[Reader-list] Jamia Millia should be prosecuted

[Nazneen Anand Shamsi]

Dear Iram, Dear Taraprekash, Dear all,

Let me begin by thanking Iram for her carefully articulated post. I loved
reading it, however, I strongly disagree with her core argument, that it was
wrong for Jamia's VC to give a legal aid to its students.

Before I give reasons for stating why, please allow me to recapitulate
Iram's argument and refute it simultaneously.

What is Iram saying-

First she states the facts pertaining to the case. They are the facts which
are undisputed. This is followed by normative positioning that a judicial
inquiry should take place, students should be treated with dignity and they
should not remain under the police custody longer than it is required.

Of course the assumption here is that a judicial inquiry would bare all and
the 'truth' will be out in open, in a day and an age where we are still
debating about merits or demerits of a 'Banerjee report' V/S 'Nanavati
Report' Or a 'Sri Krishna Report'. By this I do not mean that an inquiry
must not happen or that even if an inquiry happens truth as it is does not
comes out. May be it does. I really don't know whether a judicial inquiry is
the best option we have. Or are there any other options?

As far as the issue of dignity is concerned, we all know, how our benign
Delhi police treats a SAR or an Ifthikar with dignity. I will not be
surprised if the same 'dignity' is meted out to a Mohammad Shakeel, or a
Zia-ur -Rehman. I will consider it naive to assume otherwise, even if it is
used as a 'fair' rhetorical device.

In the sections that follow. Iram points out the premise for VC's action
which was that an incident involving Jamia students and police happened in
the past. Jamia students suffered and the then VC Gen(Retd)Zaki (Please
correct me if I am wrong) did not use his power and authority to prevent
this incident. This VC wants to set a new precedent by offering assistance.

Iram finds this logic disturbing because of two reasons- first, if the
students are found guilty then brand Jamia ceases to be a face of 'liberal'
Islam in India and secondly she forwards a hypothetical pecuniary
quantitative problematic that if more than two affiliates are arrested will
the university bear the costs?

Let me respond to this pecuniary argument first. Going by this logic should
government of Delhi or Rajasthan or Maharastra not extend monetary
compensation to its citizen who were affected by the blasts, lakhs of rupees
because, if this were to be the case, then where would the Government get
the same amount of compensation from, even if lets say, hypothetically
speaking, point five percent of the population is affected by a similar act?
Or being sometimes a responsible state, the Government of India not
formulate special subsidies and provisions for tsunami affected people
because certainly the Government of India would go bankrupt if only two
percent of its population were to be affected by an unforeseen event?

I find it deeply troubling to hedge present acts of assistance to persons in
need against a future commitment or obligation to assist all persons with
similar assistance. This thought calls for passivity rather than proactively
engaging with a predicament, which is the need of the hour. How can one, by
assisting someone with money to fight a case in a court of law become
co-accused of a crime, if the court of law pronounces that person guilty?
Doesn't this presumption works on the flawed logic of guilt by association?

By calling Jamia the face of liberal Islam, I think, she is falling into a
trap of rhetorical grandstanding? But then again I may be wrong. I certainly
don't know if Islam is a homogeneous entity in India and Jamia, a Central
university, which came into a legal existence by an Act of Parliament,
represents its 'face'.  What would AMU be then, belly of 'liberal islam' and
would that make Osmania its 'backside'? (due apologies to all concerned, the
pun is intended of course) I would rather refrain myself from using such
broad generalisations and moreover I would be more than happy to be
educated, if anyone has got the time and inclination, to define in precise
terms what does it mean to be a liberal Muslim or liberal Islam?

Finally she states, by the way of a solution that, an autonomous body
comprising of similar institutions should provide for a legal aid.

I strongly disapprove of setting up of a Commission/autonomous body
involving all the universities of Delhi to help all future students in need
of such assistance. I find this attitude problematic for it tends to
'normalize' what I would rather regard as an exceptional event and treat
such events on a case by case basis. This attitude tends to create or allow
for dedicated institutional framework to exist that rationalizes and
normalizes perceived risk. I would imagine that existence of such
institutions would also 'normalize' communal/ethnic/caste profiling of
students. Which I think would be far more dangerous.

I would, however, say that Iram presents a very interesting rhetoric!

 In other words, I think her argument broadly is this- if an individual is
associated with a group, then that group is responsible to take care of the
individual, if and only if, that individual does or does not commit an act
which lies within the purview of all the acts sanctioned by that group.  Any
attempt to extend assistance to such an individual, if it is perceived that
he has committed an act that is considered to lie outside its purview is
not-justified(in this regard please refer to her academic, non academic
activity argument). Such assistance may hamper the image of the group, may
set a wrong precedent and may be detrimental to all the members of that
group, if and only if, by extending such and assistance, the individual is
declared to be guilty by a member of a bigger group. In this case, it would
of course be a judge presiding over a court of law.

If this were to be the norm then certainly, no members of IIT or IIM or
Infosys must have come forward to defend their Manjunaths or Satyendras for
the fear of being labelled as siding with the 'corrupt' had their cases
turned upside down.

I believe all educational institutions be they hindu/muslim/dalit/jain or
technical/non technical have an obligation towards the welfare of their
students which is far more than mere academic/non-academic concerns. It has
to do with deeper qualities to shape values and belief systems.

Although I would be very cautious in pre-empting any judgment but let's for
a moment consider, that these two students of Jamia are found guilty, they
are pronounced as terrorists and are sentenced to be hanged, let us consider
that they were in fact the culprits, they committed those ghastly acts, even
in this scenario, I would consider Prof.Hasan's act to reach out to them and
offer them assistance to be a far more courageous, that demonstrates
character to fulfil institutional obligation and have trust in the law of
the land, than to just let them rot for a ruthless and purely utilitarian
objective for a greater common good of Muslims of India.

Regards

Nazo










On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 12:04 AM, TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks Iram for this well thought out mail. Such mails are rarity on the
> list these days. I wonder what have the regular contributors to the list
> discussion have to say about your views. When it comes to happenings
> considered to be related to Islam or Muslims, some of the great minds on
> this list either remain silent or use lots of ifs and buts. They don't
> believe that Osama doctrine has inspired and mislead some individuals so
> much that they are ready to become suicide attackers on Indians, which they
> believe are all Hindus. We sensible people think of social conditions as
> responsible for fundamentalism among certain Muslims. When it comes to
> increase in Hindu fundamentalism, apparently social conditions have no role
> to play.
> No doubt, after a while they lose rationality. Somebody starts having
> dreams
> because couple of people were shot by the police and some were arrested.
> That person doesn't lose sleep, at least he doesn't publicly announce it on
> the list, when co-ordinated bomb blasts take away so many innocent lives.
> Killing of two Jamia students, not proven guilty till now by any court of
> law, generates so much unrest on this list, but there is barely any mail
> showing "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" for the Christian
> community in Karnataka and Orisa. I wonder if we worry all the time only
> about the majority in the minority communities. I wonder why did people of
> India started supporting the communal powers so much that BJP became such a
> big power in Indian politics. The hindutva rhetoric they use was always
> there in the time of Jan Sangh and Hindu Maha Sabha. The secularism of the
> secular lobby has certain loop holes to make sure that Indians do not
> consider the secular powers (whoever they are) as hypocrites. Okay, enough
> of ranting.
> Now to your mail. I agree with you not because it is wrong for a university
> to provide legal aid to its students, the universities can make such
> policies and there is nothing wrong in it. But the reason that VC gave for
> the legal support of these students was not good enough. He is right in
> saying that they are innocent till they are proven guilty. But so is every
> suspect. If Jamia vc says that he is willing to give legal aid to all its
> students arrested on the suspicion of murder, rape, pickpocketing etc, it
> won't be a wrong policy. But why only this case? He is worried about the
> unfair image of Jamia being portrayed in the media, rightly so, but will
> his
> decision do anything good to the image?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Iram Ghufran" <iram at sarai.net>
> To: <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>;
> <jamia_millia_alumni_directory at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 3:58 PM
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Jamia Millia should be prosecuted
>
>
> > Dear all
> >
> > This is in continuation of the discussion on whether or not, Jamia
> > Millia Islamia should provide legal aid to its students - Mohammad
> > Shakeel and Zia-ur -Rehman, arrested on charges of terrorist and anti
> > national activities.
> >
> > Before I go further, let me say very categorically that like many others
> > on this forum and elsewhere, I believe there needs to be a judicial
> > inquiry in the Batla House encounter, attempts should be made to ensure
> > that the students do not remain in police custody longer than necessary
> > and that pressure should be built to ensure that they are treated with
> > dignity in police custody.
> >
> > I will begin with a question. What choices did Mushirul Hasan, Vice
> > Chancellor of Jamia MIllia Islamia have in terms of 'show of support' to
> > his students?
> >
> > In his address to the student body and later at a press conference,
> > Mushirul Hasan, VC of Jamia Millia Islamia stated that the University
> > would provide legal aid to the arrested students, from the Student
> > Welfare Fund. I feel that the Vice Chancellor, should not have promised
> > this. He can provide legal aid in a personal capacity, as part of a
> > citizens collective but NOT as Vice Chancellor ON BEHALF of the
> > University.
> >
> > Before I go into my reasons for saying this, let me add that my argument
> > is based on the premise that the term 'legal aid' implies monetary help
> > to fund a court case - specially for people who would otherwise not have
> > a fair legal representation.
> >
> > The VC cited an earlier incident when armed policemen forcibly entered
> > the SRK boys hostel, beat up and took in custody many students. He is
> > using this as a precedent for Jamia to support the two students on issue
> > under discussion. For a PUCL report on the previos episode, see -
> > http://www.pucl.org/reports/Delhi/delhi-jamia.htm
> > The aforementioned incident happened on campus. The students were
> > mistreated within the University compound, under the 'guardianship' of
> > the VC, the Proctor, the Registrar, and the hostel Warden. The
> > University administration, responsible for the welfare of the students
> > residing on campus was unable to prevent this unfair police action.
> >
> > The Butla House encounter and arrests are a different issue. Here the
> > charges on the students have nothing to do with their academic life
> > (they allegedly did not blow up the chemistry lab in a failed
> > experiment), nor their non- academic university life (they did not
> > injure spectators in a inter university football championship). They
> > were certainly not representing Jamia Millia Islamia or the University
> > ideals of universal brotherhood, peace and secularism in the act that
> > they have been accused of committing (falsely or not).
> >
> > My question is that if for example, the University has two thousand
> > students on its rolls, and even two percent of them get involved in some
> > form of litigation, will Jamia Millia be willing to support 40 cases a
> > year - cases that may drag on, beyond the academic term of the enrolled
> > student? Will the University provide 'legal aid' to students accused of
> > other 'anti State', 'anti national' activities (such as aiding militants
> > in the north East, Kashmir, maoists in Orissa, Chattisgarh)?
> >
> > If a University believes itself to be the guardian of its students and
> > in that capacity provides legal aid, then there have to be norms laid
> > down - Which cases will get primacy? Who will decide which particular
> > student should be legally supported and which student should be left to
> > his or her own devices? The University also has to take into account the
> > thousands of other students and its responsibility to them. By making
> > Jamia Millia Islamia, an interested party in this 'case', the VC has
> > dragged not only the University, faculty, staff, students into this
> > unfortunate series of events but has put at stake the Universitys
> > reputation. Does the VC have a plan of action, in case the arrested
> > students are implicated on charges of 'terrorism'? Will the logic of
> > 'innocent until proven guilty' help the rest of the students adjust to a
> > world that will see them as 'supporters' of 'terrorists'.  Even if one
> > of these students is sentenced to even one year of jail for aiding/
> > abetting an anti national act, it is not just an individual who will
> > lose face, it is not a team of lawyers, activists, supports who will
> > lose face, it will be the institution which lays claim to being the
> > 'liberal' face of the Indian muslim. Has the VC calculated the
> > implications of this?
> >
> > I feel that an autonomous body (perhaps with University support - Jamia,
> > JNU and DU) should be set up - that provides legal aid and counseling to
> > students. The Universities can provide financial support to such a body,
> > the students can contribute and raise independent funding. This is a
> > tentative proposition which has had precedent in various forms of
> > Committees for Defense for people accused of 'crimes' against the
> 'State'.
> >
> > I understand that a strong political statement was the need of the hour.
> > But was a commitment to legal aid the only option?
> >
> > Warm regards
> > Iram
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yousuf wrote:
> >> The Vice-chancellor in his speech and statement has said that the money
> >> for the accused's legal support will come from the "Student's Welfare
> >> Fund" - which does not come from the UGC or any ministry. It comes from
> >> donations and a small fraction of the fees students pay. Which means
> that
> >> no tax-payers money is involved here.
> >>
> >> And even if you depended on the court-appointed counsels, that would be
> >> paid by the tax-payer.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --- On Thu, 9/25/08, Mohit Agarwal <mohit_agarwal at indiainfo.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: Mohit Agarwal <mohit_agarwal at indiainfo.com>
> >>> Subject: Re: [jamia_millia_alumni_directory] Jamia Millia should be
> >>> prosecuted
> >>> To: jamia_millia_alumni_directory at yahoogroups.com
> >>> Date: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 6:56 PM
> >>> It is true that everybody is innocent until proven
> >>> otherwise. But just
> >>> for junta's knowledge, in criminal cases, if accused is
> >>> unable to get
> >>> legal defence, court arranges legal counsel at
> >>> taxpayer's expense.
> >>>
> >>> The question is not whether Prof Hasan is a secular person
> >>> or not. I think more relevant question is ..."is it
> >>> proper for a
> >>> university to bear litigation expenses for the accused
> >>> students? If yes
> >>> then where do you draw a line? Only for students accused of
> >>> terrorism? or
> >>> for all sort of accusations?
> >>>
> >>> But either which way calls for sacking of Prof are totally
> >>> ridiculous.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Mohit Agarwal
> >>> Course - ??
> >>> Batch - ??
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
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