What’s a life sentence when life is almost over: Hashimpura victims’ kin on court order

Mohammad Jamaluddin, who lost his 23-year-old son in the Hashimpura massacre | By special arrangement

Day after verdict, Hazira, who lost her 17-year-old son, says at least the children & grandchildren of the convicted will know they were not cops but killers.

Hashimpura (Meerut): A day after the Delhi High Court gave some semblance of justice to the families of the victims of the Hashimpura massacre, they wonder what justice means when it comes after a long, painful wait of 31 years.

“Our families were brutally broken by those who were meant to defend us… And they’ve been given life sentence when their life is nearly finished — just like ours,” says 81-year old Mohammad Jamaluddin, whose 23-year-old son was among the 38 Muslims massacred on 22 May, 1987.

The Delhi High Court Wednesday sentenced 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel to life imprisonment in the case, reversing a trial court’s verdict which had acquitted the accused.

Jamaluddin, who owns a shop in Hashimpura near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and his sons had returned home after offering namaaz on that fateful day.

“I still remember, we were all sitting on the terrace when the cops and the military came and said they want to carry out some searches…Then they took my son away on the pretext of some formal questioning,” he says. “The questioning is still going on.”

“I don’t know why the cops suddenly turned into our enemy, but even then the media had a role to play,” Jamaluddin says.

“Just like these days, the local media used to run reports like Hashimpura is the den of terror activity. We produce atom bombs and so on…so the police thought they should be taught a lesson,” he adds.

‘Police picked the healthiest Muslim boys’

Stripped of all hope despite the court’s order, Jamaluddin is clear about one thing. What happened on 22 May, 1987 was not a riot — not a situation for which Hindus could be blamed.

“It was something way more frightening…we saw the men in uniform, who we had learnt to turn to during times of crisis, turn into monsters,” he says.

“They picked the youngest, healthiest of Muslim boys and shot them like we pick fruits at the mandi,” he recalls.

As mediapersons gather in his house, Jamaluddin sends his 7-year-old granddaughter to call the relatives of other victims — a woman whose younger brother was shot days before he was to get married, another woman whose husband and elder son were killed seven days after she gave birth to her youngest child and a 58-year-old man who too was shot in the stomach and leg by the policemen, but had survived miraculously.

“We have been each other’s only support system…No politician, no officer has stood behind us,” says Hazira, whose 17-year-old son was among the 38 killed by PAC personnel.

“We’ve been given no compensation, no aid to fight our legal battle…We would all pool in money to take a car to Delhi to go to court all these years,” she says.

“But someone would always go — for each hearing for the last 31 years,” she adds.

At least they will be known as killers now

Hazira is happy, however, that at least those who murdered her minor son have officially been labelled criminals.

“For so many years, they wouldn’t admit they did it…It was as though our sons just died without anyone having killed them,” she says.

“Even if they are old, at least their grandchildren and children will know they were not cops, but killers,” she says.

Hazira sits with two other women — each holding photographs of the sons and brothers they lost. None have any trace of happiness and relief on their faces.

“When the court was announcing the verdict, did it think of us? Did it not once think we should be given some compensation, some financial aid?” she asks, as other women look on.

They admit, though, that in 2015, they were paid Rs 5 lakh each. “Only Mulayam Singh helped us…nobody else,” says Naseema Bano, who lost her brother in the massacre.

“Politicians would come here every election, promise us government jobs, legal aid and then never show up…Do you understand what it means to go through these false promises for 31 years?” Naseema asks.

Mohammad Usman, one of the five men to escape the shooting even though he was shot in his stomach and leg, can barely talk. His eyes well up and voice becomes heavy each time he attempts to speak.

“I worked as a labourer despite the injuries…but now my body has given up,” he says.

“What we have been given is not enough. No financial help is enough for a lifetime of trauma and misery. Yet, the government didn’t even give me a job,” Usman says.

“I heard of the court’s verdict through media. The government didn’t even bother to inform us that our 31-year-old wait for justice is over,” he says.

While their reaction to the court verdict is mixed, the residents of Hashimpura are clear of one thing: Those who ordered the PAC personnel to carry out the massacre remained scot-free from the beginning.

“Their names never came up…How would the PAC personnel fill up jails with Muslims and kill 38 of them without orders from the top?” asks Jamaluddin.

“Nobody has been able to come close to those who orchestrated this…But if this is justice, then so be it.”