Mumbai:
For these families of the nine accused in the Malegaon blasts case, it has been a long wait. Arrested by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2006, the nine men were granted bail by a special court in Mumbai. The men - Noor ul Huda Shamshudioha Ansari, Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah, Raees Ahmed, Dr Salman Farsi, Dr Farukh Maghdumi, Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Zahid, Asif Bashir Khan and Abrar Ahmed Saeed were charged with being members of the banned organisation Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The chargesheet also stated that the accused wanted to continue unlawful activities within the state of Maharashtra, to overthrow the government by causing communal riots. This after the National Investigation Agency or the NIA formally told the court on Saturday that it would not oppose their bail plea.
Today the bitter families speak about the ordeal they have had to go through. Iqbal Maghdumi Farukh Maghdumi's father said "For the last 4-5 years we have gone through a lot of trouble as we constantly heard about the torture these men through inside the jail. The people of our village knew the truth and so they helped us cope with it." Nafisa Ansari, wife of one of the accused Dr. Salman Farsi, agrees and adds: "We hope that justice is done to all others who are innocent and are spending their lives in jail. We can understand the plight of their families."
After a public outcry, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case. Its initial chargesheet toed the ATS line, but then Swami Aseemanand's -who was arrested for his role in the Hyderabad 2007 blasts - confession pointed to the involvement of right wing groups. His confession forced the agency was forced to reinvestigate the case and in April this year, the CBI submitted a report to the NIA stating that the nine arrested men were innocent. The CBI report also said only right-wing activists arrested last year should be probed for the blasts.
Though this has come as a relief it is not the end of the battle for the families. The nine accused have still not been exonerated. However, with crucial years of their lives lost, the families are demanding compensation for what the trauma they have been through. They also want to see action against the officers who are responsible for implicating their men in these blasts. The families are receiving tacit support from Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan who said: "It is important to convict the real culprits behind the 2006 Malegaon blasts."
Chavan is not alone. Abraham Mathai, former vice-chairman of the State Minorities Commission, in Maharashtra argues that the state should heed the families call for compensation. "It is also required of the government to actually compensate these 9 innocent youth who have lost 5 years of their life. And the government should also set up an enquiry regarding the officers who got these false statements by force and coercion and who have attempted to take this to a different route."