Anantnag: Not many get a second chance. But, for 40 Kashmiris arrested under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) — known as the state's version of POTA — an intervention from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has afforded them just that.
Shaukat Ahmed Bhatt's friends call him Jaan Nisar. As he sits in his shop distributing sweets, he cannot stop counting his blessings. He was booked under the J&K PSA after a grenade was recovered from him. The revocation of the charge was something he had never expected.
I am very happy and more so because I didn’t have any hope,” Shaukat said.
Shaukat, a BSc student does not accept that he was an over-ground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen, as the police allege, but news of his revocation has been so unexpected for the family that the father did not even go to deposit the bail amount.
His fear was that his son would be released but would never be free from police harassment.
“It was only when the jail superintendent called that I went to get him back,” Shaukat’s father, Ghulam Qdir Bhatt said.
And when the proverbial prodigal finally returned, the celebrations were befitting. Just a few streets away, another PSA detainee, Fayyaz Ahmed Wani, came home to a more subdued reception — the celebration tempered with loss.
Fayyaz admits to having been a Hizbul Mujahideen militant, but does not want to talk about jehad.
"The roads are wider, business is booming. There is a lot of change," Fayyaz said.
After his return Fayyaz held his niece for the first time. She was born while he was in jail. During the time he was under arrest in the J&K Public Safety Act, he lost his father and uncle.
The revocation of the charges and his release may have given him a second chance but he is paying a price for it. He lives with the constant fear that his past will catch up with him and he may be picked up again.
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