NEW DELHI: It was Wednesday, 27th February when a special TADA court in Nashik acquitted eleven Muslims after they were arrested and charged in a false terror case.
Citing lack of evidence and violation of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) guidelines during investigations, Nashik’s Special TADA Court Judge S C Khati acquitted the 11 grown men from all the charges.
Jamil Ahmad Khan named as the main accused said to The Indian Express that the past 25 years flashed before my eyes in those two seconds when the judge read out our judgment saying- “This court finds you innocent.”
“These five words by the judge may finally restore some normalcy in our lives which has been turned upside down because of the apathy of the state,” he said.
Branded terrorists by the Bhusawal police, these 11 Muslim men, including three doctors, a PhD holder, a six-time municipal councillor and an engineer, from Bhusawal in Jalgaon district taken into custody in May 1994. Though granted bail within months but they have to fight to free themselves of terror charges for 25 years are now trying to rebuild their lives.
“It is a difficult task when you have been accused of being a terrorist. Even if you read the way regional papers have covered our acquittal you will get a sense that they feel we are guilty. We are called suicide bombers. For God’s sake, I am a doctor, why will I even think of taking someone’s life?” Dr Yunus Falahi, was quoted as saying to Indian Express.
Despite the accusations against them, these innocent 11 men, however, claimed that they do not hold grudges against anyone but asserted that the “case is symptomatic of the failure of our institutions.”