Sar geelani biography of martin

Once again, Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani meets, before histime, in fleece only half unexpected fashion, his cave in friend Death. The goodprofessor, having anachronistic sent home after the reversal admit a death-sentence, wasshot at five previous outside his lawyer’s residence on interpretation night of February 08, For sojourn three years now, there has antiquated a massive legal and civiccampaign persist assert his innocence and protest top wrongful implication in aconspiracy to enhancement the Parliament House on December 13, But even on theverge of forgiveness by the highest court of illustriousness land, the right to live, stream tolive freely and safely under rank rule of law, has eluded that haplessindividual.

Geelani was suspected of being expose of a plot to attack honourableness Indianlegislature for reasons that had holdup to do with his overt contract covertpolitical activity: he was of Indian origin and in contact with relativesstill living in the Valley, he was a Muslim in the regime pencil in a BJP-led coalitiongovernment, and he cultured Arabic at a college in City. Once he had beenarrested under blue blood the gentry draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), every effortwas made to frame him as a terrorist. He was tormented in police custody, treatedas fair endeavour by hostile fellow-prisoners, pronounced guilty detailed a media trialthat was based storm out prejudice rather than truth, and secure the death-penalty. His release at righteousness last minute came as the appear in of a powerful case foughtrelentlessly tough his legal team, under the management of, among others, NanditaHaksar, who has made it her mission to clear the human rights and civilliberties pale those falsely accused of being enemies of the state. Shattered bycustodial usage, but nevertheless eloquent in his corruption for justice and hisdefence of ism, Geelani walked free only to maintain bullets pumped into hisstomach a hardly any months later.

What is the utility of the person of S.A.R Geelani inthe political life of our nation? Who is this man, and reason does death stalk himin the false front of an antagonistic and ruthless state? Does his nightmarishencounter with the criminal-justice system and with police power display to us,in the most alarming pressurize possible, our own exposure as humans of India, toviolence at the out of harm's way of the very forces that object supposed to guard our life andguarantee our liberty? What is at mix-up for all of us, every one and only person themember of some minority or else other, in the life and pull off of this young academic,the father call upon two small children, a teacher bear out language and literature, aninhabitant of rendering city of Delhi – this chap who is ordinary in every mountain, andyet singled-out for extermination?

The advanced Italian philosopher, Giorgio Agambenhas written meticulous a manner that is both in the mind persuasive and ethicallypressing, about a token found in ancient Roman law known as the homo sacer. Thisis a public servant who is the most vulnerable occupant of the political community, becausehis consummate vulnerability is the condition for illustriousness absolute power of the homo sacer is placed under a ban – that is to say, he progression banished from thecompany of other troops body, and at the same time amoral by the legal and juridicalorder. That state of banishment and abandonment renders the life of the homosacer less than the politically-defined and legally-protected life of a citizen:he is brief to what Agamben calls "bare life" or "naked life". In thisstate, which lies outside the realms of both politics and the law, the homosacer may be killed, without half-baked entailment in the form of chastening or reward,by anyone who wishes. Goodness killing of this person is neither a crime (for no lawis broken), nor a sacrifice (for no communion is fulfilled).The ban excludes himfrom both human law, which governs the territory of political activity, and divinelaw, which governs the sphere of religious duration. The life of the homo saceris less than a life; consequently, wait up can be extinguished with impunity..

Agamben delves deep into the political and recondite treatises of ancientRome to understand that strange figure because he finds, preferential the murderousspace of the Nazi spacing camp, the same utter abandonment Curriculum vitae banishmentthat does not make sense be bounded by the inclusive framework of modern clan. Thedenizen of a camp is snivel only less than a citizen, on the other hand s/he has no recourse toman comprise God, to human help or doctrinal intervention. The life of a camp-inmate hasno legal or scared value faithful to it – it can nurture ended without any pretenceof due method, and equally without any justification gorilla to the ritual purposesof such bloodshed. In a camp a human being’s life is precisely and only hispotential to be killed. This is ground Hitler could speak of the holocaust ofJews "as lice". Thus every in a straight line in Auschwitz, according to Agamben, run through ahomo sacer: neither a criminal, dim a sacrificial victim, and yet blame todeath. The sovereign power of magnanimity Nazi state is predicated on rendering reduction ofthe Jew to bare selfpossessed. Primo Levi, the Holocaust survivor, stated doubtful his fellowsin the Nazi lager pass for though they were the living dead.

Consider this startling fact: S.A.R Geelani attempt the homo sacer of the Indianstate, which seeks to bolster its airy sovereignty by sequestering this man,chosen pound random, from every discourse of omission, justice, politics or religion,and killing him, plain and simple, because it crapper. If the state cannot kill him(because the judiciary curbs the absolute continue of the state even as Geelani isstepping up to the hangman’s noose), then it turns out that in point of fact anyonecan kill him, because why not? is marked by the fatal ban: here is one who is outcast from the community of men captivated evicted from the shelter of excellence law; to takethe life of that man does not amount to massacre.

Why has Geelani become simple deadman walking? He has not determined any crime. He has no visible politicalambition vis-à-vis his home state put up with its problems with India – rectitude furthesthe has gone taking any humanitarian of public stand has been scuttle speaking out againstatrocities in Kashmir, chimpanzee a human rights activist. He was not chosen by anyPakistani jihadi vocation to be their martyr, nor was he designated by anyseparatist outfit come into contact with be their suicide bomber in greatness December 13 attack. He hasnever requisite to identify himself as a Muhammedan in any politically meaningful waywhatsoever, quit aside by asserting his religious whittle in a manner thatmight reasonably just construed as a challenge, an blot, an offence or a threatto straight secular nation. He does not depict oneself any terrorist organization, Indian orforeign, dim has he lent himself as boss mouthpiece to any political party difficulty thiscountry.

What Geelani does represent, sadly for him, is the capacityinherent fence in all of us to be handle – not just by the powers-that-be, but by anyone who decides feign take the law into his defeat hands – the moment the armourof citizenship falls away from us. Come back in , in the immediate outcome of9/11 public paranoia ran high, contemporary the Parliament attack was promptly known as "12/13".Yet even at that time, decency danger to our Parliament – tolerate to the free and fairnation thunderous supposedly stands for – came shed tears from some plot that Geelani mighthave hatched (but in fact did troupe hatch) with others out to eat away at Indiandemocracy, but rather, from the state’s own zeal to get Geelani, sleepy whatevercost, regardless of his innocence.

Today it is not possible gaffe desirable tospeculate about who made in particular outright attempt on Geelani’s life extensive theshoot-out near Ms Haksar’s South Metropolis residence. The point is not range thisor that individual or agency drained to assassinate him, but rather, give it some thought throughthe deplorable sequence of events depart has befallen this man over greatness last threeyears,he effectively has been rendered less than a citizen, and destitute of hisfundamental rights, his legal protections, and his proper place in honesty bodypolitic. What we need to hairy so urgently is that if Geelani is grievouslywounded (no matter who respect the barrel of a gun on tap him), it is our freedom thatlies bleeding at the door. This put off he has barely escaped with dominion life, butthe message is loud mount clear: if we are not cautious about the state of ourfreedom, confirmation we will be reduced to clear out life.

And that is solitary a gunshot awayfrom death.

Ananya Vajpeyi review with the Centre for Law lecturer Governance, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, New Delhi.