Ehsan Jafri
Ahsan Jafri | |
|---|---|
 Ahsan Jafri | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1929 Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh |
| Died | 2002-02-28 Ahmedabad |
| Spouse | Zakia Jafri |
Ehsan Jafri (1929 – February 28, 2002) was an Indian Muslim ex-Parliamentarian who was burnt to death in his own home by a Hindu mob[1] during the Gujarat riots of 2002. He had been a noted trade unionist, and was one of the top party officials of the Congress party in Gujarat. His name is also written Ahsan Jafri.
The death of such a prominent ex-parliamentarian by rioters, and the inability of the government apparatus to come to his aid despite repeated desperate phone calls from top Congress officials over a period of five hours, has been pointed to by many as evidence of the state government's involvement in the riots.[1] Further, the complete lack of progress in the case - most of the cases have been closed without arrest by 2007,[2] has also been seen as evidence of the state government complicity.[3]
In 2007, The Truth: Gujarat 2002 – Tehelka report, and a Tehelka sting operation showed spycam film footage [4] on Aaj Tak of members of the Hindu rightist organizations RSS and VHP detailing the murder of Jafri.[2] The report elicited no response from the Gujarat police, and four months later, the Supreme court appointed a high level investigative team, including the ex-chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate eleven major unresolved cases arising from the riots, including this murder.[5]
Life
Ehsan Jafri was born in Burhanpur, present day Madhya Pradesh in 1929. His father, Dr. Allahbaksh Jafri. In 1935, Ehsan moved to Ahmedabad, studying at the R.C. High School.[6]
Subsequently, he was elected General Secretary of the Progressive Editor's Union. Around this time, he also completed his Law degree and started practising as an attorney in Ahmedabad.[citation needed]
During the communal riots of 1969, Jafri's house was burnt down, and he had to move to the relief camp.[citation needed].
In the 1960s, he had joined the Congress Party of Indira Gandhi, and was heading the city unit by 1972. In 1977, after the emergency when the party was routed in most Indian states, Ehsan managed to win the Ahmedabad seat and became a parliamentarian in the 6th Lok Sabha. Thereafter, he remained active in the party and held several key organizational posts in the Congress Party Administration in Gujarat.
Death
On February 28, 2002, after the Godhra train burning, riots broke out in Gujarat, following a group of Muslims had been blamed, but nothing could be proved except tha the train was burnt from inside.
By early morning, a large Hindu mob gathered at the Gulbarg Society in the Chamanpura suburb of Ahmedabad. This was an almost entirely Muslim housing society where the septuagenarian Ehsan Jafri lived. According to First Information Report of the incident filed by police inspector K.G. Erda,[7] the mob started attacking Muslim owned establishments in the morning and were dispersed by the police. However, they reassembled around 1 PM armed with swords, sticks, pipe and kerosene.[8] The report by the Human Rights Watch affirms that a mob of thousands, dressed in saffron scarves and khaki shorts - the uniform of the RSS - and armed with swords,[1] had blown up gas cylinders to blast through walls in the Gulbarga society. The report also mentions that the rioters were guided by voter lists and computer printouts with the addresses of Muslim-owned properties, information obtained from the local municipal administration.[1] This claim was repeated by at least five Muslim witnesses presented before the Nanavati Commission[citation needed].
Chamanpura is in central Ahmedabad and barely a kilometer from the police station, and less than 2 km from the Police Commissioner's office.[3] Believing the area to be safe given Jafri's presence, many Muslims in the area had gathered in his compound. Around 10:30 in the morning, the Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police, P.C. Pandey, personally visited Jafri and apparently assured him that police reinforcement would be coming. In the next five hours, Jafri and top Congress officials of the state repeatedly kept calling the police and other government officials requesting safe transport for the residents, but no help arrived.[3] The FIR by Erda[7] further stated that the police station had 130 policemen on duty that day, and were well armed with teargas shells. However, no one was deployed to disburse the crowd, despte Ehsan Jafri and top Congress politicians repeatedly contacting the Director General of Police, Police Commissioner, the Mayor, Leader of Opposition in the State parliament, and other top government officials.[9]
Personal life
Jafri's wife, Zakia Jafri, survived the carnage. His daughter, Nishrin Hussain, lives in Delaware.[10]
Ahsan Jafri had a lifelong interest in literature. While at school, he had brought out an Urdu magazine. He kept writing even during his years of Labour union struggle. In 1996, he published his volume of poetry titled Qandeel ("Lantern") in Urdu.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d "Police officials led Hindu attackers: HRW report on Muslims' massacre in Gujarat". Dawn. 2002-04-30.
- ^ a b "Safehouse Of Horrors". Tehelka. 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ a b c "Scarred Gulbarg families wait on for justice". The Indian Express. 2007-03-04.
- ^ YouTube - Gujarat's (not-so) Secret Shame 4
- ^ "Top guns given go ahead to reinvestigate Guj riots". CNN-IBN. 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ Ahsan Jafri Biography
- ^ a b FIR no. 4/5.200, filed at Meghani Nagar police station, quoted in book by Varadarajan, p. 140-141
- ^
Gujarat: the making of a tragedy (2002). Siddharth Varadarajan. Penguin Books India.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link)p.140-144 - ^ Stavan Desai (2004-11-28). "Express Investigation: Top cops knew ex-Cong MP Ehsan Jafri was burning, his friend had sent out SOS". Indian Express. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ a b "Jafri's NRI daughter pays tearful visit to Gulbarg Society". Times of India. Sep 9, 2002. Retrieved 14 May 2010.