11 yrs on, J&K man returns home after being acquitted
SRINAGAR: He was young and on the threshold of a successful career. By the age of 30, he had already established a computer training institute and had joined an NGO as an assistant project manager to work for children born with cleft lip. With a Bachelors in Science degree and a diploma in computer applications, life seemed perfect. His parents were also looking for a bride for him.
However, a visit to Gujarat for a training course in organising medical camps in the winter of 2010 changed everything.
On June 23 this year, Bashir Ahmad Baba returned home at Rainwari in Srinagar after spending 11 years in jail for a crime he says he never committed. On February 27, 2010, just before his NGO’S training course was to finish, he was picked by Gujarat Police’s Anti Terrorism Squad and booked in March that year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for allegedly attempting to organise a terror network and recruit youth for the Hizbul Mujahideen, according to media reports.
However, on June 19, Baba, now 43, was acquitted by a court in Vadodara which said that the prosecution had failed to establish any evidence and prove the charges.
“What happened to me is beyond traumatic. It was a calamity. For months I had no idea why I was arrested. From the interrogation by the ATS to shifting to Baroda Central Jail, I was in complete darkness,” he says. His life before his arrest flashed in front of him. “When I was arrested, I just thought about what will happen to my future. I would have been earning in five-six figures now,” he says.
“Leaving aside the loss of the job and how I and my family suffered emotionally and economically, the stain of these allegations will remain with me,” he says. Even though life proved to be quite harsh all those years, Baba did not lose hope and remained optimistic.
“I knew I was innocent and a day will come that I will be free. After every darkness, there is light,” he says.inside the jail, Baba decided to continue with his studies from IGNOU. He obtained a B.A and an M.A degree in Public Administration and an M.A in Political Science. He also attained a post-graduate diploma in Intellectual Property Rights, besides completing short term courses on drawing and English language.