'They are targeting us because we respect the law of the land'

'They are targeting us because we respect the law of the land, don't indulge in illegal or unlawful activities, are educated and literate enough to articulate the acts of injustice against us (the Muslim community).'

Mohammed Umam's father Javed Ahmed was arrested by the police in Prayagraj under charges of alleged conspiracy that led to violence in his neighbourhood after Friday's namaaz on June 10 while protesting against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's remarks against Prophet Mohammed.

Umam, who was in Delhi when his father was arrested and his mother and sister Sumaiya detained, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com that his entire family has been rendered helpless and homeless in just a night.

"We can't reveal where exactly (his sister and student activist) Afreen Fatima is right now because these people (the police) also want to put her into trouble. While there is no way they can arrest her, but you never know what kind of frivolous charges will be cooked up to arrest her," says Umam.

"We are ensuring she remains safe, but she will face any action against her even if they press false charges against her," he says. Afreen Fatima was a vocal proponent of the protests against the repeal of the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

How's the family coping with the sudden demolition of your home by the Prayagraj Development Authority?

All of us are completely shattered. We don't have any place to live because that was the only house we had. That was my mother's house. She is the owner of that house and they demolished it because of false allegations levelled against my father for provoking violence. But my dad was not there when it (the stone pelting after Friday's namaaz on June 10) happened.

I am completely shattered. I have nowhere to go with my wife and daughter, 9, and son, 4. We are totally helpless.

Even on Saturday night when they served the notice at 11 pm we had no clue that this was so well planned. They served the backdated notice (the notice is dated May 25, 2022 but was served on the night of Saturday June 11) and didn't give us even time to move our belongings.

The next day (Sunday, June 12) by 1 pm the bulldozers had already started demolishing our home completely. And soon after they completely demolished and destroyed our home in less than 14 hours of serving the notice.

My mom was under detention for two days (since Sunday morning) and my dad was in custody since that morning. So, there was nobody at home.

Even my younger sister Sumaiya, who is 19, was detained along with my mother. I was away in Delhi, so the entire family was helpless. We could not go to the higher court (to appeal against the demolition and the manner in which it was done) on a Sunday.

It was totally well planned and all the allegations and charges levelled against my father are false.

We will move the (Allahabad) high court to seek justice. We will definitely do that.

Under what charges have the Prayagraj police arrested your father?

They are alleging that my father was the mastermind of the violence at Atala (a neighbourhood Umam says is some 4-5 kms away from where the family stays) on Friday. But he wasn't there (at the time of the violence); he was home at that time.

He offered his Friday namaaz at a mosque, Abu Urera, which is just some 50-100 metres away from our home. Atala is almost 4-5 km away from our house. After the Friday afternoon namaaz he did not leave the house.

In fact, just a day before he (my father) had appealed to all the protesters to maintain calm and peace, helped the administration maintain peace and not indulge in violence. He made the same appeal on the day of the violence (Friday, June 10) too.

How could the police charge him with inciting violence and label him the mastermind?

Why do you think your father and your family are being targeted by the administration?

Perhaps, they are targeting us because we respect the law of the land, don't indulge in illegal activities, are educated and literate enough to articulate the acts of injustice against us (the Muslim community).

My father has also been an activist (he is also a member of the Welfare Party of India founded by Dr S Q R Ilyasi, Umar Khalid's father) and has fought many legal battles where people were framed under false charges.

He has always been helpful to those seeking legal help and justice. He is a known personality in Allahabad (Prayagraj). Perhaps they framed my father because they want to crush the spirit of such people and their families.

Given his activism, my father shares very cordial relationship with the police and the local administration. My father played a role in ending the agitation against the NRC and CAA. He appealed to all the Muslims in Allahabad and asked them to end their agitation and follow the COVID-19 norms set by the district administration.

We are shocked how the same administration san treat him this way now.

We are preparing to move legally against the administration's high-handedness and prove legally that the charges against my father are baseless.

How is your father doing? Do you know his whereabouts?

He is in some jail as per our lawyer. We don't know exactly where he is now.

On the day of the demolition, the police came to our home and took away my mother to a relative's place at 9.30 am. They dropped her there and warned her as well as my sister not to come near our house.

Then they brought a huge posse of cops and undertook the demolition between 1 and 2 pm. My mother and sister were repeatedly warned to not go back to our home. There was no reason why they should have done this (to my mother and sister).

How could you (the Prayagraj Development Authority) serve the notice after 6 pm? Then both my mother and sister were kept in detention for 30 hours for two days. How could they do this to them (my mother and sister Sumaiya)?

I have still not been able to speak with my father. My mother is in a mental trauma; she is very upset. She told me that bad words were used against them while being taken to the relative's home.

She is completely shattered. She is unable to speak much right now. We are trying to console her and get her out of this mental duress.

We have become homeless now. They (my father, mother and Sumaiya) have to go through mental and physical torture. The administration is responsible for all this.

There are reports that the police also want to arrest your sister Afreen Fatima. She has been charged with 'advising' your father. How is Afreen Fatima doing?

Afreen Fatima has been an activist while at JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) and AMU (Aligarh Muslim University). She was brave enough to protest against the NRC and CAA. She has been articulately voicing the concerns of the community.

But how is she involved in any of what happened on Friday? She is preparing for her PhD. I don't know who and why they are connecting her name to all this. How can she have anything to do with any of this?

We can't reveal where exactly Afreen Fatima is right now because these people (the police) also want to put her into trouble.

While there is no way they can arrest her, but you never know what kind of frivolous charges will be cooked up to arrest her.

We are ensuring she remains safe, but she will face any action against her even if they press false charges against her.

First of all, we want to get our father out of jail. What kind of frivolous charges have they levelled against him? What is the basis of those charges?

You can't just arrest and dump someone in jail on the basis of mere assumption. We want our father's name to be cleared of all these charges.

We will be also fighting against the illegal demolition of our home.

Under what charges has he been arrested?

Nobody knows. I don't know. They are talking of filing an FIR a day after arresting him.

You took him in custody even without an FIR and took him to the crime branch. There they mentally tortured him. He could have been even physically assaulted there. I have still not spoken with him.

Our lawyer met him only yesterday (he was arrested on Sunday) and he told us that he (my father) being a heart patient and diabetic needed medical attention and so he was taken to a hospital. ]

He could not take his insulin injections and other medicines in time because of his arrest. He was in the hospital till yesterday (Monday); I don't know how he is doing today (June 14) and where he is right now.

We have no clue as to the exact whereabouts of my father as we speak.