By VAM Ashrof
Kochi: PUCL leader and Kerala high court senior lawyer P. Chandrasekaran said that in the current Indian political situation where there is a widespread situation of imposition of terror laws and hunting, a strong popular community awareness should emerge to fight state terrorism. He was speaking while inaugurating the Minority Rights Watch organized the Shahid Azmi Memorial martyrdom anniversary. The program has been arranged by Minority Rights Watch, a human rights NGO of Kerala.
Chandrasekaran asked us to take strength from the blood testimony of Shahid Azmi and come forward. He added that even though the constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, the judiciary itself has undergone degeneration after the Sanghi political crowning. Executive is now sitting in the driving seat and majoritarianism is ruling through the judiciary. There are clauses in the constitution which provide for minority rights, freedom of speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary. However, the country cannot be proud of an independent judiciary now.
Abdul Majeed Nadwi, who has presided over the function, chronicled the great and momentous life of Azmi. Shahid Azmi (1977 –2010) was an Indian lawyer well-known for defending innocent persons accused of terrorism. Himself was accused of crime at a young age; in 1992, aged 15, Shahid Azmi was arrested for violence during the 1992 Bombay riots. Let off lightly as a juvenile, and due to lack of any proper evidence against him. As a young adult, he was again arrested, this time under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, for plotting against the state. He spent seven years in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. In jail, he was stimulated to resume his education, and by the time he was released, he had taken a degree in law. In 2003, he began practising as a criminal defence lawyer in Mumbai. The cases handled by him were almost exclusively of defending cases for those accused of terrorism, who he believed had been jailed as scapegoats. He was shot dead by four assailants in his office in Kurla, Mumbai on 11 February 2010 at the age of 32. Azmi has represented many accused in the 7/11 train blasts cases, Malegaon 2006 bomb blasts cases, the Aurangabad arms haul case, and the Ghatkopar blasts case. Hansal Mehta’s 2013 film Shahid starring Rajkummar Rao is based on the life and work of Azmi.
Adv. Tushar Nirmal Sarathi, in his key-note address, argued that those who raise their voices against human rights violations are widely hunted down and imprisoned under false charges. He said that the human rights situation in the country is becoming worse day by day as the Indian Nazis hunt even the lawyers who can appear for them. Suja Bharathi, Adv. Zaheer Manayat, Adv. Abdul Basit, Raziq A. Rahim also spoke. PM Mahin expressed vote of thanks.