From: bcsabha.kal...@gmail.com
To:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/simi-suspects-kin-this-is-our-country-too-thats-why-i-am-expecting-justice/99/
Father of Hubli doctor acquitted of terror charges after seven years recalls
trauma and pain
Allah Baksh Yadwad didn’t fit the cliched narrative of a “school dropout turned
terrorist”.
When Allah Baksh Yadwad walked free on May 2, acquitted of all charges of being
a member of the banned outfit SIMI and planning “jihad” in India, the
30-year-old stepped into a world that had completely changed during the seven
years he had spent in jail.
“My batchmates, even my juniors, are big doctors now, and I am nowhere,” he
told The Sunday Express.
Yadwad didn’t fit the cliched narrative of a “school dropout turned terrorist”.
He was a school topper and had completed his MBBS after making it to the
Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubli on merit.
And, like many of the 17 men arrested in the 2008 “SIMI conspiracy case”, he
was on the verge of a successful professional career, having made his way up
from a two-room house that he shared with his parents — his father Waliullah,
57, is a railway employee — four brothers and a sister.
Related45 witnesses, all backtracked: How a Hubli case collapsedFrom dodgy ID
to narco mess, how SIMI terror case fellAcquittal after seven years, but only 3
of 17 ‘SIMI men’ to be free
“I have always been a strict father,’’ said Waliullah. “There is no way that my
son would be involved in such a heinous crime. Nothing could have been hidden
in a two-room house. We were not even aware of SIMI, what it was,” he added.
Waliullah said his second son has an MTech in Electronics, the third is an
MBBS-degree holder, the fourth will finish his MTech in June, and the fifth is
completing his BTech. “My daughter too has joined BTech,’’ he said.
“I have myself done two degrees — law and library sciences — and a diploma in
sericulture,” he added.
When Yadwad was taken to the Vidyagiri police station in Dharwad on February 6,
2008, Waliullah was away in Bengaluru. “A day earlier, police had come to the
hospital asking for the names and phone numbers of all the Muslim students. I
didn’t suspect anything, they were friendly,” Yadwad said.
The next day, Waliullah went to the police station. “They refused to allow me
to meet my son,” the father said.
Yadwad said he was “kept in jail along with death row convicts with a lot of
security”. “This continued for almost nine months. By then, it seemed that the
jail authorities had also got to know the truth and things started to ease,” he
said.
Four months after the arrest, Waliullah suffered a major heart attack and had
to undergo a bypass. “I was completely broken. We had lost everything. Our
family had a very good reputation. That was all lost. And I had no way to help
my son as well,’’ he said.
“I have lived my life on principles. My colleagues will vouch for that. I have
been in trade unions, trying to help people all my life. I didn’t deserve to go
through this. We have lived hand-to-mouth because everything depended on my
salary alone. When Allah Baksh finished his degree, I hoped he would start
earning and bring us some relief,” said Waliullah.
So why did police pick up his son? Waliullah believes it’s all to do with state
politics. “When the first accused were arrested, the Karnataka Assembly had
been dissolved and the elections were going to take place. Some political
parties wanted to make this a poll issue. The politicians who took advantage of
it and created a fear psychosis got elected,’’ he said.
Waliullah added that the “anguish and pain” that his family went through in
those seven years made him want to file a petition against the police officers
that “framed my son”. “But my wife refused. She is afraid police will be
annoyed and take away my other children,’’ he said. But Waliullah is sure that
he will get justice, some day. “We have lived in Hubli for generations. This is
our country too, and that’s why I am expecting justice.’’
