Atiq Ahmad, The Poster Boy Of All That Has Gone Wrong in Indian Politics

The 2004 Lok Sabha election had just been completed. During one of its sittings, Atiq Ahmad, then the newly elected Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament from Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, was trying to draw the Speaker’s attention during Zero Hour on some issue in his constituency but was being disrupted by the Opposition members. He then implored the then Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, “sir, I need your protection,” sending Chatterjee, and the entire House thereafter, into peels of laughter . Unable to control his laughter, Chatterjee told Atiq Ahmad that he needed no protection, at least not from him.

Atiq Ahmad, the dreaded gangster from Allahabad, was the poster boy of all that has gone wrong with Indian politics: the mafia- politician unholy nexus, the inefficient police machinery, the indulgent and corrupt bureaucracy which conveniently looked the other way when he was running riot in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

He had become synonymous with terror in eastern UP, somebody who ruled as the lord of the murky world of crime: killing, grabbing land, kidnapping at will. His rule of terror lasted for well over 43 years. He enjoyed both political and muscle power.

But on April 15, 2023, when he was shot dead in full view of the media cameras, while talking to reporters, still handcuffed and in police custody, it sent a collective gasp of shock and disbelief at the brazenness of it all.

He was being tried for over 54 cases of murders, kidnappings and other heinous crimes. He had FIRs against him in 100 cases of heinous crimes. But he was now in police custody, being tried for his crimes.

On the Supreme Court’s direction, the UP police were mandated to give him protection because he feared being killed in custody. His son, also a murder accused, had only been killed in a police encounter two days ago and was buried earlier in the day. So his movements should have been carefully planned by the police with utmost secrecy and security.

But the ease with which someone from the ‘media’ suddenly pointed a gun at his temple and shot him point blank, almost pushing aside a policeman to do so, followed by a burst of gunshots, which also killed his brother Ashraf who was also tied with the same handcuff, was shocking.

The nation watched in horror as the handful of policemen surrounding Ahmad simply whimpered without taking any action as three young men played the bloody game of death. Their audacity was unbelievable: they did not even try to flee after shooting.

One of them in fact himself walked towards the policeman who was already holding on to one of the three killers, and almost entered into an embrace with him. The entire death game lasted barely 40 seconds, with full media coverage.

This was the same case in which the police had instructions from the apex court to safeguard the accused because he had expressed apprehension of being killed in a fake encounter.

The intent of writing this is not to justify Atiq Ahmad’ and his brother’s crimes. They had committed crimes and they should have got the harshest possible punishment. But the punishment should have come from the court, from the judiciary, not from vigilante zealots.

In this case, the judicial process was already on, the criminals were already in police custody, so all the more reason for the state machinery to be alert for their safety because justice should not only be done, it should be seen to have been done. In this case, the state failed to ensure that the due process of law had been followed.

But is it surprising that the state failed to follow the due process of law? In Uttar Pradesh the state machinery has been seen to be failing on many occasions, both by acts of omission and commission.

It failed to bring BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar of Unnao to book when he was accused of raping a minor and plotting to eliminate her entire family. Action was initiated against him only after the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the crime and ordered the state government to take action.

The state had failed to take action in Hathras too when a Dalit girl was raped and killed and her body had been burnt by the policemen in the dead of night against the wishes of her family.

The state had failed in Lakhimpur during the farmers’ agitation too when union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra , mowed down protesting farmers killing many of them on the spot. It was with great reluctance and after a lot of hue and cry that action was initiated days after the incident.

The horrendous killing of Atiq Ahmad and his brother acquires significance because it has all the ingredients of turning into a no holds barred ugly political slugfest, generating even more animosity. The fact that he belonged to the minority community and was once upon a time associated with Samajwadi Party makes it even more worrying.

Having emerged as a dreaded gangster in the 80s, Atiq Ahmad entered politics by winning the assembly election in 1989 as an independent candidate. He won the assembly election three times as an independent candidate.

Later he acquired the patronage of late SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and became a Lok Sabha member from Phulpur in 2004. In 2005 he was named as the main accused in his political rival, Raju Pal’s murder case.

In 2006, he allegedly executed the kidnapping of Umesh Pal, who was the main witness in the Raju Pal case. He surrendered in 2008 and was expelled from the Samajwadi Party. Since he was not convicted in any case, he contested the Lok Sabha elections both in 2014 and 2019, but lost both times.

His reign of terror came to an end in 2017 when he was arrested and later shifted to Sabarmati jail in 2019. His journeys to and from Sabarmati to Prayagraj in connection with his ongoing court cases recently had created much media hype, making him express the apprehension that he would be killed in a fake encounter.

He had approached the Supreme Court for protection which had directed the UP government to ensure his safety while the judicial process was underway. No wonder, his killing has sent shockwaves across the political spectrum.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has described this as an example of how criminals are having a field day in UP, asking how would the common man feel safe if those in police custody are murdered so brazenly.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said criminals should be given the harshest punishment but it should be within the ambit of law. “Playing with or violating the rule of law and judicial process for any political purpose is not right for our democracy,” she tweeted . She further added that it should be the endeavour of all of us that the justice system and the rule of law should be supreme in the country. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said the saffron party has turned India into a “mafia republic.”

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also trained his gun on the UP government saying it was running the state on the “rule of the gun.” He described the killings as “cold blooded murder “ and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Adityanath. He demanded a Supreme Court monitored enquiry saying it should be probed how the killers raised religious slogans and came so close to Atiq and his brother .

Amidst all this blame game and with accusations flying thick and fast, the Yogi government has ordered a judicial enquiry and suspended some policemen who were on duty that night.

But is it not surprising that not a single senior police officer has been held accountable for such a serious security lapse? Not a single senior police officer has either been suspended or even transferred? On the contrary, senior BJP leaders are busy describing the murders as “ divine justice.”

But should the state be run as per the rule of law which is written in our Constitution or as per “ divine justice?’ It is also surprising that the chief minister has not uttered a single word so far. Does his silence mean consent? He had once roared in the state assembly that “ mafia ko mitti me mila doonga”, so is he following his agenda now? It is time he answered a few questions.