By Mohammad Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In an important development on Wednesday after noon Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured that justice will be done to Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, a journalist who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the blast outside the Israel embassy in the national capital on February 13.
The delegation also informed the PM about incidents of police harassment of Muslim community by making illegal arrests from the Muslim populated areas. Singh also assured the delegation of Muslim MPs that he will ask Home Minister Chidambaram to personally look into the sensitive issues ensuring that no incidents of illegal arrests take place
A delegation of Members of Parliament with PM Manmohan Singh
PM’s assurance came while meeting a delegation of Members of Parliament, which expressed its apprehension over unfair grounds of Kazmi’s arrest.
“The Prime Minister assured us that he will personally tell the Home Minister P. Chidambaram, asking him to ensure that no injustice is done to Kazmi,” said Sultan Ahmad who led the delegation.
Ahmad who is a Trinmool Congress MP and is also a minister of state for tourism in the Manmohan Singh cabinet told TwoCircles.net that, “Its very important to note here that Kazmi is a very senior journalist with impeccable credentials and has been covering Iran and related issues since more than a decade.”
“How can you arrest a journalist who has the government accredited Press Information Bureau (PIB) card and who was security cleared by none other than the home ministry, on apparently on very weak grounds,” asked Ahmad.
The delegation, which also included Md. Adeeb, a Rajya Sabha MP, Maulana Asrarul Haque, a Congress MP from Bihar, told the PM that Kazmi has been arrested on very flimsy grounds with no basis and requested him to ensure justice to Kazmi.
Kazmi, 50 was arrested on March 6, under the Unlawful Activity Prevention Act, 1967, by the Special Cell of Delhi Police at Lodhi Road, southern part of the national capital, New Delhi and the very next day police produced him before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav at the Tis Hazari court who sent him in police custody till March 20 for further investigation.