People's Democracy

DUJ Welcomes Mohd Kazmi’s Release

THE Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) had welcomed the Supreme Court’s act of granting bail to journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, after he spent seven months in prison. Kazmi, a 50 years old scribe who was working for an Iranian news agency in Delhi and also for the state-run Doordarshan, was accused of providing information leading to an attack on an Israeli diplomat. He has denied the charges against him.

Kazmi was arrested on March 6 by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on the charge of helping Iranian agents to conduct a reconnaissance of the area around the Israeli embassy in his car. A motorcyclist, allegedly an Iranian, had planted a bomb in a car of the Israeli embassy on February 13, causing injuries to the occupants including the wife of the Israeli defence attache. The police named four Iranians in the chargesheet filed belatedly last month. The Iranians, the police say, fled India after the attack.

Israel had blamed Iran for the attack but Tehran denied any involvement. The arrest of Kazmi came allegedly under constant Israeli pressure on the government.

Soon after Kazmi came out, DUJ office bearers and members including its president Sujata Madhok, general secretary S K Pande, Javed Naqvi, John Dayal, Seema Mustafa, Venkatesan, Jal Khambata and Ifthikhar Gilan visited Kazmi's family and felicitated him. While hailing the Supreme Court verdict, they decided to work jointly with secular groups on common issues of solidarity with Kazmi. The DUJ has called for a wide united front to look into all aspects of the Kazmi case and its ramifications for journalists in general. They also called upon the media to ensure that all sides of the case are reported in public interest.

The DUJ believes that journalists have to maintain all sorts of contacts and sources for their stories. Such connections for professional purposes should not be misconstrued as active collusion or connivance in dubious activities including crime. The DUJ follows the constitutional and legal principle that a person must be treated as innocent until and unless convicted as guilty. It has also advised its members, particularly those on the crime and legal beats, to bear this dictum in mind while filing their reports and stories. They should be wary of the stories planted by the police or by vested interests. Sensationalism is an easy trap to fall into, but we must remember that we are dealing with the lives and reputations of people.

Kazmi's son, Shauzab, has been saying from day one that his father is innocent, and now the Supreme Court has upheld that belief by granting bail. "I believe in the judicial system….. And I am thankful to all those who stood with us," he said.

The Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group also visited the Kazmi family.

The Kazmi Solidarity Committee that has been agitating in the capital as also in towns of Uttar Pradesh welcomed the relief from the Supreme Court. In a statement, it accused the Special Cell of orchestrating a media trial to establish his guilt by planting malicious stories of his "confession" of the crime. Among the stories published was the charge of receiving foreign remittances of Rs 21 lakh but the chargesheet only shows recovery of 1250 dollars (about Rs 70,000) as alleged payment to Kazmi for supplying information to the attackers.