Gujarat Muslims face new harassment as cops make list of ‘anti-nationals’

Mohammed Asif was acquitted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Surat on March 7, 2021, after 20 years of being accused under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Asif had just begun to pick the pieces of his life when police knocked on his door again on November 21 this year.

“I froze in fear when I saw the police at the door. They noted my name, my current address, and names of family members, and told me that it was a routine exercise. But my family and I have been worried and scared since then,” Asif told The Federal, adding that there is nothing “routine” about it for them.

Also read: Quiet Hyderabad neighbourhood rattled by ricin terror plot revelation

“The last time police visited me, I was picked up from a seminar in Surat along with 125 others and falsely charged with sections 3, 10, 13, and 15 of UAPA and accused of being associated with and promoting the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned outfit. In 20 years, my life has turned upside down,” he said.

Lifetime of harassment

Asif said even though he got bail in 2008, police would land up at his house, unannounced, anytime, and harass his family and him. “Now that I am building my life from scratch, they have come again to note my whereabouts,” Asif told The Federal.

Asif was in college, “dreaming of becoming a journalist” and about to get married, when he was arrested. “Everything fell apart after that. Now I sell spices and managed to get married in 2008 after a series of rejections due to the case they slapped on me. If that wasn’t enough, my name has been put in the list of ‘anti-nationals’ despite being acquitted by court,” added Asif, who lives in Ahmedabad with his wife.

‘Reason changes every time’

Asif isn’t the only one whose details and whereabouts were noted by the police in the 100-hour drive that began on November 18.

In Juhapura in Ahmedabad and Rander in Surat, two of the largest Muslim ghettos in the state, the move has sent shockwaves, with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Gujarat Police going door to door to take details of people once accused, suspected, and even acquitted of being associated with the SIMI and the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts.

Also read: Ricin terror plot: Arrested doctor surveyed markets, RSS office, say cops

“I have lost count how many times police have come to my home and taken details of my family and my whereabouts. It is just that the reason changes every time but we always remain at the receiving end of such exercise of Gujarat Police,” said a Muslim man from Rander in Surat who was acquitted in 2021 after 20 years of jail under UAPA.

“It doesn’t surprise me anymore, but this time, they even took details of my relatives who live in other districts and reached their home. They also had to comply with the police and give fingerprints and other details. All this because I was once accused of being associated with SIMI and then acquitted of all charges. How much more can the Gujarat government harass us,” added the man who refused to be named.

DGP’s order

The move by the Gujarat Police comes after an order from Vikas Sahay, the Director General of Police (DGP), ordering every police station and branch of the state police to prepare a dossier of names of individuals considered as “anti-nationals”.

The order came in the backdrop of the arrest of a doctor from Hyderabad in Telangana and two others from Uttar Pradesh on November 8 suspected to be involved in a terror plot using ricin extracted from castor seed and then the blast outside the Red Fort in Delhi.

Also read: Red Fort car blast: Gujarat police on high alert, increases patrolling

“On November 8, the Gujarat ATS arrested some anti-national operatives and seized weapons and ammunition from them. Subsequent similar actions against such elements took place in Faridabad on November 9. On the same day, a bomb blast occurred in capital Delhi. So, the Gujarat Police is on high alert, and all police stations and divisions across the state have been instructed to identify anti-national elements who have been nabbed and booked in the past 30 years in Gujarat. The ATS will be keeping an eye on those who have left the state within the past 30 years,” Sahay said in a video statement posted on the Gujarat DGP’s official X handle on November 17.

Dossier of ‘anti-nationals’

The DGP directed the police stations and branches across the state to make a dossier of anyone ever accused, acquitted, suspected, booked, convicted, or jailed in a terror case since 1995.

The notice from the office of DGP reads, “Those booked under six crime heads need to be verified. These include those under The Arms Act, the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Explosives Act, the Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), those under Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (Prevention) Act (TADA), Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Maharashtra Control of Crime Act (MCOCA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Petroleum Act and Rules.”

“Barring a few hundred people, all the names categorized as ‘anti-national elements’ are of Muslim individuals. The order also states that we have to update the list annually from now on. Apart from the names of the individuals, we have also noted the details of family and close relatives, records of fingerprints, any cases against them and known associates, etc.,” said an official of Ahmedabad ATS.

Also read: Gujarat ATS arrests doctor, two others in ‘ricin’ terror plot

The DGP has come up with another video statement, stating that Gujarat Police has updated the records of 31,834 individuals linked to antinational activities over 30 years. Of these, 11,880 were found to be present and are under scrutiny, 2,326 have died, 1,180 are in jail, and 4,506 have moved out of the state. Efforts continue to trace those who could not be located due to address change, he said.

What about constitutional rights?

Shamshad Pathan, an advocate from Ahmedabad, said the SOG team of the police went door to door in Ahmedabad’s Juhapura area and took down names and fingerprints of Muslim men and their families.

“Even 16- or 17-year-old boys were not spared. Even if one is convicted in a crime, their families have the right to live with dignity. But Gujarat Police is not only taking details of those who have been a suspect or convicted in terror cases but also of those who have been acquitted and their families. This is outrageous and against constitutional rights,” he added.

“Although Gujarat Police told everyone while taking their details that this was only a preventive measure, but these families are scared now. There is no telling what action comes next after this,” Pathan said.