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बाइज़्ज़त बरी- ACQUITTED, YET CRIMINALS? What Acquittal Means For Muslims Wrongfully Accused of Terror
April 24, 2025 · 25 min
From the Malegaon blast case in 2006 to the serial blasts in Jaipur, Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai train blasts, in all these cases there’s one common thread - apart from the innocents who were killed; the wrongful arrest of Muslims who were held as accused, suffered for years in jail but eventually, they were 'acquitted' due to lack of evidence. Unlike their arrests, the acquittal hardly makes any news. Many people from the community have suffered for years when booked under the contentious Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA. They are arrested, jailed for years, and eventually acquitted. The ordeal of 16 such people is compiled in the book Baizzat Bari by Manisha Bhalla and Dr Aleemullah Khan. In the documentary, we aim to highlight a pattern of shoddy investigation, false accusations and presumption of guilt, under which many Muslims are wrongfully incarcerated on terror charges. The docu also aims to highlight what acquittal really means for a Muslim wrongfully accused of being a terrorist.