Malegaon: Flaws exposed
The bail granted to seven young men from Malegaon in Maharashtra, after five long years, by a special court in Mumbai exposes deep flaws in the nation’s investigative systems, particularly so in terrorism cases. The men were picked up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad after the 2006 blasts, but just two years later a different set of people, including a military officer, were arrested for the same act.
That should have given the investigating agencies reason to pause and take a relook at the earlier arrests, but the ATS obdurately stuck to its stand and the seven men continued to rot in jail. Now that they have been granted bail, many loopholes in the case against them are beginning to emerge. It makes a mockery of the skills of this so-called elite unit. Who will compensate the seven men for the years they have lost?
Time and again, lawyers and activists have pointed out that while the fight against terrorism must continue and may even call for special laws, it cannot be an excuse to allow investigative agencies to violate the fundamental rights of individuals. Care must also be taken to avoid profiling, which could lead to knee-jerk responses. The Malegaon case provides a salutory warning of how mindsets must be altered while tackling terrorism in India. Politicians, regrettably, are already milking this instance to suit their own agendas, but no citizen can really support the fight against terror if it is to be fought in this manner.
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