‘I live in an open cage’

EVERY TIME he tries to start life afresh, it leads nowhere, bogged down by events from over two decades ago. Back then, Mirza Iftikhar Hussain had been taking care of his family’s handicraft business; now, the financiallystrapped 45-year-old isn’t even eligible to apply for a business unit, tainted by past events. In between, he has spent 13 years, 10 months and 25 days in jail before being acquitted by a Delhi court in 2010.

Hussain vividly remembers the day that changed his life. “It was May 28, 1996, when the Delhi Police picked me up from my rented accommodation at Bhogal (in New Delhi). I was 23-24 then,” he says, adding that he was tortured for nearly a month before being produced in court. “It was only in court that I found out that I had been labelled an active member of the Jammu Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF).”

Hussain and his younger brother, Nisar, were among those arrested by the Delhi Police for the May 1996 blast at Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market, which killed 13 people. “He (Nisar) was picked up from Nepal but police claimed they had arrested him from Mussoorie,” he says, adding that his brother had been a salesman at a (Kashmir Arts) shop in Nepal that belonged to a neighbour.

Whilehussainwasacquittedin2010, his brother was convicted and sentenced to death. Nisar was subsequently acquitted by the Delhi High Court in 2012. “But he is still in jail because police have booked him for another blast case, in Jaipur,” Hussain says, adding that securing justice for his younger brother is now his family’s sole aim.

In jail, Hussain says he was left to fend for himself. “Nobody helped. In Tihar, I used to work in the canteen to pay my lawyer fees. The only friend — and I call him my museebatuk dost (a friend in hard times) — is SAR Geelani (Delhi University lecturer who was arrested in the Parliament attack case but acquitted later). I met him in Tihar. He was waiting for me outside jail when I walked free”.

Hussain eventually reached home to find that the family business had been completely ruined. “My mother, another younger brother and sisters had fought hard to provide legal support to us. Once I was free, I wanted to start afresh and help”.

Hesayshefirsttriedtobecomeacontractor but gave up after the state power department, which awarded him a contract for Rs 5 lakh, paid him only Rs 1.5 lakh. “The Rs 3.5 lakh is still outstanding with the department,” he says. Hussain adds that he worked for a solar company before trying his hand at being an electrician — a job he did till last year. “Once the situation in Valley turned volatile last year, I couldn’t sustain myself as an electrician,” he says. He now wants to return to his family business but can’t apply for a business unit or seek monetary assistance or even a passport as, despite his acquittal, his name continues to figure in the (J&K) police files. “I have been acquitted of all charges but even after six years, I have realised that I am not free. I live in an open cage.”

Hussain says he approached the J&K High Court for a no-objection certificate (NOC) to be eligible to start a new business. “The court ordered the authorities to grant me the NOC within 15 days. But the file is lying with the deputy commissioner’s office (in Srinagar) with ‘case to be discussed’ written on it,” he says. “All I need is this piece of paper to restart my life. They are denying it to me. This is the justice they do,” he adds. The terror taint, he says, even affected his personal life. “Whenever my family sent a marriage proposal, it would be turned down even by families who were closely related to us. They would say that they don't want to land their daughter in trouble,” says the 45-yearold, who finally married last year. His mother, Padshah, is around 70 now. “She continues to suffer because my younger brother is still in Tihar,” he says.

There is another aspect to his traumatic experience that Hussain can't forget. “The media wreaked havoc in our lives. When we were arrested, the media decided to convict us; we were dreaded terrorists. It is media which delivers justice in this country and is absolutely irresponsible. It is unfortunate,” he says. UBEER NAQUSHBANDI

Archive Hussain’s family watching news of his younger brother’s acquittal.