Bhasurendra Babu
Once again Abdul Nasar Maudany is the talk of the town, arrested; put in the dark prison cell in an alien state; once more Malayalees are cheated. Justice for Maudany Forum is formed to fight for him to get the constitutional rights and the rights from the executive side as a prisoner waiting for trial and as an accused in a case.
Maudany has been in the clenches of the govt. for long years. Not only him; his family has also been haunted by the govt. He is a scholar, the leader of the political party, PDP. Maudany’s wife Sufia is accused of the Bus Burning Case at Kalamasseri years ago, which holds her back within the confines of Cochin. The Govt. has taken that incident as a very big terrorist attack against the country. It has even deterred the proper education of their two kids. It is very sad to note that he has been confined to prison for the past 14 years. If he was sentenced for life imprisonment, he would have completed his time of his sentence, but still he is in prison. Years back when he was accused of the bomb blast in Coimbatore he was not known to many. He represented a tortured Muslim entity who talked intensively on all issues of Muslims. So it was quite natural that all the Muslim organizations looked at him from a distance.
When the minarets of Babari Masjid was demolished by the saffron extremists, it was not only a decay of a great mosque nor it was the problem of only Muslim; but in reality, it was the failure of the great tradition of a great nation that was proud of its safeguarding of minority as the part of its secularism and democracy. We are still not able to re-build it. It was at this juncture scholars like Maudany showed themselves in the street to fight for Muslim entity, to fight for tortured people, to fight for Indian Democracy, to fight for secularism, and to fight for safeguarding minority. He was just only talking from one place. Though his speech had the power to ignite the minds of Muslims, as he himself explained, that was the overwhelming of powerful feelings inside a tortured and sad mind. We all knew that already.
There were six cases against Maudany accusing him of creating an bedlam in Kerala with his sharp language and speech. Neither the LDF nor the UDF Govt. arrested him on this account as they knew that he didn’t engage himself in terrorist acts. Moreover, he lived in an open space of people and Anvarusseri. So no one in Kerala considered him as a terrorist nor was he accused of that. All these cases were withdrawn later. Thus Maudany, a scholar Kerala knows; the unquestioned leader of PDP, that works according to the Constitution; a preacher, being arrested and imprisoned in the name of his participation in the Coimbatore Blast Case. He saw light after the suffering of long nine years. While he was in jail, he was not given bail nor was he given the lawful parole. Only because of constant pressure from his supporters he was given primary health aids after a long period. Our silence added to the injustice to that poor man. He was always a victim of injustice.
It would be apt to remember that there are certain rights for even a prisoner that the Constitution of India holds high, which includes the availability of reading materials, the conveniences to contact with the outer world, the conveniences for running the case, the measures for getting medical help, and even the bail. On the other hand Maudany came out of the prison after the complete denial of all these rights.
After his release from jail he was given a grand reception at Shankhumukham Beach in TVM. In that conference he has declared two important things 1. He forgives the people whom he thought to be his foes and 2. Muslims and Islam in India should struggle for their freedom, culture and democratic right only through the ways that the Constitution allows. He declared that in the light of his experience and his awareness he will move only in the right path. Anyone who experienced the openness of his mind will understand that a person like him will not engage himself in any type of terrorist act.
He was understood as a man having no ill feeling to even his foes; a scholar who loves everyone, a Muslim who prays for the open chance for Indian Muslims. There were at least four ministers on the stage when he declared all these things. At this juncture it is very vivid that he has completely thrown away his uproarious past, was ready to accept the modern organizational setup of democracy and secularism. It was the second phase of his life. It was at this stage he was accused of the Bangalore Case and was arrested without considering the pleas for not to arrest him.
The Bangalore Police has given the chargesheet of the Case thrice. His name was not mentioned in the first two charge sheets. His name comes only in the third charge sheet. The only base of his participation in the Bangalore case is that Thadiyantavida Naseer, who is now introduced as an extremist has called up. It is quite natural for a person like him to get phone calls from many persons of various social status. Normally it will not be considered a big crime. There should be complementary evidence at this state. Karnataka Police has asserted that even Maudani’s brother is a part of the conspiracy. They changed this later. Because of this and because they knew that there is no base for the police accusing him of going to Kudak. Normally Maudany lives under the control of six policemen. Without their knowledge he will not be able to travel anywhere. The policemen did not give any account of his going to Kudak. Thus they failed to prove this and the Karnataka Police adapted a different tone of the story. They said that three people in Kudak saw him participating in meeting there. Mrs. Shahina, Muslim reporter of Thehelka went to Kudak in search of these three people and interestingly she found that one of them is the local leader of BJP. The strange thing is that including this man, all those three people told her that they had not seen him nor had they given any account to the police. She recorded it in the camera and telecasted through media. When the world knew this the police charged a case against Shahina.
The reason behind this case is simple. Mrs. Shahina is a Muslim by name. It is quite natural if you are a Muslim there will be cases against you and this is the problem. That is why we argue that this is against democracy. I am not a Muslim. So I will not be a person who strives for democracy. Pinarayi Vijayan, the Secretary of CPIM told in a meeting that the case was charged against her because she was Mulism. Mr. Vijayan though he is not a Muslim, has the courage to declare this. Mr. Kunhalikkutty even being a Muslim was not courageous enough to declare that. Kerala State Journalists’ Executive Committee held a meeting and decided to condemn this. But only Madhyamam and Deshabhimani were ready to publish this press release. Other dailies like Manorama and Mathrubhumi were ready to publish this only after their stance was condemned by the public. When Pinarayi shared a stage with Maudany, it was a big news. The media shouted that it will destruct democracy. But there was no problem when he did the same with Mrs. Shahina. No one barked against that. If the real forces join together the real threats can be easily solved. One thing is clear: the Fascist government of Karnataka is trying for the last hay of existence.
The imprisonement of Maudani is an ulcer that troubles humanity. On the basis of this the struggle should start from the Muslim Community. If the whole Muslim Community stands together and strive for that, no political opinion in Kerala can go beyond. I strongly believe that all who believe in democracy and all who struggle for citizens’ rights should be a part of the struggle for Maudany. I share my hope that Abdul Nasar Maudany will be a free individual one day.
(Speech delivered by Bhasurendra Babu in the Public Meeting conducted by Solidarity Youth Movement, Kerela at Kollam)
