By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Yes. The police seem to be thinking so. And so they have tightened noose around all cyber cafes in the area. Particularly after the September 19 Batla House encounter. Café owners have been instructed not allow in any Internet user without taking a copy of ID proof.
Today I had a first-hand experience of how fast the ground underneath the residents of Jamia Nagar is shrinking. A virtual nakabandi is gradually taking a shape.
Amit Guin, my friend from journalism school and now correspondent of IndiaInvestigates.com, an investigative online weekly, was here in Batla House for a story. While talking I took him to a cyber café to show him the stories TwoCircles.net has published on October 16 Shaheen Bagh foiled kidnapping case.
When we entered a café in Batla House area the man behind the counter asked us to submit a copy of ID proof carrying address like driving license etc. Why? “The local police have asked us to do so after the encounter. They come every 2-3 days for checking,” he said. My friend Amit was shocked to learn. He said there is no such restriction in his area. He lives in Kamla Nagar in North Delhi. I told him this is how Muslims are being treated in Jamia Nagar area. I asked him to visit some cafes in his area today to know if such restriction is also there.
No limits unless you want to surf the web in a Muslim area [Photo by ker3b]
I showed this Batla House café owner my PAN card and asked if it will work. He was rigid on ID with address. I told him I have no such ID but I have Citibank credit card which also carries my photo. After much persuasion he agreed and asked me to submit photocopy of both PAN card and credit card. He asked me to write my local address, mobile number and signature on the copy.
To ascertain this restriction is being maintained by all café owners in the area, I entered another café. The owner of this café also asked me to submit a copy of ID proof.
It seems that the police think all terrorists are residing in this Muslim populated area and to check their online activity, to be specific any threat mail from “Indian Mujahideen cadre”, they have in place such hard restriction on Internet Café users. The police have claimed that the two suspected terrorists killed in the September 19 encounter were among top operators of the Indian Mujahideen. The police have since arrested five persons, among them two are students of Jamia Millia Islamia, from the area and said they are members of the shadowy terrorist organization.
Is such restriction being followed by cyber cafes in areas where Muslims have a little or no presence? The question is significant because terrorists can use any café in any area. Rather a lay man sense says “Muslim terrorists” will not like to use a Muslim area for such activity.
My curiosity to know the truth took me to Ashram area, about three kms from Jamia Millia Islamia. It is a Hindu area.
I entered a café. I asked if ID proof is necessary. He said: “If you have, it’s fine.” I said I don’t have any. Will my mobile number work? He said: “OK, no problem.” I left the café on some pretext. I crossed the road and entered another café. The owner of this café didn’t ask my ID. I myself asked if he will need some ID. He asked: “Do you have one?” I said, no. “Ok, when you come next time, bring one,” he said.
My friend Amit called me in the evening and said there is no such hard restriction in his Kamla Nagar area.
See how easy it is for an actual terrorist to enter any café in Hindu dominated area and send whatever they want. Are police serious in combating terrorism? Or do they just want to terrorise a particular section of the society?
The restriction in Jamia Nagar area is despite the fact that no hoax call, leave alone any threat mail, has ever been sent from this area.