By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: To provide financial and legal assistance to Azamgarh youths who are behind the bar in connection with Delhi serial blasts 2008, Asif Mohammad Khan, MLA from Okhla, has announced to donate his monthly salary for their legal aid. For immediate help, the MLA last week gave Rs. 50,000 each to the family of Ziaur Rahman and Mohd Shakeel, two of about one dozen Azamgarh youths accused in the terror blasts.
Ziaur Rahman and Mohd Shakeel are appearing in their graduate and post-graduate examination respectively at Jamia Millia Islamia. They are among several Muslim youths from Azamgarh who have been arrested in connection with the Delhi bomb blasts 2008 while two youths– Atif and Sajid — have been killed in an encounter at Batla House, six days after the blasts. After the encounter, the police described them as prime suspects in the Delhi blasts.
Asif Mohammad Khan, MLA, Okhla
MLA Asif Mohammad Khan has donated Rs. 50,000 to the family of Zia and Shakeel for immediate help and has intention to do more for them in the future.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, he said: “I gave Rs. 50 thousand to the families of Ziaur Rahman and Mohd Shakeel as they are not in position to bear all the expenses of the case. I will also give financial help to Saqib Nisar, another Delhi blast accused.”
On what he intends to do further in this regard he said: “From now on I will spend my monthly salary that I get as an MLA which is Rs.42 thousands to provide legal assistance to all Muslim youths accused in Delhi blast. We have a target to spend almost Rs. 10 lakh to get the services of top level lawyers to defend these innocent boys.”
“We are 100% sure that these boys are victims of false charges. Therefore, we will try to help them as much as we can” he added.
Earlier accepting their request, the Delhi court had allowed Ziaur Rahman and Mohd Shakeel to take part in examination at Jamia Millia where they were studying before the arrest. But as they are also accused in Ahmedabad serial bomb blast they were in Ahmadabad jail and according to the court order their family will have to bear the expenses for their journey to Delhi and security. The expenses are estimated to be about Rs 44,000 for Ziaur Rahman and Rs. 36,000 for Mohd Shakeel.