Abrar's home. Extra Shots from How do you keep the faith?
The story of 7 Muslims of Malegaon who spent 5 unjust years in jail In Tehelka by Sai Manish.
Of the innocents who were accused in the Malegaon Blast case, Abrar is from a relatively well-off family. Or was from a well-off family. This is what Sai Manish observed:
"But then, cruel coincidences shadow the lives of every single man who was picked up after the 2006 blasts. Abrar Ahmed is on the other end of the spectrum of this group of seven usual suspects. The richest of the lot, he belongs to a family of freedom fighters. In fact, his grandfather fought alongside Mahatma Gandhi in the Civil Disobedience movement of 1931.
After their powerloom godown was burnt down in the 1993 riots in Mumbai, the family shifted base to Malegaon and was prospering, thanks to a scaled-down powerloom business. But things went haywire in 2006 when Abrar, the youngest of the five sons, was picked up. He had got married just days before his arrest.
“Traders from all over India used to buy powerlooms from us,” says Ahmed Sayeed, Abrar’s father. “After the constant police harassment, they started having doubts about our integrity. They sympathised with us but were reluctant to do business.”"
These are images from his home. The worried father, the family who missed an important member of the family, the law books that they hope will set him free and not just out on bail. the street they live on.
