[Reader-list] Jamia Millia should be prosecuted

[iram at sarai.net]

Dear Nazo

I have understood your terms. There would be no personal emails from me -
at least. Of course it took me time to realize that you dont want any
interaction with a list member except on a public forum. My deepest
apologies! I hope my individual/ personal email didnt cause too much
distress.

The reader list is a 'public space'. Hence my request to my co- members to
send mails with 'content' and to think before clicking the send button. My
email was not 'precribing' codes for email excahnge between individuals - I
think people have to arrive at their individual codes themselves- such as
the two of us have. No emails! Anyway, a private email exchange between two
people doesnt concern others. There are different rules of engagement on a
public forum with about 1400 members. You seem to be pushing for
'regulations' on the list. Why dont you suggest some? The reader list is as
much your space as mine or the list admins. I am sure if list members see
value in them, the list admin will respond. No hard feelings Nazo (I am
tempted to make a smiley!) but I look forward to your suggestions for
'regulations'.

Now regarding the unfortunate series of events under discussion, I have a
request - it would be great if you do not refer to the 'case' as 'jamia
blasts'! There were no blasts in Jamia. There were blasts in CP, GK and
Karol Bagh. There was an encounter in Batla House and a couple of students
from Jamia University have been arrested.

Nazo, are you trying to suggest that the best possible way that Mushirul
Hasan, Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, had, to help the accused of
various blasts in the city, was to provide 'legal aid' on "behalf" of the
University? The autonomous body that emerges from the University system -
to provide legal aid to students accused of 'crimes against the state' was
one suggestion - I find it difficult to believe that the VC had no options.

Parallels to caste based aid were drawn because you gave Salman Khurshid's
exmaple and impled that Jamia University should provide legal aid becuase
the students are from middle class backgrounds. I am still as unconvinced
by that logic as I was before. I know that needy/ meritorious students are
provided scholarships. I didnt realise we could extend that to court cases
involving 'terrorist activities'. Anyway, as far as I know Manjunath
Shanmugam Trust fought the case for the the former IIM- Lucknow student.
IIM lucknow did not fight the case directly. But these are facts gleaned
from newspapers, so I could be wrong. However, I am not looking for a
precedent where a University was directly involved in providing legal aid
to students accused of 'terrorist' activities but nonetheless I would be
curious to know if this has ever happened before, in other parts of the
world if not in India.

I am sure that the decision to provide legal aid falls within the purview
of the VC office. I wonder if it was the correct decision.

With All Respect
Iram



On 1:35 am 09/28/08 "Nazneen Anand Shamsi" <nazoshmasi at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Iram,
>
> What a pleasant surprise! I was not expecting yourresponse until
> later, since you mentioned something aboutunavailability of email
> access. Anyways!
>
> I would rather skipyour passage about list admin and
> &#39;prescriptions&#39;, I just wanted tomake a point which was this-
> that just as you want other members ofthis list to &#39;desist from
> clicking send&#39;, because you want them torespect some un-written
> modalities of engagement, so would I, in mypersonal capacity want
> others to at least acknowledge some writtenmodalities of engagement. It
> seems, all of us here- the writers, theresponders and the readers fail
> sometimes to appreciate this. We wouldalways want to engage with others
> on our own terms don&#39;t we. Please bepatient before sending those
> &#39;desist&#39; mails if you in your personalcapacity cannot resist
> from engaging others on their terms. Justbecause a particular address
> is available on an internet search engine! Precisely the kind of
> attitude demonstrated by some of our co-membersjust because there are
> no argument-filters on reader list. Please showsome respect first and
> then expect.
>
> Otherwise chart out clear, no-nonsense rules of engagement. I am all
> for a regulatory code of conduct for Sarai Reader-list.
>
>  I just want to make a point. No bad feelings. Consider it white
> noise and lets move on.
>
> Unless you wish to take this exchange forward...
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> Regarding your response-
>
> Let me rephrase your position- you &#39;suggest&#39; concerned
> partiesinvolved with the unfortunate Jamia blasts to &#39;consider&#39;
> an option tomake autonomous committees on lines of All India Defense
> Councilconstituted for a fair trail for SAR.
>
> To quote you
> -I feel that an autonomous body (perhaps with University support -
> Jamia, JNU and DU) should be set up - that provides legal aid and
> counseling to students. The Universities can provide financial
> support to such a body, the students can contribute and raise
> independent funding. This is a tentative proposition which has had
> precedent in various forms of Committees for Defense for people
> accused of &#39;crimes&#39; against the &#39;State&#39;-
>
> Hypothetically if the three universities of Delhi need to
> cometogether to form an autonomous set up, then, I would think that
> theycould do so only by, exploring options available to them under the
> UGC.No university can spend its money other wise. Even if UGC grants
> themsuch a permission then it would result in creation of a formal
> institution. Because every single paisa has to be accounted for.
> Properprocedure needs to be put in place, issues related tohierarchy,
> settling disputes etc needs to be dealt with. This institution, I would
> imagine, would be asautonomous as CBI ! This is common sense insofar as
> any dispensationof monies with respect to a state institution is
> concerned. Even thoughyou may not have wanted this, but unfortunately
> the wordings of yourargument suggest otherwise.
>
> Regarding Salman Khurshid. Let&#39;s enumerate what does he
> signify.First he is a politician, second he is muslim, third he is a
> practicingsupreme court lawyer, fourth he is rich, and fifth he
> exercises a farmore social influence as compared to a son of man from
> azamgarhwould. Financial status is just one of the many aspects of his
> life. That is why perhaps, I was in total agreement to dispense
> aidvis-a-vis social position in this instance. I still do.
>
> With respect to my opinion regarding the use of same logic todispense
> aid based on social position and not on caste, I would suggestthat we
> talk about it. Because I find the use of categories to classifycaste
> problematic. I think there needs to be more debate before wecould even
> begin to explore this issue. However, I will not persuadeanyone to
> universalize one&#39;s thinking, insomuch as one is blind to themerits
> of a case which is as particular as Jamia blasts. I believe the caste
> issue, particularly in India, isa separate issue and cannot be in any
> way compared to Jamia blasts. Hencean overarching common argument does
> not hold.
>
> Regarding Chandramohan&#39;s argument. You will recall that in my
> firstresponse to your mail on this thread, I had specifically mentioned
> thenames of Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath. Both were ex-students
> oftheir institutions, both were involved in activities that lay outside
> thepurview of their institutions and both of them were killed. Yet
> thedirectors of their former institutions took an initiative to help
> set upformal bodies to advocate justice for them. Just as Prof.Hasan
> hasdecided to do so.
>
> I have no objections, none whatsoever, if bodies like AIDC are setup
> to defend and insist on a fair trail for Jamia blasts accused.However,
> in the non-event of setting up of such a body, I welcome theinitiative
> taken up by Prof.Hasan and wish that accused will be given afair
> trial. I send you and everyone else on this list good wishes for
> festivities next week.
>
> Best
>
> Nazo