Kashmiri man acquitted after 11 years of detention in Gujarat

SRINAGAR — A Gujarat court has acquitted a Kashmiri man, Bashir Ahmed, after 11 years. Bashir Ahmed Baba was charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2010.

Bashir Ahmed Baba of Rainawari area of Kashmir’s capital Srinagar, who was arrested in Gujarat for allegedly being a member of Hizbul Mujahideen, was today acquitted after more than 11 years.

His brother Nazir Ahmed confirmed that Bashir Ahmed has reached home and is happy. He said the session court in Gujarat acquitted Bashir of charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and ordered his release.

Declaring his innocence and acquittal, the prosecution relied on “emotional reasoning and no person can be convicted merely for fear of anarchy.”

Additional Sessions Judge, SA Nakam dismissed the Anti-Terrorism Squad’s case that Baba was linked to terrorists. “No evidence was found that he was in contact with terrorist elements through electronic gadgets,” the judge said.

Bashir’s family had staged dozens of protests when he was picked up by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, confirming his innocence. The family said that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had also informed the Gujarat Police about the innocence of Bashir, yet he was not released.

“He had to face a lot of hardships and mental torture in Gujarat jail. Thankfully, the bad days are over,” said Nazir Ahmed, who works as a salesman at a shop.

He said that his brother was arrested only on the basis of suspicion. “He spent 11 dark years in prison simply because he was a suspect.”

He was working as a camp coordinator with the Kimaya Cleft Center affiliated with the NGO Maya Foundation. He was given 15 days of training related to his work by the NGO. He was sent to a centre in Gujarat for which he left home on February 17, 2010. He was arrested in March, the following month.

Bashir had completed his Masters in Urdu from the Indira Gandhi National Open University in 2009 and then qualified for a 15-day training program in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in March 2010 by Maya Foundation – a German NGO dedicated to the surgical treatment of cleft lip in children running a project for rural areas.

An FIR was registered against him under Sections 120 (b) of the IPC and Sections 16, 17, 18, 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2010.

It is pertinent to mention that his photographs went viral on social media on Tuesday when he reached his home in Rainawari Srinagar.