“We never wanted any money in the first place from the government. We wanted to see the officers responsible for detaining us punished instead,” was Ibrahim Ali Junaid’s reply when asked what he thought of the High Court’s order which struck down the government order for payment of compensation to the Muslim youth detained in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast case. The court also asked the state government to take back the compensation already paid.
The court ruled that mere acquittal or discharge from a criminal case can’t be basis for payment of such compensation. Junaid (31) said he was ready to pay back whatever the government had given him. “We never asked any money and we only accepted it reluctantly. Be it `3 lakh or `15 lakh, nothing will get me back my normal life,” he said. A doctor by profession, he currently lives in Hafeezbaba Nagar, where he continues his practice.
“I will never forget that electric shock given to my private parts. No amount of money can ever make me forget those days. If the state government is really concerned, let’s see what it does now,” said Abdul Wajid (32), a resident of Tadbund in the Old City, who was also illegally detained by the police. He too demanded that the policemen who were responsible for their misery should have been punished rather than them receiving money from the government.
He ridiculed the state government for thinking that giving them money would help them after being tortured for so many days.
Another victim Mohd Abdul Rahim (32) said, “The money we received should have been given from the culprit policemen’s salaries and not from the government’s pocket. That `3 lakh barely helped me. They took away our lives and they think they did us a favour by giving us that amount,” he said.