Kafkaland: Prejudice, Law and Counterterrorism in India

228 Pages·2014·0.904 MB·English

by  Manisha Sethi

Kafkaland

Kafkaland
Prejudice, Law and Counterterrorism in India
Manisha Sethi
First Edition October 2014
copyright©Manisha Sethi 2014
All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any infor-
mation storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
ISBN 978-93-83968-00-8
Three Essays Collective, B-957 Palam Vihar,
GURGAON (Haryana) 122 017 India
Tel: [phone]
www.threeessays.com
Printed at Chaman Offset Printers, New Delhi
To the memory of
Saurabh ‘Bittu’ Sethi,
musician, brother, who left us too early
and
Mukul Sinha,
who taught us never to fear

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Preface 1
StorieS from KafKaland
Dr. Narco and Other Stories from Kafkaland 11
The Life and Death of Gulam Yazdani 25
Terrorism’s True Lies 35
Malegaon and the Fiction of Muslim Revenge 53
law of the land
Death by Encounter 61
Why the Ishrat Jahan Case Frightens Our Commentators 85
Crime and Punishment 95
Sinful Liberals and the Investigative Bias 113
Temples of Justice 127
Truth is Stranger than Fiction 137
the Security metaphySic
The Security Metaphysic 149
Appendices 191
Index 212

Acknowledgements
This book is the product of the collective energies of many
people. First, my colleagues and comrades at Jamia Teachers’
Solidarity Association – Sanghamitra, Sohaib, Adil, Ghazi bhai,
Farah, Azra, Ambarien, Bhatt Saab, Nipa, Manoj, Rahul and
others – our work together is at the core of this book.
“Crime and Punishment” and “Sinful Liberals and the
Investigative Bias” have been published earlier on the blog
Kafila.org (the former as “Delhi Police Special Cell: Encoun-
ters, Frame up, Impunity”). A shorter version of the chapter
on Malegaon was published in Outlook as “Who Traced the
RDX?” (29 July 2009). A long essay commissioned by Hard-
news is also reproduced here; an earlier version of “Terrorism’s
True Lies” was also published in Hardnews. These pieces have
been revised and updated wherever necessary. I am thankful to
the publishers and editors for publishing my articles and then
graciously allowing me to draw upon them for use in this vol-
ume. Thanks to Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Sanjay Kapoor and
Saba Naqvi for their support. The chapter on encounter killings
was presented at a seminar at Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library. I am thankful to colleagues at NMML for their com-
x  d Kafkaland
ments. Asad Zaidi saw a book where I didn’t. He was a most
patient and indulgent publisher.
The generosity of many people has sustained this work.
In Delhi: Shabnam Hashmi, Vrinda Grover, Abu Zafar,
Ranganath Singh, Kumar Sundaram, Mazin Khan, Dr. Za-
frul Islam Khan, Iftikhar Gilani, Muzamil and Paramjeet;
In Karnataka: Akmal Razvi, Sidharth Narrain, Imran
Khan, Musab Iqbal, Tariq, Irshad Desai, Muthiur Rehman
and Aijaz Mirza;
In Mumbai: Yug Mohit Chaudhuri and Sharib Ali;
In Madhya Pradesh: Ansar Indori, Shafeeque Siddiqi, Im-
ran, Sarfaraz and Noor Mohammad Advocate;
In Uttar Pradesh: Shoaib Mohhamad, Tariq Shafeeque,
Masihuddin Sanjari, Rajiv Yadav, Shahnawaz and Ravin-
dra Rai;
Gulam Rabanni in Hyderabad.
I am beholden to the NMML for allowing me the time and
freedom to undertake the travels necessary for this work.
I am grateful for the good counsel of Trideep Pais, Jawa-
har Raja, Mayur Suresh, Rajat Kumar, Sarim Naved, Ashwath
Sitharaman, Salar Khan and Ashok Agrwaal. Special thanks are
owed to Sushant Sinha of Indiankanoon.org who can magically
retrieve any untraceable judgement upon request; to Venkatesh
Nayak, who is a wizard with RTIs, and to Subasri Krishnan for
lending me her excellent film, This or that Particular Person.
Rajeev Kumar prepared the tables on budget illustrating the
comparative expenditure on defence.
My fellow travellers in this journey – Mahtab and Mansi
– thank you for the comradeship. Friends who can be relied
upon for warmth and cheer in times of despair: Poornima, Amit,
Harsh, Satya, Sadiq, Mona, Inteshar, Imran, Mahmood, Anusha
and Iqbal Ahmad.
Finally, my parents who put up with a negligent daughter,
and Tanweer, for sharing my life, thank you.