A few days after he was acquitted of all charges, Farogh Makhdoomi spoke over the telephone to Tanzil Asif and Sneha Dipika about his struggles and the efforts he had to make in proving that he was innocent. A doctor by profession, Makhdoomi is now trying to start his life again and continues to work in Malegaon.
Could you tell us how you came to be implicated in the case?
The area I run my clinic is mainly populated by poor Muslims who don’t have much knowledge of the world and faith. I started offering my consultations in the area. I encouraged people to not resort to unscientific medical practices and got tremendous support from the people. They started visiting me to resolve their health issues, which hampered the ‘businesses’ of the people who make money out of conning people in the name of medical help.
So you intend to say that you were implicated because you were doing noble deeds?
Absolutely. My work alarmed these people. They used to go to the police and provide them with false information. I was pressurised by the Police to relocate to a decent area. Yet, I was determined to stay put… all this happened before 2006. I was targeted. The Malegaon Blasts had been planned well in advance. Police had tried to create fracas in Malegaon several times but due to our efforts a number of mosques and institutions came into existence.
Who were those people?
Most of these people were from Barelvi sect. However, not everyone from the sect partook in those activities. Only a few unscrupulous people were involved. I am a Barelvi too. Out of their own motives they planted false stories with the police but I did not succumb to the pressures of the police. After the blasts, the enquiry began.
In the month of Ramdan, on October 19 between 12 – 1 am, some policemen came to my clinic in plain clothes. They asked me to accompany them to my farmhouse. In reality I do not have any farmhouse. I told them that it is a mistake, but they insisted that they have the right address and I am the right person. They again asked me to take them to the farmhouse. I told them again that I do not have any farmhouse so I cannot go and if they want me to take somewhere then they should come during the day and that my well-wishers and who’s who of the city would accompany us as witnesses. I kept arguing with them the entire night at the end of which I received a ‘written notice’. I wrote down whatever I had been telling them this entire time on the paper. At the time of ‘Sehri’, I asked them to wait in the waiting room so that I can offer my Namaz. They left in the morning. I recounted the entire episode before Jamat-e-Tanzeem, Jamiat-ul-Ulema and Jamiat Ahle Hadess. I had this intuition that I am being implicated in the case. Ironically, I knew nothing of the case at that time. I used to organise religious functions and ceremonies. People who visited these functions began to be interrogated. Some of them were even arrested 20-25 days after the festival of Eid, I took exams for MA at Maulana Azad National University. I took the exams for first, second and third papers on 2nd, 4th and 6th November respectively. On the night of 6th November, probably between 11 pm – 12 am a few local policemen came to my clinic and took me to City Police Station where I was arrested by the ATS. After this I was taken to the jail of Bombay ATS.
What happened in the custody?
In the custody abuses in the name of religion were hurled at me. I was pressurised to change my statement. I co-operated with them in the investigation. I used to tell them that I am ready to go through all scientific tests to assure them of my innocence so that they can focus on the real culprit. After this their behaviour with me improved to a certain extent. Almost 70-80% officers of the ATS started speaking in my favour. I was subjected to NARCO test twice under my insistence. They told me that the tests reveal my innocence and that I love my country, my religion, that I am dedicated to bring development within my community. All this came out of the NARCO test. They said that they would release me under Section 169. There was an ATS Officer – Sanjay Khere. He refused to believe that I might be innocent. He was adamant that I was involved in the case and he had information of the same and that I should not be released. It was on his orders that I was once tortured an entire day. I was stripped naked and mercilessly tortured. Although the ATS wanted to release me under Section 169 the nationwide marches and vigils about our arrests lead to the case being transferred to CBI.
Are you an RTI Activist as well? Did you send RTI applications from within the jail as well?
Look, keeping in mind the corruption behind bars, I asked for the Jail Manual to know the laws, the rules and regulations. I asked for the contract details of the items being brought in the Jail Canteen. I was tortured for doing this. I complained about this to the Court. Upon Court’s order I was given a reply under RTI but that was incomplete. After this, as a medical practitioner, I sent another RTI application to upgrade my medical knowledge by staying within the jail. Later I submitted an RTI about the progress of Malegaon. I even tried filing RTIs regarding my case but it was turned down every time with the reason being that the case was still being tried. It went to the State and Central Information Commission. By the grace of Allah all my appeals were heard in my favour and whatever information I had asked for were given to me.
Abrar Ahmad became an approver. How was your equation with him?
Abrar Ahmad’s brother Jaleel Ahmad is an advocate himself. The Hindu terrorists who were caught later, Superintendent of Police of Nasik SP Rajyavardhan and some officers from ATS had abducted Abrar Ahmad on the next day of the Bomb Blasts. They took him to places within the country in their own vehicle. He has the proof of it. Besides this, he was arrested all of a sudden and later it was revealed before the Court that he has become an Approver. The petition to turn him into an Approver was filed by an ATS’ advocate Kamlesh Ghumre. Abrar had never signed Ghumre’s Power of Attorney. It was signed in the name of Abrar’s wife Jannatunisa. The Court was misguided. Abrar knew nothing of the case. He didn’t know that he has been turned into an Approver or that he has signed on any statement. Abrar says that he was made to sign papers stating that they were proofs of his innocence with statements from his family. If he signed those papers he will be released with a huge amount of money running into Lakhs and Crores. All this is mentioned in his affidavit. Sadhvi Pragya, Dayanand Pandey and other Hindu terror agents from RSS whose names were taken by Abrar through NIA and people who were arrested by ATS Officer Hemant Karkare are mentioned in the affidavit which is with the Court. Abrar never confessed anything; he never signed his approval to become an Approver. All this was conspired by the ATS. When it was thought that he is the Approver and his statements have implicated innocent youths, the entire community was disheartened and stood against him. Sensing this, Abrar wrote a letter to his Advocate brother and called him for a meeting in the jail. With his help he succeeded in bringing his affidavit before the Court. Abrar was never an Approver.
How has your life changed? How is the society treating you?
The area in Malegaon where we live is a simple and decent one. So nothing as such seems different in daily life. However I am defamed, my image is tarnished so people always treat me with a second glance. I often have to bear their taunts about the Bomb Blasts. For instance, I recently purchased space for my clinic by the grace of Allah which is quite far from my current clinic. My neighbours encroached in one the five buildings. When I asked them to move out showing the papers, they refused to do so. I sent them a notice. As a reply to the notice, taunts about me involved in the Bomb Blasts were run in newspapers stating that I would rot in a jail. False FIRs were lodged against me.
Do you expect any compensation from the Government? Will you ask for any compensation?
I just expect the government to form an enquiry committee to investigate why were we implicated and who was responsible for it. Judging the damage that has been done to us, the Government should provide us with compensation all by itself. The details of the damages I have suffered are with the Court. Even before I was arrested, I maintained my patient record, individually. Those records were evidence of my innocence. It was stated that I attended five meetings to plan the Bomb Blasts. However the records show that I was attending to my patients on those days, at that time. All of this came to light through NIA. These evidences were accepted by them and duly recorded with the Court. The details of my income are with the Centre which shows that at the time of my arrest, my income was about Rs. 65,000 per month. In 2006, the salary of a first class government officer was Rs. 13,400 per month. This means that my income was five times that of a government officer.
What did your family have to suffer too through all this?
Due to this case my clan had to suffer a lot, they had to bear the taunts and wrath of the people. At that time my clan was one of the most reputed ones in Malegaon. My father was a retired school headmaster; my maternal grandparents’ side is very honourable. My paternal grandfather was a school teacher, almost all my uncles were school teachers and more than half of the population of the city was my clan’s pupil. Secondly, my siblings are doctors, engineers and gynaecologist. So, my family did not have to suffer social boycott but some opportunists sold off my father’s and sister’s property through forged documents. There could have been some increment in their incomes over the years but due to the stigma attached to me that could not happen. My two brothers live in Mumbai. When I was in this mess, they exhausted all their income on me, my wife and my children and today they work in a printing press of their own.
Do your children complain of any taunts when they go to school?
At the time of my arrest, my daughter was about 2 years old and my son was only 6 months old. So they were never told or made to feel that their father is implicated in such a case and imprisoned. They were told that I am working in a hospital in Mumbai and also pursuing higher studies. My kids were never brought to the prison to meet me. I used to ask for permission from the Court for my treatment and when I used to be brought to the hospital in Mumbai by Court’s order, I could also meet my family. During my stay in the prison I did not discontinue my studies and took exams regularly. So when I went out to the examination halls, I met my wife and children.
Now that the children have grown up, do they understand what happened?
They knew nothing even when I was released on bail. The teachers at my daughter’s school congratulated her that her father is back at home. Then she sensed what her father might have gone through. However, neither my daughter nor my son ever raised this issue at home. Yet, as my kids grew and I, as a father, talked to them when they made a mistake, told them to offer ‘Namaz’ without fail, my son talks back and says, “It was better when you were not here.” Yes, my absence in these five years led to some faults with their upbringing. It should have been me, my wife and my father who brought them up together. Since I was not there in those five years my children picked up whatever they learnt from society and got influenced. They became victims of the absence of a father figure. Also the society and my relatives have spoilt them with their excessive love.
Didn’t the kids ask you anything after reading about you or watching you through media?
Yes, now they know what the case was. They have understood everything. They are happy that the stigma attached to their father has been erased and he has won the case. When they saw the news of my release they were told by the family that their father has won and his victory is being celebrated on the television.
Tanzil Asif is a student of IIMC-Delhi and founder of “मैं Media”.