Just who is this Sohrabuddin Shaikh?

Just who is this Sohrabuddin Shaikh?

Author: Sudarshan
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There are, really, three compelling issues that emerge from the drama of the past week. First, just who was this Sohrabuddin Shaikh and why are we being subjected to intimate photographs of him every evening on television? Second, are "police encounters", in Gujarat or elsewhere, necessary, evil or merely a necessary evil? Third, what impact, if any, will this have on the political fortunes of everybody's favourite bogeyman, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi?

To answer the first question, a bit of context is called for. In the late 1980s, well before Indian public discourse came to be dominated by me-too-Oprah Winfreys, Abdul Latif was the underworld king of Gujarat. Based in Ahmedabad, politically well networked, he made a fortune in the bootlegging industry.

Later, he became Dawood Ibrahim's business manager in the State and was one of the criminal dons to make what now seems to be the seamless transition from organised crime to terrorism. Latif was a suspect in the Mumbai blasts case of 1993; the RDX and other explosive devices for that operation landed, remember, on the Gujarat coast.

In November 1997, Latif was killed in an encounter with the Ahmedabad police. He was under arrest and had allegedly tried to escape while using the toilet. A Congress-backed Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) Government was then running Gujarat. The Chief Minister was Mr Dilip Parikh but the power behind the throne was the RJP president, Mr Shankarsinh Vaghela. Today, of course, Mr Vaghela is a Congress MP and Union Minister for Textiles.

Whatever he may say now, 10 years ago, Mr Vaghela's supporters saw the elimination of Latif as an "achievement" and a sample of their leader's courage and resolve. The importance of Latif's departure from the State terror matrix was important enough for that redoubtable magazine, Frontline, to recall it in its April 29-May 12, 2000, issue. [.] Many of Latif's cohorts were put under watch. One of them was his driver, apparently responsible for, in one daring move, hiding a huge cache of weapons meant for terrorist groups. This was part of the consignment that had arrived before the Mumbai blasts of 1993. Latif was under surveillance so his driver had hidden the arms in a well in his (the driver's) native village near Ujjain.

The driver eventually faced over 50 cases, including some under the National Security Act. He was arrested, at various stages, by the Gujarat and the Madhya Pradesh police, but avoided conviction. When not facilitating terror networks, he was engaged in extortion rackets in Rajasthan, acting almost certainly on behalf of others. His principals, the police believe, may be linked to terror-funding groups.

The name of Latif's driver was Sohrabuddin Shaikh. In most countries, there would have been relief at his death - though a legal sentence would have been preferred. In India he has become the tragic hero of a news television soap opera.