Tehelka - The People's Paper

The Gujarat chief minister has granted feudal pardon to a hate e-mail writer. But is there an excessive state behind his magnanimity?

By Basharat Peer
New Delhi

Benevolent Big Bro? Narendra Modi

Omar Siddiqui has returned home from Narendra Modi’s jail. The 32-year-old Delhi-based HR manager was arrested by the Gujarat Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from his residence in Hauz Rani area of south Delhi last week.

“We heard a car stop outside his house at night but did not dare check what happened,” said Waseem Ahmed, Siddiqui’s neighbour. The next morning, television crews and neighbours had gathered outside the Siddiqui residence. The ats had arrested Omar Siddiqui allegedly for sending an e-mail to the Gujarat CM “abusing and threatening him”.

His father, Irfan Siddiqui, a retired director of the Union food and civil supplies department, and sister Farah rushed to Gujarat to hire legal help to defend Omar, who was tried at a court in Gandhinagar. ats officers told the media they had proof that Omar had used his computer to write the “threatening e-mail” in response to spam mail advertising “Vibrant Gujarat” sent from the Gujarat CM’s official website. If the charge was proven in court, Siddiqui’s alleged e-mail could have cost him more than five years in prison and would have ended a potentially promising career.

Siddiqui, who works at Delhi’s Advanced Technology Support, has a Masters in human resource and organisational development from the Delhi School of Economics. But even before the legal battle could be fought or the contents of the e-mail examined under cyber crime laws, Modi, in a much-publicised gesture, announced that he had pardoned Siddiqui. He told the media that Omar had given vent to his emotions and was not an “anti-social” element. A few days after Modi’s “pardon” and the withdrawal of the case, he was released and returned to Delhi.

Modi ‘pardoned’ Siddiqui but returning to a life of normalcy is a long haul for the man. What is disconcerting is the promptness authorities show in dealing with high-profile cases while letting others gather dust

But visitors are not welcome at the Siddiqui residence. Siddiqui is “not at home”. “We don’t want to talk about anything. Omar is safe but he is not staying here,” said his sister, standing behind the slightly ajar gate. “Our father is suffering from hypertension and mother is worried. Please let us be, we don’t want to talk to anyone. We want to leave it behind us,” she said.

Omar Siddiqui has not rejoined work yet. His sister believes he will take a week or so. Fortunately, the Gujarat ats has not tortured Siddiqui. “But he’s disturbed and needs some time to recuperate,” she added.

But returning to normalcy might not be easy for Siddiqui. He was not the first Indian Muslim to have allegedly sent an e-mail threat to Modi after the Gujarat carnage. In December 2002, Razaq Nasir Karim, an employee of Mumbai-based it firm Sonali Infotech, was arrested for sending an e-mail threat to the Gujarat CM. Under the media glare, Modi, who was facing immense criticism for the Gujarat riots, “pardoned” Karim and told the media that he would ensure that Karim can return to normal life and not lose his job.

He returned to his job in Mumbai. “He was not sacked outright but told to join for a few days and then leave to find another job. “I have no news of Karim now. He left soon after he was released and found a job somewhere in Chennai. That is all we know,” said an official at Sonali Infotech. There is no other information on where Karim, who hailed from Tamil Nadu, is in Chennai or what turn his life has taken.

“The laws of cyber crime exist and are implemented only when it comes to people like Narendra Modi,” says Zafar-ul-Islam, the editor of The Milli Gazette, a newspaper that focusses on Indian Muslims. He has reason to question the application of cyber crime laws to citizens irrespective of caste and creed. He has received death threats and abusive e-mails from pro-rss men. On May 17, 2004, The Milli Gazette received two e-mails from a person identifying himself as Dharmesh Agravat. Islam sent the two e-mails with their complete headers to Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the cbi at New Delhi. “It has been around two years but no action has been taken against people threatening me,” he complained.