WE CANT TRULY MOVE ON

Although relieved that her death in a Gujarat police encounter has been proven to be staged, the family of deceased Mumbai teen Ishrat Jahan say nal justice will only be done when her killers are brought to book BY SHIKHA SAKSENA

aving lost one of her daughters Ishrat Jahan, seven years ago, in shocking circumstances, Shamima Jahan cant help but worry when she thinks of her other ve girls: she still doesnt like to send them outside their home in a lower middle-class locality of Mumbra, on the outskirts of Mumbai, for anything. I am afraid. I dont want something to happen to them also, she admits, adding, So I let my son Anwar take care of day-to-day necessities. Ishrats death, back in 2004, remains all too fresh in her mind. Then 19, the teenager was killed in a shootout, along with three other men, by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch because of her alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Gujarat CM Narendra Modi (timeline below). Overnight the family became national news, ghting off suspicion and battling accusations of harbouring a terrorist. But the long-awaited vindication nally arrived on Nov. 21, 2011 when a Special Investigating Team submitted its findings to the state

high court that the encounter was staged by the police. The stigma on my child has been removed. I have been feeling lighter since the latest news came out. I feel a sense of calm, says Shamima. She recalls the last time she heard her daughters voice, barely days before she was reported to have died. She was in Nasik when I received a

ALL THAT HAPPENED STILL SEEMS LIKE A BAD DREAM TO ME. I KEEP THINKING THAT MY ISHRAT WILL BE BACK SOMEDAY
SHAMIMA (LEFT)

call from her at 11.30 am on June 11, 2004. She sounded scared and said that some people were staring at her. I waited for her to call me back for the next few days. I tried to reach her but I couldnt get through to her phone.

Suddenly on June 16, the media was at my house showing me photographs of Ishrats dead body in a Gujarati newspaper, says Shamim, who reveals that she didnt know what the word encounter meant. I thought that my daughter was arrested but then I realised what it actually means. All of it, still seems like a bad dream to me. I keep thinking that my Ishrat will be back someday. Hardworking and studious, Ishrat, a rst-year science student at Khalsa College in Mumbai, was always keen on pursuing her education. Her brother Anwar, 23, says, She was constantly telling me to work harder on my studies. She wanted to be a doctor at rst but then because we couldnt afford the course, she had planned to get a BEd degree. Shamima adds, She never frowned or got irritated with anyone. She was a wonderful girl. Both of them reveal that her involvement with Javed, one of the three other men killed along with her, came about as a result of the familys dire financial situation. Shamima explains, My husband Shamim, who was in the construction business, had

ISHRAT JAHAN ENCOUNTER: A TIMELINE

June 2004: Gujarat police announce that they have killed Jahan and three other men Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Joharoutside Ahmedabad. September 2009: A report by metropolitan magistrate S. P. Tamang declares that the encounter was staged. September 2010: The Gujarat State Government challenged the report of the metropolitan magistrate, saying that the policemen accused of fake encounter were nt. not given an opportunity to present their argument. A be Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up to probe the case further by the High Court. November 2010: The Supreme Court rejects the Gujarat governments plea challenging the High Court order to form the new SIT. November 2011: The SIT report states that Ishrat Jahans encounter was staged.

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RIGHT BELOW: FOTOCORP (2)

Ishrat family (above) addressing the media in 2009. Ishrat and the three men with her were reported to be on a mission to assassinate the state CM Narendra Modi (inset) and linked to terror outt Lashkar-e-Taiba.

December 30, 2011 PEOPLE

Photographs by APOORVA GUPTAY/PEOPLE

PEOPLE December 30, 2011

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After Ishrats death, all of us lost interest in studies. Our mind was preoccupied with the case and the latest developments related to that, says Anwar (above), I wanted to be a software engineer but I gave it up to support my family. (Right) Ishrat with her family in happier times.

suffered heavy losses and was in debt. His health took a turn for the worse and he passed away in 2002. So my children and I started providing for the family. My eldest daughter Zeenat and I took up jobs with a local company. After Zeenat took ill, she had to discontinue. Then Ishrat began taking tuitions at home for children from our community. Unfortunately, the inflow of students for tuitions slowed down and Ishrat decided to take up some other work to support the family. She met Javed (one of the men killed along with her) through a friend. He offered her some accounts work to tide through our difficult times. Javed had said that she needed to go

OUR NEIGHBOURS DIDNT TAUNT US TO OUR FACES BUT THEY KEPT AWAY FROM US. WE ALSO BEGAN STAYING INDOORS A LOT MORE
SHAMIMA

to Nashik for an outdoor assignment, , after which he would get her work in n his Mumbai office, says Anwar, adding that none of them have an idea of f what actually happened after that. But post-Ishrats demise, the shadow of doubt had been cast. The family was singled out and isolated by many. Our neighbours didnt taunt us to our faces but they kept away from us. And we also began staying indoors a lot more. We had no relatives in Mumbai who could help. My brother in Bihar and a few members of our community were the only ones who did something for us nancially, says Shamima, adding, We didnt even have a mattress in our house. Many of our belongings were donated by other people. Anwar, who was his familys sole male member, struggled to nd a job. I would approach people and the moment they found out I was Ishrats brother, they would ask me to leave, he says. Life, sometimes, got so unbearable that Shamima even contemplated suicide. But my religion doesnt teach me to do that. I was just grateful to God for helping us, she says. As the investigation into Ishrats death unfolded, things gradually got

better for them. Now that the shooting was declared a fake encounter, Shamima reveals, Everyones behaviour towards us has changed again. The family is now supported by Anwar, who works as back-end assistance in a BPO. More recently, Zeenats marriage provided a rare departure from their gloomy routine. It was a happy occasion but we all wished Ishrat was here with us, says Anwar. Although they seem to have pieced their life back together, Shamima believes they can never put their daughters death behind them until her killers are brought to justice. Since the latest revelations, a division bench of the High Court in Gujarat has ordered that a separate FIR, under Section 302, should be filed against those who were involved in staging the shootout. Shamima hopes it is the beginning of a fair trial. The police are supposed to protect us. We cant truly move on unless her killers are punished. Only then will I be able to breathe easy, she says.

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December 30, 2011 PEOPLE