Zakariya, The Muslim Youth Of Kerala Still In Jail After 15 Years Of Undertrial Imprisonment (facebook image@KKAshraf)

Zakariya, a Kerala Muslim youth who was arrested by the Karnataka police at the age of 19 completed 15 years in jail on February 5, 2024. He was arrested under charges of the draconian UAPA in connection with the 2008 Bengaluru bomb blast.

Beyummah, from Parappanangadi of Kerala’s Malappuram district is still fighting hard to get her son back. The struggle has taken a mental toll on Zakariya’s 60-year-old ailing mother.

Four years ago, Beyummah approached Supreme Court of India, challenging the UAPA and the new amendment. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was requested to act pronounce the act as “unconstitutional and violative of fundamental rights”.

Talking to Maktoob, Beyummah said, “what happened to us should never happen to anyone else”. She is concerned over the fact that how her son, who has already lived one-third of his life in jail, will rebuild his life. Beyummah lost her husband, when Zakariya was 10-years old. Ever since then, she was supported by her brothers.

Zakariya, the youngest in his family attended a short-term course in electronics, after dropping out from B.Com. He started to work at a mobile shop in Kondotty, and later moved to a shop in Tirur for easy commute.

According to Beyummah, days before Zakariya’s abduction by the police, Kerala Police came to their house and enquired about Zakariya. Police told Beyummah that it was regarding her son’s passport application. But Beyummah said that she is certain that Zakariya didn’t apply for passport. Police met Zakariya a day later and told assured him there was nothing to worry. Zakariya went to work as usual, only to be abducted.

On February 5, 2009, Zakariya was taken by Karnataka police from Tirur and was taken to Bengaluru without informing the local police. “He called on the fourth day. He had no idea what had befallen upon him. He said he was taken by the police”, Beyummah recalled.

Zakariya’s family was intimidated by the police to not speak about the arrest publicly by claiming that it would narrow the chances of Zakariya’s release. He was arrested as the eighth accused in the Bengaluru blast of 2008, in which one person was killed. He is alleged to be involved in making timers for the bomb.

Zakariya’s story reached the civil group through Abdul Naser Madani, Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a renowned Islamic Scholar, who is a prime suspect in the case. The intervention aided Beyummah in garnering solidarity. Beyummah forgives the initial inaction on her son’s case as she said that they might have been terrified by the police surveillance. The public discourse in Zakariya’s story was enabled after the constitution of ‘Free Zakariya Action Forum’.

After seven years, in 2016, Zakariya was granted a two-days parole to join his brother Shareef’s wedding. In a tragic turn of events, Zakariya was again granted parole next year to attend the funeral of the same brother.

Zakariya’s cousin Shuhaib, was stubborn about Zakariya’s innocence and voiced for his release. Adv Hashir said that it was Shuhaib’s initiation that enabled the public interest in the case. Shuhaib highlighted the fault lines in the chargesheet showing Zakariya’s innocence. Shuhaib admitted responsibility for arranging work for Zakariya at Kondotty, from where he is accused about his involvement in the crime.

Haridasan and Nizamuddin, the two witnesses that were produced against Zakariya publicly denounced their statement. They claimed that they were forced to sign the statement which was written in Kannada and was falsely translated by the police.

Although some of the arrested were released with a plea deal, Zakariya turned down the police offer. Beeyummah told Maktoob that her son turned down police offer who asked Zakariya to confess about what he has done so that he will released. She said the police offered a shop for Zakariya in Parappanangadi. But Zakariya was adamant that he would not lie about anything and will only speak truth.

Adv. Hashir said “Zakariya in our conversation shared offers made by police…will power of this man and his commitment to seek justice in an honorable way defeats me”.

With inputs from Maktoob.