Saturday, August 23, 2008
The SIMI Question: The Underlying Farce - By Amaresh Misra
The SIMI Question: The Underlying Farce
By Amaresh Misra
Shri Yogendra Yadav has responded to my article `The SIMI Question: Indian democracy's acid test' with a plea for a debate on the issue: what should be our stand on SIMI? I do welcome a debate on this issue and there is no doubt in my mind about Yogendra Yadav's integrity or his genuine concern for secularism.
However I would like to raise a counter question: is this question relevant at this juncture? In my previous article I made it clear that one can disagree vehemently with SIMI's ideology—but is disagreement enough for physical persecution of Muslims or even SIMI? Can one persecute for a crime under IPC sections someone who merely discusses, in private meetings, some abstract jihad, or says things like `secularism: NO; nationalism: NO'? By that measure all Left parties can be taken to task for advocating at some point or the other overthrow of the Indian ruling classes or the Indian State.
Application of constitutional law is not based on utterances—to persecute someone, first a charge has to be fixed. Like in the 1993 Mumbai I discovered a legal monstrosity—apparently the Mumbai Police had booked several individuals who had the intention of taking revenge for the 1992-93 riots. But these individuals were not responsible even by the police's own charge-sheet of executing the bomb blasts on 12th March 1993. Legally, you cannot book someone for expressing the `intent', or `imagining' a crime.
Let me give an example: there were four or five different conspiracies to kill Mahatama Gandhi; but only Nathuram Ghodse committed the act of pulling the trigger—were all other individuals involved in other conspiracies booked for that one particular act of Nathuram Ghodse? Of course not—booking others for expressing the intent of doing what Ghodse's did would be a legal joke.
But the same legal joke was played on Muslims arrested for the 1993 blasts—several were tortured; their lives were destroyed. Later, even the TADA court found `fantastic' Mumbai Police's attempt to create several `chains' that led to the blasts—the TADA court questioned that how could people involved in `other chains', who were unable to even execute their `designs' were booked for a crime committed by a different `chain'?
Sorry to say this—but Javed Anand's comments and observations are plainly silly—and this is not a personal comment. It is a political comment—in all examples given by Javed Anand there is not one, I repeat not one, instance where SIMI members are seen or heard by eye witnesses as planning specific bomb blasts or terror attacks. Eyewitnesses, merely record SIMI members as praising Bin Laden or vowing revenge for Gujarat—but since when has this become a crime in India—where is the evidence that these utterances led to specific terror incidents?
Javed Anand has failed to cite one instance of specific evidence for a specific act. One is really amazed at his naivety or deliberate attempt to mislead people when he writes that "are the blasts after blasts, in city after city of India in recent years, part of the "jihad" espoused by SIMI? The investigating agencies obviously believe this to be the case. Why else would SIMI activists be routinely detained, arrested, interrogated, charge-sheeted and put on trial? Admittedly, they have yet to establish the terrorism charge against SIMI activists before any court of law in any of the blast cases".
Note the lines I have underlined—here Javed Anand is actually making a case that Indian agencies should be trusted-- Why else would SIMI activists be routinely detained, arrested, interrogated, charge-sheeted and put on trial? He writes…
Javed Anand would have retained some credibility had he at least distanced himself from security agencies. Even the Government of India is skeptical about the `secularism' of its security forces—only the RSS and the BJP and the Sangh Parivar hail security agencies—known for persecuting, killing and torturing Muslims in particular—as `heroes. So where, in which camp, does such a statement take Javed Anand?
Shri Yogendra Yadav's plea for a debate on SIMI's ideology shall have to wait for the right time—or it can be done in private gatherings—it cannot be made into a public issue by Indian patriots and secularists not because it will `weaken the fight against Muslim persecution'. I am not in favor of such arguments. SIMI's ideology should not be made an issue simply because it is a non issue. A person is dying on the street—are we going to determine ideology before trying to save him or her?
Another thing: the RSS would have been harmless if it had just spoken about Hindu Rashtra and the like—but since its inception, then in 1947 and then now, the RSS has worked to kill people systematically. The RSS stands in a league different from SIMI. Those disagreeing with SIMI's ideology must understand this—SIMI cannot be compared with Bajrang Dal. Javed Anand writes that "the first ban was slapped on SIMI in 2001, the chief ministers of Maharashtra, MP and Rajasthan made a strong case before the NDA for a simultaneous ban on SIMI and the Bajrang Dal. And rightly so…"
SIMI's utterances are verbal and defensive in nature; Bajrang Dal has killed women and children and boasted about this—can they be placed at par?
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru categorically said that "while Hindu communalism is dangerous and on the offensive, Muslim communalism is defensive in nature". Here the father of Indian secularism is clearly stating that both cannot be placed at par.
It is the issue of placing Bajrang Dal and SIMI on one platform that is disquieting. This is not only a legal travesty but a political travesty as well. The RSS since its inception as been opposed to the creation of a secular India—they are the number one force responsible for partition. New research, recently declassified British secret records and documents reveal that in 1947, the `communal' riots of Delhi, in which tens of thousands of Muslims were massacred, was not a riot at all—it was an armed uprising staged by the RSS to kill the new Indian nation-State in its infancy and proclaim a Hindu Rashtra. The Indian army with the active backing of Nehru was used to crush this revolt.
Now see the pattern of recent actions against SIMI activists for the Ahmedabad Blasts and the so-called `cracking of the case by Gujarat Police and Narendra Modi': in March 2008, Safdar Nagori, the supposed `head' of SIMI organization is arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police—note that the BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh. Nagori `confesses' to the existence of armed camps in Gujarat. Amongst others, he `gives' the names of Zahid Sheikh and Usman Agarbattiwala as SIMI associates to the MP Police.
Now, according to a pro-Modi report written for rediff.com by some Sheela Bhatt, and corroborated by other reports in the Times of India and the Indian Express, after the July 2008 Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts "the Gujarat police's databank of SIMI members in Ahmedabad had some names including that of Zahid Sheikh. They picked him up and started interrogating him extensively.
`He is a fanatic. He is not a Gujarati, he is not an Indian. He claims he is merely a soldier of Islam. These accused don't belong to even their own families,' said a source in the police.
`You will have to understand the identity of the perpetrators of the bomb blasts'. Their `transnational identity itself is an anti-national act', says one of the interrogators".
Just note the pattern here—the Gujarat Police just picks up the databank they have on SIMI members and arrest Zahid Sheikh because his name was given by Safdar Nagori during his March interrogation! Just that! No other evidence! Sheikh is presumed guilty and `transnational' only because he says `he says that he is a soldier of Islam'!
Similarly, a Baroda officer of the Gujarat Police "got from the databank a file on SIMI activists living in Baroda. The blue file had a professionally prepared dossier on SIMI activists, and the opening page featured Usman Agarbattiwala complete with his photograph.
Asthana went through the accompanying details like Agarbattiwala's telephone numbers, his work, background and the names of all his relatives that were in the dossier.
Immediately, details of Agarbattiwala's telephone calls, both made and received, were procured. It took relentless work through day and night to make the chart of the most frequently made calls from his phone. They were then narrowed down and owners of those numbers were detected and, in turn, the printouts of those phone calls were procured. A professional hard work done with the help of computers in the police headquarters in Kothi area yielded fantastic results.
Asthana's team created a cluster of cell phone movement among select persons. These movements were finally narrowed down to Agarbattiwala, Kayamuddin Kapadia, Imran Sheikh and Iqbal Sheikh. In no time Agarbattiwala, Imran and Iqbal were picked up. Along with others Joint Commissioner of Police Pravin Kumar Sinha and inspector Karimbhai Polra played an important role in Asthana's team.
The first copy of the interrogation report was sent to the Ahmedabad team which was narrowing down on local SIMI activists including Zahid Sheikh. Agarbattiwala's cracking proved very crucial. Bhatia and Chudasama cracked Zahid Sheikh as much as they could. In Baroda, Iqbal was a new entrant to SIMI ranks but some of the detainees were tough nuts to crack who had undergone special training to withstand police methods. On the basis of the early lead provided by the interrogations in Baroda and Ahmedabad, teams of Gujarat police travelled to Kerala, Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka to collect a variety of documentary evidence.
By August 8-9, Modi knew his state police was just days away from success that has eluded the police in other Indian states wracked by terrorism".
This fawning, pro-Modi article, a farce in the name of journalism, lets the cat out of the bag. In every case, Police officers just had to check the SIMI databank or connect phonecalls and presto—they had their culprit! How much more ridiculous can you get? The fact remains that even Safdar Nagori's confession to the MP police is suspect—Nagori was tortured and his appeal is lying before the courts. So how can the police arrest Zahid and Agarbattiwala?
Then the Gujarat Police goes to UP—and picks up Abu Bashar—because he too is linked with SIMI! And now Abu Bashar is the mastermind!
The kind of story the Gujarat Police has made up makes one's head spin—the Maharashtra Police did the same thing after the 1993 blasts and several blasts hence. They have not been able to prove even one, repeat even one, of their stories in a court of law.
Now while Muslims are being picked up in SIMI's name, the lead shown by the email sent through Ken Haywood's email is allowed to go cold—in fact the Gujarat Police says that SIMI activists hacked into Haywood's system!
Who is this Haywood? The mail sent by `Indian Mujheedin' claiming responsibility for the Ahmedabad blasts, came from his computer. The investigative agencies knew of this on 26th July—what was the need to give a clean chit to Haywood? Why was he allowed to flee India? Why was his passport not impounded?
Here is a profile of Haywood's background and that of his Company, issued by an American website: "Campbell White is the name of the Company…Campbell White's MD is pastor Dan Rubianes, the head of the Door Christian Centre…a church with origins in Arizona in the US but relatively new to India. Door Christian Centre is a part of the Pentecostal Christian Fellowship Ministries, also known as the Potter's House. Haywood is a functionary of the Potter's House in Mumbai".
Moreover, the Indian Express found that the Mumbai office of the MNC is located in two small adjoining rented rooms on the ground floor of Sanpada railway station complex in Navi Mumbai. The two rooms also serve as prayer rooms on Sundays and Thursdays for the Potter's House. A notice pasted on the wall says the community service has been cancelled until further notice and is signed by Haywood.
The Express continued, explaining that "physical and Internet-based checks on other past and present employees of Campbell White like Scott Grabowska, a former Mumbai-based international protocol trainer, David Curwen-Walker, a senior operations manager, and Jonathan Heimberg, a senior information services manager, both in Bangalore, have shown links to the church. For instance, Curwen-Walker and Heimberg head the Door churches at Kammanahalli and Koramangala in Bangalore."
The American website asks: "this is all very good stuff, but if the Indian press had been doing its job it could have circulated this information on the day that Haywood was linked to the Ahmedabad bombs. Still, the American press has been even worse, with the only coverage of Haywood's curious case being a short piece in the Kingman Daily Miner".
I would ask Shri Yogendra Yadav—what is all this? Is it not becoming apparent that there is a dubious company with a dubious foreign-Christian-evangelist-American background somewhere linked to the terror attacks? Now in India things have come to this—that Indian Muslims will be persecuted on imaginary links with SIMI but foreign nationals will be let off! The Haywood angle at least ought to have been investigated.
By saying that despite disagreeing with SIMI, the organization cannot be put at par with the RSS or the Bajrang Dal, I think I have made my position clear on a vital issue on which Mr. Yogendra Yadav wanted some discussion; but what about Haywood and the ridiculous manner in which Zahid Sheikh, or Agarbattiwala or Abu Bashar were picked up?
It would be of great service to the nation if Shri Yogendra Yadav picks up his pen or his laptop, and conducts his own investigations to write a detailed story of the ongoing `SIMI being terrorist' farce in any one of India's national newspapers or magazines.
