‘Hate crime’ victim’s family left in the lurch

Maharashtra backtracks on job promise to techie’s brother

September 16, 2014 07:46 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 11:14 pm IST - MUMBAI

Three months after his brutal murder in Pune, techie Mohsin Sheikh’s family has received another setback.

The Maharashtra government has backtracked on its promise of providing a government job to his kin.

A resident of Solapur district, Mohsin was on June 2 clubbed to death allegedly by activists of the right-wing outfit, Hindu Rashtra Sena, while he was returning home after offering evening prayers.

After a furore over the incident, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan promised Mohsin’s brother, Mubin (26), a government job on humanitarian grounds, preferably in the Sheikhs’ hometown Solapur. Mubin, who was working as a sales manager at a textile company in Pune at the time of the murder, quit his job after the incident to tend to his parents.

However, the State has now rejected Mubin’s application for a government job. The rejection letter, a copy of which is with this paper, says Mubin is “ineligible” for a government job as his deceased brother “did not hold a government post.”

Mohsin’s family is dejected and feels “betrayed” as the promise was made by the highest authority in the government — the Chief Minister. Mohsin was the sole breadwinner of the family. “The job was promised on humanitarian grounds, it had nothing to do with government job,” Sadiq Sheikh, Mohsin’s father told The Hindu .

“After we were promised a job for my younger son, we tried to get in touch with the authorities to see it through. However, each time they would send us back with petty excuses,” he said.

Even though after the incident Mohsin’s family received Rs. 5 lakh as compensation, the tragedy took away his family’s primary source of income. Due to a poor financial situation, Mr. Sheikh was forced to shut his photocopy centre two years ago. With Mohsin’s employment, he had got renewed hope and at the end of Ramazan was planning to revive his business. Mohsin’s death put paid to all his plans.

The rejection letter came even as the former Home Minister and senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde wrote to Mr. Chavan suggesting that the government would have to “issue a special GR [government resolution] to consider the appointment [of Mubin] as a special case.”

In a letter dated September 10, Mr. Shinde noted that in Mohsin’s case “a routine order cannot be issued.”

Since the State goes to the polls next month and the Model Code of Conduct is in force, Mohsin’s family does not see much hope.

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