By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today met Md. Amir Khan, who spent 14 years in jail in 20 fabricated cases of bomb blasts, at her residence. CPIM leader Brinda Karat and women rights activist and columnist Sehba Farooqui were also present.
Aamir thanked Sheila Dikshit for giving him time and for her ‘comforting words.’ He told TCN that the Delhi CM was sympathetic towards him and expressed her concerns the way Muslim youths are arbitrarily detained. Aamir spoke about the compensation package he had urged a year ago in his meeting with the Principal Secretary of Delhi. According to Aamir, Dikshit has assured him of all possible support.
Md. Amir Khan with Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and Brinda Karat.
Speaking to TCN, Aamir also thanked all the civil society members, who helped him in different ways. He was particularly thankful to Sehba Farooqui and Brinda Karat for their efforts. Aamir also had words of praise for Shabnam Hashmi, with whom he now works, at ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy).
TwoCircles.net was the first news portal to break the sad story of Aamir. In August, 2010 Md. Ali of TCN (currently working with The Hindu) detailed the plight of Aamir and his family in an article 12 yrs in jail and counting: Story of Amir – a victim of war on terror , after he by chance briefly met Aamir in a Teeshazari Court in Delhi.
Md. Amir Khan, a resident of Azad Market in Old Delhi, was charged in 20 cases of bomb blasts in and around Delhi in 1998. He was barely 18 years old he was picked up on that fateful night of February 20, 1998. “It’s just impossible for me to describe the physical torture I was made to go through, after which I was threatened and forced to sign few papers, which I later got to know, were my confession statements,” he had told TCN after his acquittal.
TCN was again the first news-portal to break the story of his acquittal in January 2012 (War on terror: If you can’t find the terrorist, make one and Amir Khan: 14 years in jail, acquitted but still scared of police witch-hunt). Almost all mainstream TV and print media later followed the story of Aamir.