Fight For Freedom

Five days later,Rahis daughter 24-year-old Shikha,got a call about his arrest. It was the day after Taare Zameen Par,for which she was third assistant director,released. While the movie was winning rave reviews,my world turned upside down when I got a call that my father had been arrested on charges of being a Maoist, she says.

The police informed her that her father had been conducting training camps in the villages of Hanspur Khatta and the surrounding forest areas along with 20-25 other members of the CPI-Maoist group. The police said they had laid in ambush to arrest the Maoists,and most of them managed to flee,except for her father.

DIG Abhinav Kumar,who recently took over as the SSP of Udham Singh Nagar,Dehradun,refutes the Rahis allegations of torture. Rahis arrest was a well-planned one; it was the result of several months investigation and surveillance and our case is well documented. On our part,we have explained how he was actively involved in Maoist activities, he says.

They the police produced a broken laptop,a pen drive and some CDs as evidence. But theres nothing linking me to any Maoist activity; its the police that claims that I have used the laptop to operate on behalf of the Maoists under an alias. Our plan is to deny the charges; we want the prosecution to prove them, says Prashant.

The allegations levelled against him were serious,he had been charged under Section 121 waging or abetting war against the sate,120B criminal conspiracy,121A conspiring against the state,124A sedition and 153B posing a threat to national unity,integrity of the IPC. He was also charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act being a member of a terrorist organisation or gang.

Why did the police target Prashant? He says it could have been because he was seeking bail for labourer Neelu Vallabh on behalf of the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners,who had been arrested in 2005 for plotting to murder on behalf of the Maoists. I had even prepared a story about this for the local magazine; up until then I had not attracted the attention of the police, he says.

But matters suddenly spun out of control. Shikha says,He had never been arrested before,nor did he have any arms on him. Yet he was labelled a terrorist. I was obviously scared about his fate,particularly after a gangster attacked him in the jail and broke his ribs; he wasnt even given immediate medical help.

A prolonged struggle ensued,as she juggled her Bollywood career to pay her bills and tried to fight the case lodged against her father in Uttarakhands Udham Singh Nagar sessions court. Her friends and colleagues stood by her. One of them set up a website shikharahi.com so she could post the links of news articles,which pleaded her fathers case.

As the local police were involved in the case,she made a deliberate effort to keep her friends away from the legal mess. Those who did get involved,often faced difficulties,When I sought the help of Munshi Kumar,editor of the local fortnightly magazine Nagrik,for my first press conference at Ramnagar,the police threatened and harassed him, she says. She also feared that her phone was being tapped and felt under the constant watch of a plainclothes policeman. The police refute these claims of spying,but DIG Kumar adds unequivocally,I do not want to see Uttarakhand turn into a Jharkhand or a Chattisgarh. And given Prashant Rahis Maoist affiliation,hes on the wrong side of the law.

When Dr Binayak Sen was granted bail by the Supreme Court,earlier this year,the Rahis saw the first ray of hope. Prashant Rahi had spent three and a half years in jail. During this time,Shikha had tried to get him a table and chair to read and write at,but was denied permission. On August 21,he was granted bail. Shikha gave up a new film project to spend time with her father. I feared that he may just disappear if I were to leave him alone. I am less stressed out now; I feel I can leave all those troubles behind,at least for some time, she says.

Shikha had lead a simple life till her fathers arrest threw her into the world of accusations,courts and rulings. It was only after a BSc in Zoology and a communication course at Sophia College,Mumbai,that she found her calling in films. She was the first AD for Bheja Fry and is now working on an untitled Bollywood production. I had a sheltered existence during my school days but my fathers trial has been an eye-opener. It has made me what I am today and in a way,it has also brought me closer to my father than before, she says.

She admits that theirs has been an unconventional father-daughter relationship. Her parents divorced when she was very young and after her schooling in Dehradun,she moved to Mumbai for higher studies. Her mother,a translator and a researcher,is currently in Delhi and her grandparents reside in Nashik. She hasnt been around her father as much as she would have liked. But recently when he reminded her that she should get married soon she was happy,she told him not to worry, Its good to see that he worries about me like any other dad would, she says.

For his part,Prashant says,We have always been emotionally attached to each other. But I havent been able to do my duties as a father. Shikha has surpassed all my expectations. She helped me by standing by my side all through the trial; I am very proud of her.