By Damayantee Dhar
Mohammed Asif was acquitted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Surat on March 7, 2021, after 20 years of being accused under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Asif had just begun to pick the pieces of his life when police knocked on his door again on November 21 this year.
“I froze in fear when I saw the police at the door. They noted my name, my current address, and names of family members, and told me that it was a routine exercise. But my family and I have been worried and scared since then,” Asif told The Federal, adding that there is nothing “routine” about it for them.
“The last time police visited me, I was picked up from a seminar in Surat along with 125 others and falsely charged with sections 3, 10, 13, and 15 of UAPA and accused of being associated with and promoting the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned outfit. In 20 years, my life has turned upside down,” he said.
Lifetime of harassment
Asif said even though he got bail in 2008, police would land up at his house, unannounced, anytime, and harass his family and him. “Now that I am building my life from scratch, they have come again to note my whereabouts,” Asif told The Federal.
This story was originally published in thefederal.com. Read the full story here.