BOOK REVIEW

The Strange Case of December 13

 “I did interrogate and torture him [Afzal] at my camp for several days. And we never recorded his arrest in the books anywhere. His description of torture at my camp is true. That was the procedure those days and we did pour petrol in his ass and gave him electric shocks. But I could not break him. He did not reveal anything to me despite our hardest possible interrogation ... He looked like a ‘bhondu’ [fool] those days, what you call a ‘chootya’ [idiot] type. And I had a reputation for torture, interrogation and breaking suspects. If anybody came out of my interrogation clean, nobody would ever touch him again. He would be considered clean for good by the whole department.”
“Torture is the only deterrent for terrorism... I do it for the nation.”
-    Deputy Superintendent of Police Devinder Singh, on whose Mohd. Afzal claims he helped one Mohammad buy a second-hand car in Delhi

December 13th: The Strange Case of the Parliament Attack, published by Penguin India, was released on December 12 this year, on the eve of the anniversary of the Parliament Attack. This book came out in a charged atmosphere, full of families of guards who were killed in the Parliament Attack returning medals in protest against the delay in Afzal’s hanging, BJP baying for the blood of Afzal, and media shows in which the above-quoted statements were publicly made by a police officer as a proud and public boast. 
At a time when a man’s life is being claimed by the Supreme Court to satisfy the “collective conscience of the nation”, one can say that this book is precisely an attempt to provoke and problematise that “collective conscience”. Arundhati Roy’s preface observes, “To see through the prosecution’s case against Geelani was relatively easy. He was plucked out of thin air and transplanted into the centre of the ‘conspiracy’ as its kingpin. Afzal was different. He had been extruded through the sewage system of the hell that Kashmir has become.”
The book points out that Afzal never claimed complete innocence, and seeks to ask questions about the nature of his involvement; and the implications of such involvement. As Ms. Roy asks, “was he coerced, tortured and blackmailed into playing even the peripheral part he played?” If he was, who does his involvement really indict? December 13 is a reader, a collection of articles by journalists, writers, academics and activists who tried to “sift through the tangle of lies and fabrications and propaganda put out by the police”, and have revealed a strange and disturbing set of questions that the Indian State is yet to answer.
 At the book release function, Ms. Roy pointed out that there were very strange lies that were told by the police throughout the case. Citizens share a relationship with the police, with their state; and if someone in a relationship is lying to you, you want to know why. This book is an attempt to confront some of those lies, lay them bare.            
Out of 13 Articles in the compilation sent to press within weeks of decision to publish, eight articles deal with the attending circumstances of the attack, the police investigation, the trial, death sentence and the need to revoke death Penalty to Afzal. These eight write-ups are by Arundahati Roy and Nirmalangshu Mukerjee (two each) and one each by Nandita Haksar, Prafull Bidwai, Sonia Jabbar and Mihir Shrivastava. Most of the writers played a valiant role in efforts made by S.A.R. Geelani Defence Committee
Apart from these eight, there are pieces by S AR Geelani’s brother Bismillah Geelani,
journalist Javed Naqvi, noted senior lawyer A.G. Noorani and also Indira Jaisingh, whose certificate as senior counsel to the curative petition filed by Afzal is annexed with the book.
Afzal has been pushed towards death by the Indian Establishment. In his plight is manifest the fact that the Establishment not only fabricated the case, but could also ensure the effect that nobody dared to stand up for Afzal until he was sentenced to death; and before Geelani’s innocence was proved. On death row Afzal’s plight is akin to millions of poor and downtrodden who are denied legal rights and have to pay with their life for anything they seek - be it dignity or a living. 

Ravindra Garia