The Legend: The unlikely advocate

The unlikely advocate

The Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind is the last door poor Muslim families knock on to clear the name of those accused of terrorism

Anand .Holla @timesgroup .com

    Tucked into a nondescript lane of Imambada, a stone’s throw from Saboo Siddique hospital, the entrance to the office of the Maharashtra wing of Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind is a throwback to a sleepy town where work towards the needy happens at its own resolute pace.
    What had begun in 1919 as an outfit to help war affected Muslims from Turkey has steered through the dawn of Independence and in the 21st century, has a new, much more Machiavellian demon to stamp out - terrorism and the taint of it. They believe in rescuing ‘innocent educated Muslim youths’, who are being falsely implicated and slapped with terror charges. Through steady wordof-mouth, the Jamiat is gaining name as the door a poor Muslim family must knock on to get their arrested kin freed of terror charges. The Jamiate-Ulema-Hind (organisation of Indian scholars), with a membership of five lakh, has a deep-rooted role in preindependence India that it cherishes.
ROOTED IN RAJ It began its struggle with armed resistance, but repeated failure made them revise their strategy to non-violence. On a chilly November evening in 1919, leader Shaikhul Hind Maulana Mahmood Hasan declared in a congregation of Ulemas at Delhi the onset of Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind.
    From boycotting the Simon commission and foreign goods to the civil disobedience movement, from participating in the Quit India movement to opposing the idea of Pakistan, the Jamiat played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle.
    It is thanks to this formidable nationalist history that the Jamiat cruises through fields that other Muslim groups could barely think of traversing. Gulzar Azmi, 74, general secretary of the organisation, explains, “We are well aware that we have locked ourselves in a quest to dispense justice to those who are viewed as ‘terrorists’ even before the courts decide on it. But no other Muslim organisation can dare to take up this cause for they may fear being branded as sympathisers. But we can’t be accused of that and we are not even political. Our intentions are clear. We are against injustice against innocents. By defending them in courts of law, we are not taking undue advantage of our rich contribution in the freedom struggle.”
    President Maulana Mustaqim Azmi, 71, says the purpose of the organisation was entirely different when it was founded. “India was being divided on the basis of religion and we were staunchly against it. We believed that a nation can’t be formed on religion and after seeing how Pakistan or Bangladesh have fared, we have been proven right,” said Mustaqim. “Nationality is defined by one’s nation, not by one’s religion. But Pakistan disagreed with our view then and has become a hotbed of terrorism. We were primarily against the Partition because we knew that dividing India on the basis of religion would never bring peace or rest to the Hindus or the Muslims — and unfortunately our worst fears came true.”
HELP WHEN THERE IS NONE Some of the well-known cases that the Jamiat is handling include those accused in the 7/11 train blasts, the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the 2002 American Consulate bombing at Kolkata. They recently acquitted Fahim Ansari in the 26/11 attacks trial. Azmi explains that Jamiat’s motto is educational and social upliftment, but they had to branch out to providing legal aid due to the recent spurt in the “framing” of Muslim youth in terror cases.
    “We are all for strongly punishing the guilty and setting an example,” says Azmi, “However, I am of the view that even one innocent shouldn’t be convicted even if 100 accused walk free. When the Bombay High Court dismissed their petition challenging applicability of MCOCA charges in 2007, the accused in 7/11 and Malegaon blasts case had expended all their money and had shut off all thoughts of appeal. Shahid Azmi studied the case papers for days and then opined that we should help them by moving the Supreme Court as most of them seemed to have no roles in the case. Its another thing that the apex court dismissed our petition in April and allowed the trial proceedings to continue.”
LEGAL OFF-SHOOT Jamiat’s tryst with providing relief to riot victims and those affected by natural calamities began after Partition. “Our first legal venture was when we pressed the case of Muslims affected in the 1968 Ahmedabad riots.” The Jamiat has formulated its own set of rules to dispense legal help. “We follow our own checks and crosses,” says Azmi. “Like in the 2003 Gateway of India-Zaveri Bazaar blasts case, while the couple Hanif Sayyed and his wife Fahmeeda were sentenced to death, we thought it appropriate to engage a lawyer for Fahmeeda because we learnt that she was duti-bound to follow her husband’s instructions. Besides, she deserves lenience as she is a woman and she has her two daughters.”
    But the police’s futile attempts at reigning in ‘innocent youths’ on terror charges only fuels the Jamiat’s motivation to help out the ‘wronged’. “In Fahim Ansari’s case, what evidence did the prosecution gather?,” says Azmi. “A shoddily-sketched hand-made map planted on him after securing his custody. The map didn’t bear a single fold, crease or a trace of blood which it should have had it been found in Abu Ismail’s bloody trouser pocket. The police has all the time in the world and the power to build a sincere string case. Again, the police could never explain how they picked up Abdul Samad for the Pune blast and had to let go of him.”
MONEY MATTERS The lion’s share of the funds for the Jamiat comes from donations made by members and other Muslims through Zakaat (tax of Rs 2.50 for every Rs 100), which the holy Quran says should be handed out to the poor and the needy. Besides, interest on investments is ‘haraam’ and this accumulated amount is also donated. The Jamiat trust’s audited accounts show that it has provided education aid worth Rs 16 lakh for children this year and has also contributed Rs 1.14 lakh towards medical aid and another lakh rupees towards general aid.
    “We run extensively on word-ofmouth,” says Azmi. “Jakaat is Allah’s money, so it can only be spent on Muslims. Whereas, we spend Jamiat’s earnings on education, without seeing caste or creed. While our focus is always on helping Muslims, we don’t differentiate when it comes to providing relief to victims of natural calamities. But if its the riot victims who are at stake, we are compelled to tend to Muslim victims as they are usually the most affected, the least helped and still get prosecuted in riot cases.”
MAKING CHOICES As for the legal aid operations, the ball is set rolling once a relative of the accused furnishes a written plea requesting for legal aid. Dozens of Jamiat’s branches are tucked in almost every pocket of the city. Members of these offices then don the cloak of researcher-cum-sleuth to delve deep into the personalities of their assignments. “Our men are very well-networked and hence manage to give us a clear picture of the character of the accused. Only if the accused has a clean image, we step forward to consult our lawyers to give us a fair assessment of his involvement,” explains Azmi. “We refuse to defend the suspect if our lawyer finds strong chances of his role in the crime.”
    The scourge of the recent rape and murders of minors at Kurla’s Nehru Nagar was 19-year-old Javed Shaikh, as publicised by the police. When Shaikh’s case was put before the Jamiat to ‘help out an innocent poor Muslim boy’, they didn’t yield to the sympathy wave. “A local NCP leader called us and goaded us to do something about how Muslim families like that of Shaikh’s were being harassed in light of the minors’ rape and murders. We however learnt from our men that Shaikh’s record was bad. We flatly refused to help.”
    Lest robbers, petty thieves, murderers and rapists feel that they have somebody to fall back upon once their fate latches onto months and years of judicial imbroglio, the Jamiat clarifies that they have restrained themselves majorly to pitch in for cases that ‘tarnish the community’. “In such cases, it is the individual who is the fall guy,” says Azmi. “We don’t support immoral people. Even if they are poor, they will get no shoulder from us because they are bad people at heart. In terror plot cases, the individual is the metaphor for the community. If a Muslim gets convicted in a terror case, it is a black spot on the face of the community and sadly it will only strain the biases even more.”
THE WAY FORWARD The passing away of its one-manarmy, lawyer Shahid Azmi, this February, was an unforeseen tragedy that threw all of the Jamiat’s endeavours in complete disarray. “Shahid would work relentlessly for every case he took up, give us legal advise with utmost sincerity and never expecting a penny,” Azmi reminisces. “He left hundreds mourning because he was their only hope. Now Shahid’s younger brother Khalid has taken his place. Though inexperienced, Khalid has a raging desire to work towards the good.”
    Advocate Wahab Khan, who handles some cases for Jamiat, finds it empowering that the accused gets a lawyer. “The power to make your choice is key and Jamiat has made it possible for these accused to exercise their rights.”