By TCN News,
New Delhi: Eminent members of civil society, human rights activists and journalists have demanded the Government of India to own up Fasih Mahmood’s illegal detention and immediately produce him in an Indian court. They also demanded that Mahmood must be given immediate access to his family and lawyers.
It has been over two weeks that Fasih Mahmood was practically disappeared from his residence in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, where he worked as an engineer. On 13th May, Sunday, Mahmood was taken away by a group of Indian and Arab men, all in civil dress, and their house searched, while his wife, Nikhat Perveen, was held in a room by an Arab woman.
“While his wife and family have received no official communication from the Indian government, speculation has been rife in the press that Mahmood has been arrested—a wholly wrong usage, as it can only be termed illegal detention—for being financier to the alleged terror plots of the shadowy organistaion, Indian Mujahideen. While pleas of Nikhat seeking the details of her husband’s whereabouts are falling on deaf ears, unnamed ‘sources’ are zealously leaking allegations against Mahmood to the press. So far, MHA, MEA and NHRC have all obstinately stonewalled Nikhat entreaties, feigning ignorance. The Home Secretary has refused to give any assurance to Nikhat that her husband would be produced; indeed, he claimed to have no information on him,” the members of civil society said in a joint statement.
They termed his detention as gross violation of human rights and legal procedures.
“Fasih Mahmood’s illegal detention in an undisclosed location, possibly on foreign land, is in gross violation of all established legal procedures.”
“We, the undersigned, demand that Fasih Mahmood must be immediately produced in an Indian court, and that the Indian government officially own up to this illegal ‘arrest’. Fasih Mahmood must be given immediate access to his family and lawyers,” they demanded.
Signatories to the statement:
Ajit Sahi, Jyoti Punwani, Shabnam Hashmi, Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, Colin Gonsalves, Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Neshat Quaiser, Prof. J.S.Bandukwala, Subhas Gatade, Lateef Mohammad Khan, Himanshu Kumar, SQR Ilyas, Ravi Hemadri, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Mayur Suresh, Bilal Kagzi, Trideep Pais Jawahar Raja, Hilal Ahmed, Kahsif ul Huda, Mukul Dube, Khadeeja Arif, Prashant Keshavmurty, Abu Zafar, Musab Iqbal, Vinay Bhat, Gauhar Iqbal, Jawed Alam Khan, Mushtaq ul Haq, Ahmad Sikander, Imran Ali, Waliullah Laskar , Mansi Sharma, Mahtab Alam, Manisha Sethi, Ahmed Sohaib, Adeel Mehdi and Sanghamitra Misra.