Bhavesh during the recent panchayats elections, and against the district collector and the district development officer concerning the dispersal of 2002 riot relief funds. The group is so popular that the district and police officials are wary of taking them on. As for Jhalod’s people, they couldn’t have asked for better messiahs.
