By Dr. M. Iqbal Siddiqui,
“You people always do such things (bomb blasts),” said a senior officer of Rajasthan Police to Dr Amanullah Jamali, a Unani Medical Officer posted at a government health centre in the village of Bagri Nagar in Sojat Tehsil of Pali district.
On Saturday, 19th May 2008, Dr Amanullah was heading towards his residence at Sojat Road in a bus when a police ‘Gypsy’ came near the bus and a policeman from it asked him to get down the bus and ride the gypsy. When he asked where he was being taken and for what crime, one of the policemen said there was nothing to worry, only a few queries regarding his passport. He kept quiet. Then he was taken to Beawar Police Station and finally to Alwar Gate Police Station in Ajmer where he was kept detained for three days.
His sole crime was that he was a Muslim and, by chance, he was in Jaipur on the day of the serial bomb blasts for his personal work at the Board of Indian Medicine. By the way, there were about 40 lakh people in Jaipur on the same day.
“Go! Stand in that corner,” asked a constable in harsh voice, “sit down on the ground,” another ordered. Amanullah was a bit afraid of the situation so he followed the commands. Then he was taken inside a room and searched thoroughly after being stripped to underwear as if he had committed some big crime. Then the investigation began “Miyan (a negative attribute given to a Muslim), tell the truth otherwise, I will book you for the Jaipur blasts and put the whole blame upon you,” asked a policeman.
He was kept in the Alwar Gate Police Station for three days where he had to sleep on a dirty mat in a room filled with ants. He had to pray on the floor. He was not permitted to go for Friday Prayer. He was abused frequently and also slapped on his face and beaten with the police ‘danda’. When his brother and brother-in-law came to the police station on Saturday for his release, they were also detained for the night. On fourth day they were all set free with a warning that Amanullah’s position was still suspicious so he should not talk much about his detention and must not face the media. Otherwise he would be at the receiving end as they (the police) have ‘power’.
When the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s state president Er. Mohd. Saleem contacted the police officials on telephone they denied any detention, but when he threatened to raise the matter before the higher authorities the officer on the telephone line immediately said that Dr. Amanullah has been released and he can be contacted on telephone. However, the contact with him could be established only after four hours.
More than one month after the blasts in Jaipur, the situation is that every practising Muslim is ‘suspicious’. They have detained and released about 7 to 8 persons so far as we know, suspecting them to be involved in the blasts. The investigating agencies are still groping in dark. It seems that they are not searching for the real culprits of the blasts. Instead, they are working ‘honestly’ on some foreign secret agencies’ agenda of branding and profiling Muslims as terrorists.
(The author is media cell in-charge of Rajasthan Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He can be contacted at [email protected])