One year has passed since Comrade Zafar Hussain was murdered. On 16 June 2017 he was killed by a group of Pratapgarh Municipality workers (led by Commissioner Ashok Jain) when he was protesting against these Municipal employees making a video of women who were defecating in the open as there were no toilets for them, and they had no other option. In truth, Comrade Zafar had been struggling for a long time with the Municipal administration and the District administration to find a solution to this problem affecting all the people of the basti; but the administration under the influence of the land mafia was aiming at evacuation of the basti as it fell under the developed area of the city and had become very costly land. Even just a day before his murder Comrade Zafar had gone to the Commissioner seeking permission for construction of toilets in the basti and and financial aid under the Swachh Bharat Yojana. But his application was torn up and thrown into the dustbin.
According to the women who were eyewitnesses, when Comrade Zafar stopped them from doing the videography they attacked him with kicks and fisticuffs till he fell down injured. He got up and tried to walk towards the basti but once again fell unconscious. The people gathered there then called an auto rickshaw and took him to hospital. After he was admitted no one was allowed to meet him and after sometime it was declared that he was dead.
The basti residents registered a complaint naming the accused including Commissioner Ashok Jain, but the named accused persons were not arrested. When there was strong condemnation in the media, especially social media, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje re-tweeted a single-line tweet by the Udaipur Range IG, “We greatly regret the death of Zafar Hussain”.
It was evident from the CM’s re-tweet of the IG’s tweet that the matter was being sought to be hushed up. After it became clear that the administration and police was trying to put the entire issue into cold storage, citizens of Pratapgarh formed a forum called ‘Justice for Zafar’ and on 3 July thousands marched to the Commissioner’s office in a March for Justice demanding arrest of the named accused persons and a case of murder against them. But the delegation was told by the administration that his viscera had been sent to the forensic laboratory and any action would be taken only after the report was available.
After that when the basti residents or the ‘Justice for Zafar’ forum enquired from the administration they were told that the report had yet to be received.
A whole year has passed. The killers are roaming free. After the incident, shameful acts like vidographing of women defecating in the open have stopped; but the danger of evacuation of the basti under pressure from the land mafia still looms large.
On the anniversary of Comrade Zafar’s martyrdom the ‘Justice for Zafar’ forum held a meeting. At the meeting Zafar’s widow Rashida asked the question, “So now must I believe that no one killed my husband Zafar?” The participants at the meeting pledged that Comrade Zafar’s sacrifice would not be allowed to go waste. His killers would be made to face legal action and put behind bars. The struggle to get justice for Comrade Zafar and to secure pattas for the landless poor would continue till they got their due rights.
