By Shafeeq Hudawi, TwoCircles.net,
Kozhikode: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now decided to jump into the fray for demanding re-opening of the Mangalore-Chembarika Qazi’s death case.
A team of AAP state leaders have gone to meet Prashant Bhushan, senior party leader and a leading Supreme Court lawyer.
“We would seek Bhushan’s help and guidance in this case,” party’s state secretary Ajith Joy and lawyer Rajeev, who are part of the team that left for Delhi on Monday, said in Kasargod.
Qazi C M Abdulla Moulawi
Last year, the CBI submitted its report stating that the Mangalore-Chembarika Qazi CM Abdulla Maulavi was not murdered but he had committed suicide. Qazi was found dead on the Chembarika shores on February 15, 2010 under mysterious circumstances. Following widespread protests demanding a CBI probe, the government handed over the case to the central agency.
But organizations such as the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation, the students’ outfit of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, never accepted the report, and suspected a foul play in his death.
Qasi C M Abdulla Musli-yar, a native of Chembarikka near Kasargod, was found dead on the rocky seashore of Chembarikka, one kilometre away from his home early morning on February 15, 2010. According to the report of the CBI, Qasi walked to the seashore and jumped to the sea from a cliff with a height of more than five metres.
The report, submitted by CBI in the High Court of Kerala concluding Qazi’s death was suicide had irked the Muslim community organizations across the state.
Now, the case is back in the limelight after the Chemmanad unit of IUML sought to induct former DySP Habeeb Rahman into the party. It was alleged that Rahman, as DYSP of Kanhangad, had sabotaged the case then. The Youth League, the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre and other affiliated organisations of the IUML had therefore opposed his entry into the party. The decision is pending with the district committee of the party. Now with the AAP’s entry, the case is again the talking point.
Recently, a district team of the AAP under the leadership of district convenor Ravindran Kannankai visited Qazi’s family and the spot where he was found dead. Senior Advocate Rajeevan discussed the case at length with the family members, party workers said. The party activists had also held a hunger strike in front of the Collectorate over the case.
AAP Kasargod district political secretary and former IUML Uduma constituency SKSSF general secretary Imdad Biary said the party’s next course of action would be decided after the meeting with Bhushan in Delhi.
Alleging irregularities in the CBI report, relatives of the victim, leaders of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama and the action council activists have demanded a new probe into the case.
Meanwhile, Muhammed Shafi C A, son of Qazi, told TwoCircles.net that his father, who was frail and had difficulty to walk, couldn’t have reached the top of the cliff alone. Insisting that it was a murder, he added that his father was forcefully taken from his room where he was staying alone, and was murdered.
Hameed Kuniya, an activist of Qasi Samyuktha Sa-mara Samithi, flayed the investigation of the local police, which had several flaws. “The police didn’t seal the room from where, as it is alleged, Qasi was taken away. Instead of collecting finger marks from the room, the police collected the palm marks, which are often inadequate to trace the culprits. The local police hadn’t taken the dog squad to the spot as it is usually done,” he said.
Calling attention to how his family was denied the due justice, Muhammed Shafi C A alleged that the CBI official, who was in charge of the probe, was transferred to Chennai when the probe was nearing completion. CBI was just about to book some suspects then.
AAP activists staging an indefinite hunger strike seeking a fresh probe in to the death of Chembarikka-Mangalore
Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu, Sunni Yuva-jana Sangham (SYS) leader and one of the main functionaries of the action council, said that the action council was planning to stage state-wide protests in this regard.
However, the family of Qasi has given a petition to the High Court urging to reject the present report and order a new probe. They hope an efficient probe would bring the culprits before law.
Musthafa Mundupara, spoke person of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama told Twocricles.net that the protests will be intensified after the court order is issued. “The petition is now in the court. We want to reject the report submitted by CBI and depute a special investigation team under the supervision of the court,” he said.
The laxity of the State Government in ensuring the due justice for Qazi’s family also came under heavy criticism. “We had submitted a memorandum to the then Union Home Minister for States Mullappally Ramachandran seeking the department’s intervention and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had ensured fresh probe in to the death. But the duo utterly failed in taking up the course,” Musthafa Mundupara lamented.