29-year-old Masud Ahmed now has a busy life in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, juggling his classes at law school and the new job. He has embraced the thrill of it. His restlessness stems from the urge to fill the time he was away, locked in a prison cell, for over three and half years in a case he says is fabricated.
But amidst the hustle, he gasps when asked about the last four years of his life.
The student activist along with journalist Siddique Kappan, student leader Atikur Rehman and their taxi driver were arrested on 5 October 2020 en route to Hathras, to meet the family of a 19-year-old Dalit girl who died after allegedly being gang-raped by upper-caste men.
Ahmed and Atikur Rehman were leaders of the Muslim student outfit Campus Front of India (CFI) which eventually got banned in India in September 2022.
During the arrest, all four Muslim men were accused of planning to incite communal violence in Hathras and funding unlawful activity. They were booked under India’s stringent anti-terror law— UAPA and sedition.
“Two years of torture”: In conversation with journalist Siddique Kappan
Later Enforcement Directorate filed a case against them under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Later five more people were arrested Hathras Conspiracy case. Four of them Kerala with all of them linked to Popular Front of India, a Muslim outfit banned in September 2022 alongside CFI.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
