A fight for truth amid web of lies

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My whole world came crashing down the moment Sanjiv was taken into custody. It came like a bolt from the blue. We had no idea that he was going to be arrested. In fact, the whole operation reeked of lies and deceit. The officers who came home told him that they were taking him for interrogation regarding the complaint filed by police constable K.D. Pant.

It was only later that fateful night that we came to know that he had been arrested by the Ghatolia police, and then taken to the Ahmedabad crime branch in a clandestine operation orchestrated by the most powerful man in the state.
We call ourselves a democracy. But it is shameful that in a country like ours, this is the treatment meted out to an honest, upright officer. His only fault was that he chose to stand up for what he believes in. He made the mistake of speaking out against the government and the system, and was punished for it.
What was more shocking was how even people he called his friends completely let him down. Officers who worked with Sanjiv came to my house and raided the premises ruthlessly, without showing any consideration to me or even my father-in-law.
On the night of the arrest our house was raided thrice by the Gujarat police. Over 35 to 40 policemen searched our home for more than two hours without any intimation. These are the same policemen who have at sometime or the other worked under Sanjiv. They ill-treated our family.
Suddenly all of Sanjiv’s colleagues started disassociating themselves from us. Even junior level officers didn’t take my calls on the night when Sanjiv was taken to the Ahmedabad crime branch. A man who was so popular among his peers was suddenly left with very few friends.
My two children too have not been spared the trauma. The children of an honest IPS officer are now being labelled as children of some criminal. My teenage daughter, who is studying in Mumbai, had to rush to Ahmedabad after learning about her father’s arrest.
I feel so guilty about the fact that I haven’t even been able to provide any emotional support to my in-laws, who are heartbroken. What parent can survive the humiliation and pain of knowing their innocent son is languishing in jail and being treated like a criminal?
The way the government has treated Sanjiv clearly shows that he is being framed for speaking against the Narendra Modi government. Tell me, where was Pant (a constable with Sanjiv in 2002 at the time of the Godhra carnage) for nine years? Why didn’t he file a complaint at that time? Sanjiv was arrested after Mr Modi got relief from the Supreme Court. This clearly shows the arrest was a planned move by the government. Moreover, Sanjiv is also a witness in three critical cases, and despite Mr Modi being the main accused in one of them, we never got any protection. In fact after he was suspended, Sanjiv’s security too was withdrawn. Is there any justice in any of this?
I am very worried about Sanjiv’s situation while in custody. I spend sleepless nights thinking about how he is being treated. Even when I wrote to senior officials like director-general of police Chitranjan Singh and Ahmedabad police commissioner Sudhir Sinha, they gave me no assurance regarding Sanjiv’s safety in jail. I really thought officers of that stature would be more understanding towards their colleague and fellow IPS officer. Till date I have got no reassurance that nothing untoward will happen to him while he is in custody.
It was only because I feared for Sanjiv’s life that I was compelled to write to Union home minister P. Chidambaram requesting him to provide adequate security to Sanjiv in jail. I never wanted to become part of the political game between the BJP and Congress. And my fears were clearly not unfounded. Now there are rumours of Sanjiv being tagged as a Congress agent.
It’s just been over a week since this whole nightmare started and I already feel tired and hopeless. I am almost certain that there is no redemption. I know we will never get justice here. It is a quagmire here in Gujarat. No one will ever have the courage to speak up or take a stand against the Modi government.
My husband was an exception and the state has made an example of him. It is the government’s warning. They have proved that this is the consequence of talking against the man who is poised to become the prime minister of the country that claims to be world’s largest democracy. There is no starker irony than this.
As told to Jigna Vora