Despair and Hope

'26 innocent boys have been arrested and are being tortured'

December 6, 2007

Things seem normal in the city now. Fear no longer lurks on peoples' faces and life goes on as though nothing has happened. However, the tragedy has made Hyderabadis vigilant. Try dropping your bag in a shop and walking out. Sure enough, you will be reminded to take it along with you. In all three blasts, the bombs had been placed in bags and left unattended.

The Hyderabad police says the blasts were masterminded by Harkat-ul-Jihad Al Islam operative Shahid Bilal to create communal tension. However, the blasts did not incite any communal riots. The last time a communal riot occurred in Hyderabad was after the Babri Masjid demolition 15 years ago.

But something very ugly is brewing between the Muslim community and the Hyderabad police.

Says Lateef Mohammad Khan of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, a group which has been fighting the cause of those arrested for their alleged involvement in the blasts, "26 innocent boys have been arrested and are being tortured. What is their crime? The police are not clear about why they have arrested them. It looks as though they are clueless about the real culprits and by arresting these innocent boys they are trying to prove a point."

General Secretary of the Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee Lateef Mohammed Khan, right, speaks to a police officer. Photograph: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images Also read: The dossier of a terror mastermind   Email this Page  |   Write to us

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