Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday assured the two persons who were allegedly falsely implicated in terror cases that she would revert in a week’s time to the request put forth for a comprehensive rehabilitation policy.
Talking to The Hindu after meeting Ms. Dikshit, one of these two persons, Mohammad Amir, said: “I had asked for help so that I can gain a good education, gain some self-respect and have funds for my mother’s medical treatment.”
Mr. Aamir along with Javed Iqbal, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat and CPI (M) Delhi State Committee member Sehba Farooqui had earlier met Ms. Dikshit on Thursday. “The Chief Minister took our request seriously and was very sympathetic. She listened and understood our plight and said she will do as much as possible to help us,” he had said on Thursday. “Brindaji told her that our country in the name of terror had targeted several innocent Muslim youths.”
Mr. Aamir was “kidnapped” when he was 18 years old and was falsely named the main accused in 20 bomb blasts executed over 10 months between December 1996 and October 1997 in Delhi, Rohtak, Sonepat and Ghaziabad. He was released early last year after spending 14 years behind bars.
“I am feeling very happy that the CM listened to me,” said Mr. Aamir, adding that the compensation that he would prefer would be one that can better his future. “I want such a compensation that can help me move on and forget the past. I need to look after my mother and as I have recently got married, my responsibilities have increased,” he said.
Mr. Aamir has restarted his education through Indira Gandhi National Open University and dreams of either becoming a lawyer or a journalist. “Since I was in jail for 14 years, I understood the way law works. But I may also like to become a journalist since print media was my only means of keeping in touch with the outside world.”
A general policy framework that recognises that injustice occurred, provides redress and a substantial rehabilitation package is the need of the hour, said Ms. Karat. “The rehabilitation policy should look at each case individually. It should engage the person concerned and be sensitive to his needs,” she said. “For instance, Javed is an older person and he runs a shop so his requirements are different from Aamir who is younger.”
Noting that the Union Home Minister had made a statement in Parliament that a comprehensive rehabilitation policy will be provided, Ms. Karat said: “There is a need to create a precedent.”
