‘We can now tell our landlord we are the same Geelanis’

But outside the house, the landlord and neighbours were blissfully unaware of the goings on. Nobody in the colony knows that this is the family of the same Geelani who figured in the Parliament attack case.‘‘Nobody knows. Not the landlord, not the neighbours. They wouldn’t have allowed us to stay,’’ mumbled Arifa. But it will all change now. One of the first things she plans to do is tell all to her landlord, neighbours and the teachers of the school where her children study.

‘‘We have nothing to hide now. My husband has been acquitted honourably. The world knows that my husband is innocent,’’ said Arifa, flanked by her two children Nusrat and Saeed. Her father Mohammed Abdullah added: ‘‘Life and death are in God’s hands. Nobody else.’’

Arifa met her husband in jail the evening before the judgment: ‘‘He was very confident yesterday. He was in a good mood.’’

This morning, 11-year-old Nusrat wanted to stay home and listen to what the court had to say on her father. But Arifa forced her to school.

‘‘She had an English examination. So I forced her to go.’’ Seven-year-old Saeed, however, managed to convince his mother that he was too ill to attend school. ‘‘After I told him his father was coming home, he started jumping.’’

By 7.30 pm, she and the children were outside Gate No. 1 of Tihar Jail but they had to return disappointed because she was told her husband would have to spend another night in jail.

‘‘It’s frustrating. We don’t know what is happening,’’ said Arifa’s father.

But Arifa knows that life will slowly get back to a comforting familiarity: ‘‘Our life stopped after my husband’s arrest. We now have a

new life.’’