[Reader-list] The Worst is Always Precise
Shuddhabrata Sengupta
shuddha at sarai.net
Thu Dec 19 04:24:20 IST 2002
Dear friends,
I am prompted to write this somewhat inordinately long posting by Abir
Bazaz's oblique and apposite homage to the sentiments expressed by Socrates,
on hearing of his death sentence, which was posted on the Reader List
yesterday. It followed his posting of the news of the sentencing of SAR
Gilani, and two others, to death in the trial pertaining to the attack on the
Indian Parliament of December 13, last year.
The one other time, when the 'management' of the fall out of an attack on a
parliament yielded such positive fruit to people in power was when on the
27th of February, 1933, (exactly 70 years to the day, before the killings
started in Gujarat last year),that the Reichstag (parliament) caught fire in
Berlin. The consequences of that event, the trials and the laws that followed
it, are too well known for me to go into in detail.
A few days ago, the beneficiaries of the events of Gujarat could be seen
celebrating the fruits of electoral success. The Reichstag Fire, the fall out
of the attack on the Parliament, the events in Gujarat last week, and
yesterday's court verdict in New Delhi seem to have set off a strange game of
ricocheting, and oddly connected realities.
It is in an effort to understand the ground rules of this game, that I began
thinking of writing what I would like to share with you today. I hope that it
can lead to some fruitful discussion. Every event and quotation cited in this
posting is taken from a news item in a mainstream newspaper, usually the
Hindu. The extracts from depositions before the court in the course of SAR
Gilani's trial are taken from the website of the All India Defence Committee
for Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, of which Rajni Kothari is the chairman.
The url for this excellent website, which I would urge everyone on this list
to visit, is
www20.brinkster.com/sargeelani
I am appending a brief selection of relevant links at the end of this posting
and I offer apologies in advance for the length of this posting.
in solidarity with SAR Gilani and his family
Shuddha
___________________________________________________
The Worst is Always Precise -
Reflections on the Death Sentence Awarded to SAR Gilani in the special POTA
court by S N Dhingra, on the 18th of December, 2002
Shuddhabrata Sengupta
_____________________
"The city from which no news can come
is now so visible in its curfewed night
that the worst is precise.
From Zero Bridge
a shadow chased by searchlight is running
away to find its body.
On the edge of the Cantonment, where Gupkar Road ends,
it shrinks almost into nothing, is nothing,
by Interrogation gates,
so it can slip, unseen, into the cells:
Drippings from a suspended burning tyre
are falling on the back of a prisoner
the naked boy screaming,
'I know nothing.'"
from "I see Kashmir from New Delhi by Midnight"
by Agha Shahid Ali
The worst is always precise. Nothing can be more precise than a sentence of
death, specifically by hanging, until the brain ceases to function, the heart
ceases to beat, the lungs cease to breathe, even as it carries the additional
burden of a fine of Rs. 500, 000. (How can a body hanging from the gallows
pay five hundred thousand rupees?). Or is this the money that a shattered
widow, or a grieving father must now collect from friends and relatives to
pay up to the state? Who will collect it? A district collector? Will it be
delivered in cash, in a cheque, as a money order, paid up by the bereaved to
the executioner? Will a receipt be issued by the hangman state?
That does not matter, what matters is that the sentence has been read. The
cost price of 'waging war against the state' has been calculated. We have
been told that evidence has been gathered, precisely, that the due process of
the law has been followed, precisely, and a precise figure of blood money
has been arrived at after deliberations. Death, and five hundred thousand
rupees, precisely. No more, no less.
Except, that unlike Srinagar, the "city from which no news came", in the late
Agha Shahid Ali's elegy to the "encountered dead", the 'precise' did not
become visible in a 'curfewed night'. The sentence was read instead in New
Delhi, the city, where all news is fattenned, killed, eaten and shat out, by
a gaggle of news channels, papers, informers, and disinformers, and not at
mignight, but at 11 am on a slightly hazy December morning, in the premises
of a special court. Many of us have heard reports of +its precise words, its
precise tones, on the news programmes on television, all day today since 11 am
If Agha Shahid Ali were alive today, perhaps he could have written another
elegy, for a year long encounter killing between truth and precision that
entered its final act today.
Would he have called it "I see New Delhi from Kashmir by Midday"?
_____________________________________
Time and space would have changed, New Delhi would have become Srinagar, the
same shadow war would have found a different landscape, dates on the calendar
and the hands on the clock face would have changed places. The 'worst',
however, would have remained just as 'precise'.
Nowadays, at midnight, when a policeman shines a torch in your face at
midnight, or at midday, when a phone you are talking into becomes an
informer, or when five policement in civilian clothes come into your house,
seize your children and threaten to kill them, and then ask you to accompany
them to a suburban farmhouse, to witness your husband, naked and being
tortured, it may sometimes be difficult to distinguish between New Delhi and
Kashmir. The difference, is one of degree. Of degrees of surveillance,
degrees of power, degrees of violence, degrees of torture. First degree,
second degree, and often, third degree.
We have become the inhabitants of a New Srinagar, every bridge in New Delhi
is now Zero Bridge. We are all suspects now. The encounter is at our
doorstep, the hangman is biding his time inside our heads. Our shadows,
chased by searchlights, are running to find their bodies.
Anyone, (provided he or she had a certain kind of name, or spoke a certain
language to his family on the phone, or sometimes participated in certain
public meetings and protests) could have stood, precisely, where S A R
Gilani, sometime lecturer in Arabic at the Zakir Husain College, stood
yesterday morning. At 11: 00 am, on yesterday morning, the 18th of December,
a year and four days after SAR Gilani was arrested under the Prevention of
Terrorism Ordinance (later Act), for complicity in the attack on the Indian
parliament on the 13th of December, 2001, S N Dhingra, judge of the Special
Court pronounced his sentence on the accused.
What follows is an excerpt from the front page story, reporting the verdict,
in the Hindu of today, the 19th of December, 2002
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002121905170100.htm
_______________________________________________
"In his 296-page judgment, Mr. Dhingra said the attack on Parliament was the
handiwork of forces which wanted to "destroy the country and cripple it by
killing or capturing its entire political executive, including the Prime
Minister and the Home Minister...captivate entire legislature and the
Vice-President, who were in Parliament.''
Commenting on issues of evidence, the judge said that the single-judge order
of the Delhi High Court, declaring the telephone interception by police as
inadmissible in evidence, was non-est as the "single judge is not
authorised'' to hear the appeal against the order of the designated judge.
Commending the investigating agencies, he said that they "perform a tough
job.''
On the question of discrepancies in the police evidence and instances of
evidence being tampered with, raised by defence counsel, he said it was the
"usual practice nowadays to flog the investigating agencies.''
Defence counsel, Nitya Ramakrishnan, commenting on the judgment, said, "from
several assumptions and conjectures in the judgment, which even prosecution
did not care to assert in court, it appears that the learned designated court
has added to the fund of prosecution material and the defence laments that it
was not awarded the privilege of cross-examining the source.''
Sima Gulati, counsel for S. A. R. Geelani, declined to comment on the
judgment as she had not fully read it.
"We will appeal against this verdict. This order is not sustainable in law.
There is simply not enough evidence to convict Geelani,'' she said. "
_______________________________________________
We have all had the sentence read to us. Only one of us, however, is going to
face the gallows, as of now, and he seems calm, perversely stoic, still
insisting, as he must have in the interrogation cell, that he "knew nothing".
All he said yesterday, when the special court found him guilty was, "It is a
sad day for democracy in India". Coming a few days after a provincial
election that crowned the organizers of pogroms as the elected
representatives of the people, this sentence was just as modest, as it was
precise. These are sad days.
Today, after he heard the sentence, Gilani said "By convicting innocents, you
cannot suppress emotion. Peace comes with justice. Without justice there will
be no democracy, it is Indian democracy that is under threat.''
What kind of man is Syed Abdul Rehman Gilani ?
In a note entitled "My Friend Abdul Rehman" in the website of the SAR Gilani
Defence Committee, a friend of SAR Gilani, who wishes to remain un-named,
writes,
"A shy soft-spoken kashmiri youth met us in the Mansarovar Hostel, a post
graduate hostel of the University of Delhi, in the mid nineties. On getting
to know him better he came through as a deeply compassionate man with a great
love for fine arts. He was passionately in love with the great secular poets
of urdu such as Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Moin ud din Maqudum, Majaz etc, and spent
hours discussing the finer points of their poetry and the earthy humanity of
their message. Being a sensitive man he felt deeply for the sufferings of the
Kashmiris; but his compassion was not bound by sectarian concerns. He was
equally moved by the sufferings of the quake victims of Latur and Gujarat,
and he worked with the teachers and students of Delhi University to collect
relief material. To register his disagreement with religious and sectarian
fanaticism and to express his solidarity with the long cherished ideals of
equality and secularism he used to unfailingly participate in secular
rallies. We still remember him carrying a lit candle during the peace marches
organized to remember the innocent lives lost in the riots that swept the
country in the aftermath of the demolition of the babri mosque. Now that
person stands accused for perpetrating terrorism?. Knowing him I find it very
difficult to believe the charges."
The man we see in pictures on this site, with his family, with his wife,
playing cricket, with his children, seems affable, shy, smiling. His life is
perhaps one of modest hopes, a commitment to scholarship, and the
intersection of vague unspoken fears, with a desire for justice and freedom.
Since the afternoon of the 14th of December, this ordinary life, one very
much like the lives of many of us in Delhi has been overturned with great
care and precision. First the arrest, then the efforts to stain his
reputation, stories of sinister 'Arab' acquaintainces, insinuations about
phone calls from STD booths to undisclosed foreign locations, and the
amassing of wealth, each of which was systematically planted by the special
cell in the media, and which now stand challenged by a defamation suit, bear
witness to a precise campaign to damage every aspect of Gilani's personal and
professional life.
(for details of which, see -
Geelani issues notice to Hindustan Times, Delhi police
http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01072002/0107200281.htm)
It was precise. The worst is always precise. A long trial, a vilification
campaign, a sentence of Death, and a fine of Rs. 500, 000 for waging a war
against the Republic of India by conspiring with five "terrorists" who had
attacked the Parliament in New Delhi on Decmber 13, 2001. Gilani, and his two
co accused Mohammad Afzal and Shaukat Guru were awarded the death sentence
for offences under Section 3(2) of POTA (indulging in terrorist acts leading
to deaths) and Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder).
Afsan Guru, wife of Shaukat, also known as Navjot Sandhu who was convicted
under Section 123 of the Indian Penal Code for concealing the plot, was
sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000.
The designated judge, S. N. Dhingra, pronouncing the sentence, said that he
"considers that she deserves no leniency.'' Making no mention of her pregnant
condition at the time of the conspiracy, the judge said that "there is no
doubt that she was having a difficult choice of going against her husband''
but that "she had to give priority to the nation and society.''
Geelani, Guru and Afzal have also been sentenced to life imprisonment on
seven counts. One each under IPC Sections 121-A (conspiracy to wage war
against state) and Section 122 (collecting arms with the intention to wage
war against state); under POTA, for abetting terrorist acts, Section 3 (3)
and harbouring terrorists, Section 3 (4); and membership of a terrorist gang,
Section 3 (5) and possession of unauthorised arms etc. under Section 4 (b);
and under Section 3 of the Explosive Substances Act. They have also been
awarded a cumulative 30 years' rigorous imprisonment, for charges under
Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act and Section 307 of IPC (attempt to
murder), and fines.
_______________________
Interrogations never end when the suspect says "I know nothing". Usually,
that's when they begin. Then, it is just the matter of a a game played out
between what the suspect knows about himself/herself, and what the
interrogators know about him, or her, or what they tell the world they know.
Crucially, in order to tell the world what they know, they need to have the
suspect "betrayed" by his co-accused. Here, what is often set in motion is a
chain of willing and unwilling "betrayals", extracted either by coercion or
torture, or by snooping on what the suspects may be saying to themselves, or
to others.
In the case against S A R Gilani, a minor sub-plot in the greater drama of
the so called conspiracy behind the attack on the parliament, what was most
important for the prosecution was the capacity to establish a wider network,
a de-facto conspiracy, with nodes in Kashmir, and across the border. It was
this "wider conspiracy theory" that could give the spectacular nature of the
attack itself a substantive context> What was this substantive context and
unraveling pattern - among other things, it was the need to the converst the
highly unpopular, Prevention of the Terrorism Ordinance, into the Prevention
of Terrorism Act, the necessity to achieve the largest military build up
since the second world war on the India Pakistan Border, and the usage of the
threat of possible nuclear war against Pakistan by the Indian State as
leverage against any adverse international reaction to the March massacres
in Gujarat, (arguably, themselves designed to create a 'crisis' situation
which would both strengthen the state and consolidate Hindu fundamentalist
opinion into concerted action to rescue an at that time vulnerable BJP led
dispensation). A wider 'conspiracy' was absolutely necessary to establish in
order to spin doctor the above configuration of circumstances into being. The
stakes related directly to "reasons of state", in other words, the stakes
were far too high.
Imprecision enters the most precise of plans. Well orchestrated maneuvers too
suddenly betray loopholes that need to be plugged. None of the mobile phones
yielded anything other than a few numbers called in Pakistan, in Dubai, and a
satellite phone (purportedly belonging to a terrorist mastermind called
'Ghazi Baba'). Millions of Indian citizens could have relatives or friends in
Pakistan and Dubai, and in themselves, the records o f numbers calls
establishes nothing, not even the fact that the slain terrorists were
'Pakistanis'. The slain "terrorists" who, were said to have 'looked' like
Pakistanis were identified as such, only on the basis of confessions recorded
by the police from amongst the accused, specifically from Mohd. Afzal, and it
is well known that confessions in police custody are not admissible as
evidence.
All that the entire case for the prosecution could stand on, and ergo, all
that the Indian State could stand on to substantiate the reality of a 'wider
conspiracy' was a single moblie phone interception of a conversation between
S A R Gilani and his half brother, who lives in Srinagar, which took place on
the 14th of December 2001. One day after the attack. It needs to be noted
here, that the defence was able to prove that not even this interception was
done as per the rules laid down in the already stringent Prevention of
Terrorism Ordinance. The attack took place on the day of the 13th, the
interception, its translation, and the arrest of the accused, had been
successfully completed by the late afternoon of the 14th, without any of the
procedures necessary to authorize such interception being followed. Undue
haste for reasons of state might go down well with newspapers hungry for
headlines, but, they are not shining examples of the rigorous attention to
the due process of the law.
The transcript of the charge sheet (FIR No.417/2001, Date 13/12/2001) ,
submitted by the ACP Special Cell, Delhi Police on 12.05.2002 makes for
fascinating reading. You can find it along with other documents from the
court records at http://www20.brinkster.com/sargeelani/Court Records.htm
It may well be seen as a prime example of the imaginative and narrative
talents that lie hidden in the ranks of the special cell of the police
department. Among other things it shows how, within minutes of 'seeing the
news on TV', one Harpal Singh, proprietor of "Lucky Motors" in Karol Bagh,
voluntarily identified one of the slain "terrorists", as the person who had
purchased the 'attack vehicle' a white ambassador car from him. This is the
first piece of evidence that establishes a 'history' to the attack.
The charge sheet also goes on to say that - "Three mobile phones, six SIM
cards and a number of 'fake' identity cards of "Xansa Web City" - a computer
training institute, were found on the bodies of the slain terrorists. ..The
mobile phone number of one of the accused conspirators, Mohd. Afzal was found
inscribed as the contact number on the "Xansa Web City" identity card. Mohd.
Afzal's mobile phone number was seen to be (from transcripts obtained from
Mobile Phone Companies) in constant contact with several mobile phone
numbers, one of which, number 98100-81228 was found to have belonged to S A
R Gilani.
The location parameter (Cell ID) of all the mobile numbers recovered from the
deceased terrorists and that of all the other mobile numbers (including
98100-81228 ) was found to be that of Mukherjee Nagar for most of the time.
Out of all the prominent numbers only one mobile number 98100-81228 was
found to be a regular mobile card of AIRTEL, which stood in the name of
Sayed Abdul Rehman Geelani r/o H No. 535. Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi. The
subscriber was also found to have made the payments to the Mobile Company
through his SBI (State Bank of India) card, which also had the same address
as revealed from the report received from the SBI.
On 14.12.2001 an incoming call from Srinagar was intercepted on mobile
No.98100-81228 and during the conversation the user of this mobile (the
accused S.A.R. Geelani) spoke in the Kashmiri language."
The translation of this conversation was the sole piece of so called
'incontrovertible' evidence that the prosecution could produce in court. The
rest was built on custodial confessions, a roster of numbers, that in
themselves proved nothing, and hearsay.
The entire case against SAR Gilani, and by implication, substantive sections
of the 'wider conspiracy' theory which was used by the Indian state to
justify its subsequent actions, (including the threat of Nuclear war) rested
on the fragile substance of this supposed piece of evidence.
It is to this piece of 'evidence' that we now turn. The police's case rests
on its version of this telephone conversation. The police version of the
Hindi translation of this (unauthorized) interception, inscribed by Sub
Inspector Harinder, from the verbatim translation from Kashmiri done by one
Rashid, son of Mohd. Ramzan, a 34 year old transport worker, who has studied
up to the 5th/6th grade who cannot write Hindi, and who had not signed the
translation, contains the following crucial sentences.
Gilani's brother asks him, (according to the police Hindi version) "YEH DILLI
MEH KAYA KIYA HAI" ("What has happenned in Delhi") to which Gilani responds,
laughing, with "YEH JAROORI HOTA HAI" ("These things/This Thing is
Necessary")which in Kashmiri is said as "E CHE ZAROORI"
After this, the police version goes on to say that Gilani's brother instructs
him "ABHI AAP CHUP KARKE BATHO". ("Now you sit quietly")
This exchange, especially the bit about "What has happenned in Delhi?", and,
"These things/This Thing is Necessary" - are sought to be established as
proof of Gilani's complicity in the conspiracy to attack the Parliament in
Delhi.
Flimsy as this is, in and of itself. The prosecution's case was further
weakened by the fact that the so called 'translation' was in itself a rather
vague and inaccurate rendition of the actual contents of the conversation.
S A R Gilanis' defence lawyears, in the course of the proceedings, produced
two independent witnesses, both native Kashmiri speakers, wjp deposed, giving
markedly different and accurate translations of the same conversation. These
two witnesses were -
Mr. Sampat Prakash, a trade union leader from Kashmir and Mr. Sanjay Kak, a
documentary film maker. Both appeared on Oct. 09, 02 at the request of the
SAR Gilani Defence Committee to translate the intercepted conversation.
What follows is an excerpt of the relevant portions (segments 24-28 of the
recording of the conversation, as given by Mr. Sampat Prakash, in Kashmiri,
and then in English and Hindi)
24. Caller : Ye kyah korva?
What has happened? Ye kya hua?
25. Receiver : Kya? Dilli-Ha?
What, in Delhi? Kya Dilli mein?
26. Caller : Dilli, Kya korva?
What has happened in Delhi?Dilli mein kya hua?
27. Receiver : Ha! Ha! Ha! (Asaan)
Ha! Ha! Ha! (Laughing)Ha! Ha! Ha! (hansna)
28. Caller : Vuni bihizyava sokha saan.
Relax now. Ab sakun se rahna.
Let us now turn to Sanjay Kak's deposition, made in court on the 9th of
October, 2002.
" There were no words 'Ei Chhey Zaroori' (This was/is necessary) in the tape
given to me. At S.No. 22 on page 3 of my translation and transcripting, words
'Yeh kaya Korwa' means 'Yeh Kaya hua'. (What has happenned)
Q: Would this above phrase 'Yeh Keya Korwa' be used, when a younger brother
inquires from his elder brother about some dispute arisen between the elder
brother and his wife, about which younger brother got knowledge from some
other source?
KAK: It is entirely possible."
Note: The above statement is as it is recorded by the court.
Now., let us see what S AR Gilani said in court in his own defence.
SAR Gilani was arrested on the 14th of December 2001. What follows is his
statement in court about the circumstances of his arrest.
___________________________________________________
Statement of SAR Gilani to the Court under Section 313 CrPC, as recorded on
17.09.02, an Extract
Q: Why this case against you?
Ans: After I was picked up I was tortured by A.C.P. Rajbir Singh and other
police officials in presence of D.C.P. Ashok Chand and I told them that I
shall proceed against them in N.H.R.C. (National Human Rights Commission) and
I also told that they have caught a wrong person and I was innocent. Then I
was told by them that they were framing me in this case. So I have been
falsely implicated in this case.
Q: Why the witnesses deposed against you?
Ans: The witnesses have deposed against me due to fear of the police.
Q: Do you have anything else to say?
Ans: On 14th Dec. 2001 after I was arrested as already told by me I was blind
folded and taken to some place which was like farm house. At that farm house
tea was ordered by the police officials and on the sugar sachles Ashoka
Countryside was written. At the farm house I was made naked and tortured and
I was hanged upside down. I was forced to make confessional statement but I
made no confessional statement as I was not involved. Thereafter I was
threatened if I made no confessional statement my family members would be
eliminated. On 14th Night I was brought to special cell Lodhi Colony where I
found my wife, my two children, my brother, my brother in law and one another
relative at the special cell. They had already been arrested. I saw Afasan
Guru also at special cell at that time. Afzal in his interview given to Media
has categorically stated that I have no involvement.
My conversation with my half brother on telephone was tampered. In
the conversation where my brother had asked "Ya Kaya Keya" . This question he
asked about family matter as I was having some programme to go to Kashmir on
Id. However due to busy-ness in the college I could not make programme for
going to Kashmir and due to this, dispute arose between me and my wife also,
who was insisting for going to Kashmir. My wife talked to my mother and my
mother then inquired, as to why we were not going to Kashmir, then my wife
told my mother that she should ask her son (me). It was for this reason that
my half brother felt that there was some "Garbar" and he might have asked
that "Yeh Kaya Kiya".
I did not say "Yeh Jaroori Hota Hai". My relationship with Shaukat and Afzal
were of mere aquaintance.
Note: The above extract is as it is recorded by the court."
_________________________________________________________
The circumstances surrounding Gilani's arrest become clearer when we read his
wife's testimony, made to the court, 1.1o.2002. What follows, is an extract
Statement by Qurat-ul-am-Arifa wife of Shri S. A. R. Geelani aged about 30
yrs. r/o H. No. 568 Lane No.22 Zakir Nagar, New Delhi, House Wife.
(From page2, para 2---)
" On 14th Dec. 2001 my husband started from house at Mukherjee Nagar at about
1 p.m. for going to Mall Road Masjid (Mosque) for performing Jumma Namaj
(Friday Prayers), and he told me that he would be coming back by 4 p.m. He
was to send hearing-aid for his mother through my brother who was about to go
to Kashmir and my brother was to meet him at J&K Bus Stand opposite Tis
Hazari. My husband did not come back by 4 p.m. or 4.30 p.m., which was the
time for opening Roza (breaking ramzan fast) and brother of my husband also
did not come by 4-4.30 p.m.
My husband's brother was to take my brother to J&K Bus stop, opposite Tis
Hazari. When my husband did not come back by 4.30 p.m. on 14th Dec. I tried
to talk to him on telephone. On dialing cell phone of my husband I was
repeatedly getting message "enter your phone number". I then stop dialing the
phone. I thought that my husband's bus had come late or the bus which was to
go to J&K got late, I therefore opened Roza myself.
At about 9.30 p.m. I and my two children were at home. 5-6 persons
who were in civil dress entered my house. I started making noise. They caught
hold of my two children and threatened me that I should shout up and keep
silence otherwise they would kill my children. I kept mum out of fear that my
children may not be killed. They told me that they were police person and
they also told me that I could pack up some cloths of children and accompany
them. I told them that my husband would be about to come from the college and
I cannot accompany them but they told me that they know where my husband was,
and told me that I would have to accompany them and they forcible took me
with them and forced me and children to sit in the car. ..
[discontinued at page 3, para 2, line13]
[Continued from page 4, line 22]
--- On 15th Dec. Police again came to my room and I was blind
folded and we were made to sit in a car and removed some where else. In the
lunch time when we were served food, on the food plate it was written B.S.F.
(Border Security Force) Bhaswa Camp we then learnt that we were in a B.S.F.
camp and I got frightened.
There again my husband was tortured by the police in my presence and had been
threatened my husband that in case he did not say whatever they like they
would kill him and the entire family and nobody even come to know about it.
My husband kept on denying his involvement in the attack. There after my
husband was taken into second other room.
Then police came to my room, they were 5-6 persons. Then they told me that I
should advised my husband to say whatever they like and if my husband did not
agree then they would keep me for through out my life in the jail, in this
case. Thereafter I went to the room of my husband and weepingly told him to
agree to sign whatever the police people say as it was a question of life of
children and our own life.
Then I was brought back to my room. On the same day I do not know at what
time we were brought back to Lodhi Colony blind folded. The police had been
pressuring on the night of 15th Dec. also to say whatever police likes. I and
my children got frightened. I remained at police station Lodhi Colony on 16th
Dec. also in the same condition throughout the day.
Police was coming on that day to us repeatedly at the instance of A.C.P.
Rajbir and pressuring us even on that day for making statement. On the
evening of 16th Dec. 2001 again my husband was brought to my room and 15-16
papers, which were blank, were placed before him and he was asked to sign
those papers. My husband refused and then he was pressurised in my presence.
We were again threatened and there after my husband under, threat signed
those blank papers. Thereafter police allowed me to go home along with
children.... "
Note: The above extract is as it is recorded by the court.
_______________________________________________________________
Little needs to be said about the invesitgative procedures followed in this
case - the tools were the ones that are used as a matter of course, torture,
and the threat of death, or pain inflicted on loved ones.
Crucially, none of these tactics worked, and S A R Gilani steadfastly refused
to sign any confessional statement, implicating either himself, or any others.
In a classic conundrum called the "Prisoners Dilemma" - a non-zero-sum game
used in Game Theory to analyse reasons for altruism and co-operation, two
hypothetical suspects are arrested on charges of conspiring to commit a crime
together. However, the police lacks sufficient evidence to convict them
The two prisoners are isolated from each other, and the police visit each of
them and offer a deal: the one who offers evidence against the other one will
be freed. If none of them accepts the offer, they are in fact cooperating
against the police, and both of them will get only a small punishment because
of lack of proof. They both gain. However, if one of them betrays the other
one, by confessing to the police, the defector will gain more, since he is
freed; the one who remained silent, on the other hand, will receive the full
punishment, since he did not help the police, and there is sufficient proof.
If both betray, both will be punished, but less severely than if they had
refused to talk. The dilemma resides in the fact that each prisoner has a
choice between only two options, but cannot make a good decision without
knowing what the other one will do.
Such a distribution of losses and gains seems natural for many situations,
since the cooperator whose action is not returned will lose resources to the
defector, without either of them being able to collect the additional gain
coming from the "synergy" of their cooperation. For simplicity we might
consider the Prisoner's dilemma as zero-sum insofar as there is no mutual
cooperation: either each gets 0 when both defect, or when one of them
cooperates, the defector gets + 10, and the cooperator - 10, in total 0. On
the other hand, if both cooperate the resulting synergy creates an additional
gain that makes the sum positive: each of them gets 5, in total 10.
The gain for mutual cooperation (5) in the prisoner's dilemma is kept smaller
than the gain for one-sided defection (10), so that there would always be a
"temptation" to defect.
The problem with the prisoner's dilemma is that if both decision-makers were
purely rational, they would never cooperate. Indeed, rational decision-making
means that you make the decision which is best for you whatever the other
actor chooses. Suppose the other one would defect, then it is rational to
defect yourself: you won't gain anything, but if you do not defect you will
be stuck with a -10 loss. Suppose the other one would cooperate, then you
will gain anyway, but you will gain more if you do not cooperate, so here too
the rational choice is to defect. The problem is that if both actors are
rational, both will decide to defect, and none of them will gain anything.
However, if both would "irrationally" decide to cooperate, both would gain 5
points.
S A R Gilani decided to do the right, and irrational thing, as an answer to
his 'Prisoners Dilemma'. He decided not to support the attempts to construct
a 'wider conspiracy' the need for which had become so urgent. It may be noted
that even his co accused in the case, Mohd. Afzal, who had furnished the most
crucial confessional statement, in a video recorded interview given to Aaj
Tak, and NDTV at the special police cell in Lodhi Road, explicitly stated
that SAR Gilani was not involved. He too, decided to seek an irrational, and
morally upright solution to his 'Prisoners Dilemma'
Subsequent to this, ACP (Special Cell) Rajbir, who was present at the time of
the recording of the interview explicitly told the news crews present to edit
this statement our of their reports. The TV channels complied with this
directive, but, in a re-broadcast of portions of the interview in a special
programme to commemorate 100 days after the attack, Aaj Tak Channel did carry
the statement that had been sought to be edited out.
The Hindu of October 11 carried a story titled `Press, police suppressed
information in Dec. 13 case' , which bears quoting at length
"The press and the police `connived' to suppress information that could have
given the investigation into the December 13 attack on Parliament a different
complexion, a special court was told today.
An interview of the main accused, Mohammed Afzal, by the Hindi news channel
Aaj Tak was edited "at the request of the ACP, Rajbir Singh,'' to exclude the
section in which Mr. Afzal stated that another of the accused, S.A.R.
Geelani, had nothing to do with the attack and had no knowledge of it.
In the written confessional statement to the police, which Mr. Afzal denies
making, he is supposed to have said that Mr. Geelani, a University of Delhi
lecturer, was present at the meeting where the attack was planned.
The video-taped interview was played in the court today and showed Mr. Afzal
categorically stating that Mr. Geelani was "a professor ... I have never
shared any of this information with him.'' He said in the interview that on
one occasion, Mr. Geelani had said to him "you are up to something.'' "To
stop him from asking questions, I told him that there were two Pakistanis
staying with me who were trying to go to the UAE.''
The Aaj Tak correspondent, Shams Tahir Khan, giving evidence in court said
that the ACP, who was present during the interview, had shouted at Mr. Afzal,
saying he had instructed him not to say anything about Mr. Geelani. He also
confirmed that other journalists, from NDTV/StarNews and Zee News, were
present at the time. Mr. Khan then added: "Mr. Rajbir had requested that I
should remove the lines stated by Mr. Afzal about Geelani ... So, when this
interview was telecast on December 20 at 5 p.m. that line was removed.'' The
complete version was telecast on a programme `100 days after December 13.'
Mr. Khan told The Hindu that his decision to edit out Mr. Afzal's comment
about Mr. Geelani was made "because we are dependent on the police for
information... Mr. Rajbir Singh is a very good source in the Delhi police's
Special Cell.'' He added that he had not realised what impact his decision
would have."
___________________________________________________________
When the unfolding of the Prisoners Dilemma goes against the interests of the
jailers, one solution is to get rid of the prisoners who do not snitch, who
do not sing the songs that power wants them too.
On the 17th of August, 2002, there was an attempt on the life of S AR Gilani
in Tihar Prison, by one Sohan Singh, also a prisoner in Tihar Prison. While
this was the only instance of an actual attack, Gilani had been receiving
threats to his personal safety from other co prisoners from time to time.
Complaints against this act were not acted upon immediately by the Assistant
Superintendent, and the Head Warder, who were both present in the vicinity of
the attack. It could well be said that it was beginning to seem as if
Gilani's remaining alive was an embarrassment and a thorn in the side of some
powerful interests.
Sensing the weakening of the prosecution's case against them, Gilani,
together with Shaukat Husain and his wife Afsan Guru went on appeal in the
Delhi High court against an order by the Special Judge who had disallowed
their plea that the intercepts could not be taken on record as admissible
evidence as they had been recorded without following the procedures laid down
under POTA.
The Hindu of the 31st of October, 2002 - reported on this as follows,
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/10/31/stories/2002103106690100.htm
"The High Court set aside the lower court order when the Special Branch of
the Delhi police failed to produce a copy of the request letter, which it had
sent to the competent authority under POTA seeking permission to intercept
the conversations between the accused on mobiles.
In the lower court as well, the Special Branch had failed to supply a copy
of the request letter when counsel for Geelani asked for it.
Section 45 of POTA bars admissibility of intercepts of telephonic
conversations as evidence during trial unless the accused is furnished with a
copy of the order of the competent authority accompanied with a copy of the
application under which the interception is authorised or approved.
Referring to the provisions of the Act, Justice M.A. Khan said: "Evidence
which is illegally procured will not be admitted if the admissibility is
prohibited by law." The Special Branch had intercepted conversations between
the accused under the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, not in
accordance with the provisions under POTA. "The prosecution cannot fall back
upon the general law of evidence for the offence under POTA on the strength
of evidence, admissibility of which is forbidden by Section 45 of POTA,"
Justice Khan said. "
It is this ruling that has been treated with disdain in today's verdict given
by the special judge S N Dhingra. Commenting on issues of evidence, the judge
said that the single-judge order of the Delhi High Court, delivered by
Justice M A Khan, declaring the telephone interception by police as
inadmissible in evidence, was non-est as the "single judge is not
authorised'' to hear the appeal against the order of the designated judge.
Commending the investigating agencies, he said that they "perform a tough
job.''
On the question of discrepancies in the police evidence and instances of
evidence being tampered with, raised by defence counsel, he said it was the
"usual practice nowadays to flog the investigating agencies.''
It may be remembered, that shortly after the October 31 ruling that declared
the special cells methods to be inadmissible, the people of Delhi were made
witness, on Diwali eve, to a spectacular encounter killing of two alleged
'armed terrorists' at the Ansal Plaza shopping complex by the same special
cell that had been so active in the December 13 case.
The media lapped up the special cell's version of the story, until, an
eyewitness, Dr. Hari Krishna, came forward with a testimony to the effect
that he had seen two unarmed men who seemed either sedated, or badly beaten,
being taken out of a car in the underground parking lot of Ansal Plaza and
being shot in cold blood. The National Human Rights Commission has called for
a thorough investigation, and the special cell of the Delhi Police has denied
all reports that the "encounter" was in fact staged.
But, the one thing that this "encounter" did achieve was a significant
improvement in the public image of the special cell, which had taken such a
battering in the course of the Gilani trial. Suddenly, the very police
officers who were being reprimanded in the high court for producing
inadmissible evidence, were feted as being 'saviours of Delhi'.
The Shiv Sena, not an organization prone to hold demonstrations in support
of anyone or anybody, apart form itself, conducted noisy public
demonstrations, and an active leaflet campaign in support of the officers of
the special cell of the Delhi police. And the management of the Ansals group,
against whom proceedings for criminal negligence that resulted in the tragic
deaths of many hundreds of people some years ago in a New Delhi cinema, found
an occasion to grace the public, the police and themselves, with a function
to honor the heroes of Ansal Plaza.
Incidentally, Shiv Sena activists were present in court yesterday, when the
verdict in the December 13 case was read out. As information about the
sentence spread, Shiv Sena members, flanked by police vehicles, burst
crackers outside the court.
And inside the court, as the judge got up to leave after pronouncing the
sentence, lawyers from the Patiala House courts, who had filled the
courtroom, shouted "kill them, they are terrorists.''
______________________________________________
Nothing can be more precise than the meticulous keeping of records, the
careful maintenance of a fragile body of manufactured evidence, the spin
doctoring of stories, of events, of everything that spins out of the vortex
of the cell in which the accused sits, knowing the precise rise and fall of
the sentences that bind their fates.
Some of the most precise biographies of condemned prisoners are those written
in interrogation cells. They are written by the literary geniuses of the
special cells of the police department. Their authors begin work long before
the interrogations, researching the contents of diaries that are always
already found on the bodies of slain "terrorists". They are helped in their
research by literary minded medical professionals who write pieces of
forensic creative writing called post mortem reports, by the record keepers
of mobile telephone companies who provide them with numbers, transcripts and
recordings. There are trained bet semi literate translators who translate
telephone conversations between brothers. There are critics and literary
theorists called media professionals who interpret all these to the reading
and viewing public. The police school of literature is alive and
flourishing, and our city is its leading centre. This is the news where all
news comes from. This is the city where the news is manufactured, processed,
packaged and refined.
Even if your memory of what you did, whom you met, or what you wrote - in a
moment of anger, in confusion, or with conviction and candour - is vague and
imprecise, then it is the task of the literary apparatus of the state to make
you known. The searchlight will reveal you, even to your own shadow.
You may say, on a 'visible curfewed night', that you "know nothing", but
those who watch and monitor you have little to gain from information that is
not categorized, calibrated and classified. They, know everything. And what
they don't know, they can invent. And their function is to demonstrate to you
how much they know, or can make known about you.
The predicament of SAR Gilani is an early warning, of what can happen to
ordinary people, caught in the vortex of a sad time, when the cynicism of
power, backed by the emerging shadow of the surveillance state, threatens to
overwhelm the remaining shards of dignity and decency in our lives. I hope
that all those who value liberty will make their disagreement known, loud and
clear. Let us not be defeated by the precision of all that is the worst in
our times.
_____________________________________
Selected Links that are relevant to this Posting
______________________________________
Three sentenced to death in Parliament attack case
By Anjali Mody
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2002121905170100.htm
All India Defence Committee for Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani
www20.brinkster.com/sargeelani
'Police misinterpreted phone conversation'
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/10/12/stories/2002101200711300.htm
Phone intercepts not admissible evidence under POTA: HC
By Nirnimesh Kumar
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/10/31/stories/2002103106690100.htm
Rediff.com Timeline of Attack on the Parliament
http://www.rediff.com/news/pattack.htm
Geelani issues notice to Hindustan Times, Delhi police
http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01072002/0107200281.htm
Geelani challenges trial court order on handcuffing
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/02aug06/national.htm#6
Remember December 13? (A Profile of the lawyears defending Geelani)
Sankarshan Thakur
http://www.indianexpress.com/archive_full_story.php?content_id=7818
[india-gii] NEWS: Parliament attackers want phone talks discounted as
evidence [india-gii] NEWS: Parliament attackers want phone talks discounted
as evidence
https://ssl.cpsr.org/pipermail/india-gii/2002-July/001694.html
Committee for Fair Trial of the POTA Accused
gautam navlakha/ kumar sanjay singh/ tripta wahi/ vijay singh
http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1955&group=webcast
200 University Teachers Seek Fair Trial for Kashmiri Professor
http://islamonline.net/English/news/2002-09/24/article36.shtml
Human rights body seeks fair trail for Professor Geelani
http://bangladesh-web.com/news/aug/31/i31082002.htm
The Prisoners Dilemma
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/PRISDIL.html
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