SP Govt should stop political gimmick, act on Nimesh Commission report, said Mohammed Shoaib, senior advocate and President of Rihai Manch.
M. Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party government should stop the “political gimmick” and instead act on its promises, says Mohammed Shoaib, senior advocate and President of Rihai Manch, a non-government ‘Forum for the Release of Innocent Muslims imprisoned in the name of Terrorism.’
“The intention of the SP government does not seem right. There is huge gap between their words and their actions,” Advocate Shoaib told TCN over phone.
Freeing Muslim youths who are languishing in jails for years on fabricated terror charges was one of the poll manifestos of the Samajwadi Party.
Advocate Mohammed Shoaib of Rihai Manch.
Referring to the case against Khalid Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi, who are in jail in connection with seizure of explosives after the 2007 Gorakhpur blasts, Advocate Shoaib alleged, “The state government evaded facts, and instead played with words to misguide Muslims.”
He did not mince words in condemning “some selfish clergies who do not mind comprising the interests of the community for their narrow gains,” and who are often seen hogging limelight with Mulayam Singh Yadav and other SP leaders. Certainly it has not helped the community as a whole, he lamented.
Referring to the Nimesh Commission report that has raised suspicion on the police versions of arrests of Khalid and Tariq, Advocate Shoaib accused the government of “trying to save the skin of the erring police officials.”
Nimesh Commission had finally submitted its report, after several extensions, in August, 2012. However, the state government has not yet tabled it, although it has been leaked in media.
L-R: Hakeem Tarique Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid (TCN Archive).
“Clearly there was blast, and if doubts are being raised on those arrested, that implies that real culprits are still at large. The government should not only punish the erring police personnel, but should also initiate a fresh investigation in the whole case,” said Advocate Shoaib, whose Rihai Manch has been fighting for the release of innocent Muslims imprisoned in the name of terrorism.
A local court in Barabanki on Friday had rejected the State government’s application to withdraw case against Khalid Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi. The state government had pleaded in the court that it has decided to set the two accused free to “promote communal harmony and public interest”.
Criticizing the government’s ill-preparedness in withdrawing the case, a dejected Shoaib added, instead of putting forth the report and explaining the doubts raised in it, the government is playing petty politics in the name of secularism.
If the government is really honest, they should immediately table the Nimesh Commission report and act on its recommendations, he added.
Related:
UP Govt application to withdraw cases against 2007 blasts accused rejected