New Delhi 21/03/2013 : The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has vehemently condemned the reported alleged threat to well-known lawyer Mehmood Pracha from the under-world don Ravi Pujari to eliminate him.
Adv. Pracha has been threatened for speaking his mind to the media and claiming to possess “substantive evidence” against not only former ATS chief Rakesh Maria, who is at present the new Mumbai Police Commissioner,, but several police officers involved in terror cases. The lawyer is planning to lodge FIR against Rakesh Maria for implicating Himayat Baig in German Bakery blast case.
SDPI national president A. Sayeed in a statement said that the temerity of those who are threatening people doing their constitutional & professional duty is reprehensible act which must not only be taken note of by one and all and deplored but some strong substantial follow up action should be taken up before any unpalatable and untoward incident takes place. It should be remembered that a few years back Adv. Shahid Azmi was martyred for defending the innocent Muslim youths arrested on terror charges, he pointed out.
Sayeed said the threat is not only to Adv. Pracha but to the Constitution of India which guarantees all its citizens equality before the law and the right to be defended by lawyer of its own choice. He said that it is sickening to learn that Adv. Mehmood Pracha, who has been fighting many terror-cases of Muslim youths across the country, has uninhibitedly name Rakesh Maria behind the threatening calls and SMs. The threatening calls are from different international mobile numbers but the sms is being sent from one particular number, Adv. Pracha has revealed in an interview.
He appealed all the justice and peace loving people and members of the civil society to raise their voice against these cowardly attempts to silent to voice of oppressed and demand that Government of India should take strong action against these anti-national dons who are a threat to the Indian Security, Sovereignty, Integrity as well as the Constitution of India.
He appreciated Adv. Pracha’s courage for standing out and naming the source of the threat which unmasks how the police and security agencies of the country are hand-in-gloves with the under-world to take the country on a ride and blame innocent Muslims for all terror attacks. Adv. Pracha’s stand that “as a citizen of the country he is duty-bound in helping bringing out the truth behind all these terror cases and said threats won’t dissuade him”, is worth lauding, he stated.
He said the State is knowingly prosecuting the innocent Muslim youths on terror charges. Some investigative journalists worth their salt have unearthed internal documents from more than half a dozen anti-terror agencies that show that the State has been knowingly prosecuting innocent Muslims for terror cases and keeping away the evidence of their innocence from the courts and these youths are languishing in jails for years. He said that such cases against innocent Muslim youth are not isolated one but it has now become a general trend nowadays.
Sayeed said the terror probes should be objective and based on evidence. The investigating agencies seem to have the tendency to name the perpetrators of any bomb blasts in the country much before initiation and conclusion of their probes. The media and police is having a wrong notion, probably intentionally, that only Muslims are responsible for the blasts and none other than Muslims will do such kind of acts.
It may be mentioned here that Adv. Mehmood Pracha is fighting more than seventy terror cases in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh & U.P including high profile cases of Mirza Himayat Beg who is convicted to death sentence by sessions court of Pune in German Bakery Bomb Blast case & Qateel Siddiqui Murder Case in Yerwada Jail, Pune. Three Investing agencies viz. NIA, Special Cell Delhi & Bangalore CCB has given clean chit to Himayat Beg. Currently Adv Mehmood Pracha succeeded to remove MCOCA from terror accused in Maharashtra and proved that no MCOCA can be applied on UAPA accused which will facilitate the release of all innocents in Maharashtra.