Life on parole: Getting dentures, Aadhaar, inhaling change in life and times of 1993 train blasts’ accused

Mohammed Amin at his residence in Madanpura. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

MOHAMMAD AMIN lay on the floor of his one-room tenement at Zariwala chawl in Madanpura, south Mumbai, trying to ease the pain in lower back that has haunted him for much of his life. His son Kafil said the frenetic activity his 74-year-old father has been involved in since coming out of jail on parole has aggravated the condition. But Amin is a man in a hurry.

This is only the second time that he has been granted a parole — the first was in 2000, when he was granted 10-day leave to attend his daughter’s wedding — in the two-dozen years of incarceration since his arrest in August 1994.

Serving a life sentence and unsure whether and when he will come out, Amin has a laundry list of things to do before he returns to Jaipur Central Jail on August 30: getting an Aadhaar card made, procuring the right size of dental implants, meeting relatives, thanking organisations that fought for him. All this along with ensuring a visit to the local Nagpada police station every third day, a parole condition.

“If I am late by even one day to the police station, it will be noted. Others in the prison who were arrested with me would then find it difficult to get parole,” Amin said.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice A K Sikri granted Amin parole after it was pointed out that his co-accused has already been granted parole. Amin was arrested for his role in five blasts took place on trains in Hyderabad, Indergarh in Rajasthan, Surat, Lucknow and Gulbarga in 1993.

The five cases were clubbed together and the probe was handed over to the CBI.

The CBI probe found that Amin was part of the meeting in Lucknow where the conspiracy to carry out the blasts was hatched. He was charged with murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy in addition to sections of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code, Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act and Railways Act.

He was convicted by a TADA court in February 2004 and awarded life imprisonment. The Supreme Court later upheld the conviction.

Soon after being released, Amin and son Kafil had planned to take a flight from Jaipur to Mumbai to save time. “But I did not have any photo identity proof, so we could not take a flight. They had taken our thumbprints for Aadhaar card at jail, but it has not arrived. I need to get that done before I return to prison,” Amin told The Indian Express.

“If the document (Aadhaar) is made, at least I can take a flight on return and save some time. I had a passport earlier, and had gone for Haj, but it has expired. Other documents have gone missing.”

Outside his home, he was taken aback by the number of people and vehicles even on the narrow bylanes off Morland Road. “I had last seen this place in 2000 – khula mahol thha pehle (it was much open earlier). But walking down the lane to my house is a scary prospect now,” he said.

At home, Amin finds it difficult to break the prison schedule he has been following for 24 years.

“Even at home, I wake up at 3am and carry out the same chores. I am grateful that despite my physical condition, I am able to carry out daily chores in jail such as washing my clothes. I was a mechanic and lifting heavy machinery gave me a back problem – sometimes even in court I could not sit; I would lie down on the bench at the back.”

After meeting the man doing his Aadhaar card, Amin has an appointment with the local dentist to get a pair of dentures. “They gave me dentures in jail but it did not fit; I could not chew food properly. I need to ensure I get the right size before I go back. The dentist has promised to provide them before I leave.”

Amin also plans to visit the office of Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind, which finances legal battles of several Muslim men arrested in terror cases across the country, to personally thank them for the support.

For Amin, the possibility of leaving jail was so bleak that when he was told that the apex court had granted him parole there were tears in his eyes. “When I had gone to prison I was around 50. A jailor had told me ‘tu jail mein hi marege’ (you will die in jail). So when I heard about the parole I had tears in my eyes. My lawyer asked me, ‘why are you crying now?’”

The time behind bars has meant that Amin missed the weddings of son Kafil (37) and his elder daughter. “He was barely 12 when I was arrested. Now look at him – he has become a man with his own family. They would come to meet me once in six months when I was in prison but I missed seeing them grow up.”

What does a man serving life sentence at 74 look forward to? “I have heard people above the age of 70 get permanent parole. I hope they consider my case,” Amin said.