INDIA
"If we were living in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, we would have been murdered by now, and our killers would be roaming freely," says Arshad Fehmi, an RTI activist, who lives under police protection in Old Delhi's
Walled City.
Arshad (49) and his wife, Sheeba (43), are whistleblowers. They live in constant fear of being attacked, even killed. They have been attacked by murderous crowds a number of times. They are the perfect examples of what happens when a whistleblower's identity is revealed.
Since July 2004, Arshad and Sheeba Fehmi 43, an Islamic feminist and RTI activist, have been living in fear in their sprawling house in the narrow lanes around the Jama Masjid in old Delhi.
The two are aware that their every movement is being tracked and monitored by supporters of the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari. Arshad and Sheeba have been in the cross-hairs of the Shahi Imam ever since the couple started exposing his and his family's alleged acts of corruption.
The couple was attacked by supporters of the Imam in July 2004, when the two highlighted illegal activities carried out in the mosque under the patronage of the Shahi Imam.
"We did a poster campaign against the Imam, highlighting the illegal activities being carried out by him and his family. Our posters were torn and we were threatened with dire consequences. Then we were attacked," said Arshad. However, this did not stop the couple. "Through RTI, we kept up our efforts to expose illegal parking inside Jama Masjid premises. Three parks inside the mosque, which belong to the Delhi Development Authority and should be left open for children of the locality to play are being used as private spaces by the Imam's family," said Sheeba.
In October 2011, the couple was attacked yet again by a group of nearly 150 locals.
"Our house was vandalised and ransacked. The goons openly claimed that they were supporters of Bukhari," said Arshad.
An FIR was registered and a case is going on in the court. The couple has been given police protection. Even after all that, a strong sense of insecurity prevails. "I have to go and drop my son to the bus stop every morning and ensure that he is safely escorted back home after school," said Arshad.
The couple said that many in the locality provoke them to get into a verbal argument, even try to humiliate them. "They have been persuading us to leave the house, never to come back. But, then there are many who tell us that we are doing something good. But nobody wants to come forward and raise their voice against Bukhari," said Arshad.
For Arshad and Sheeba, the court is their only hope. "Since the matter of attacks on us in 2004 and 2011 are in the court, we feel protected. It has now become the duty of the police our safety," said Arshad. An arrest warrant was issued by the lower court against the Shahi Imam for the 2004 attack, which has been upheld by the sessions court. "The Imam is not above the law and so we have some space to breathe," said Sheeba.
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