Shahid Azmi
| Shahid Azmi | |
|---|---|
Shahid Azmi
|
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| Born |
Shahid Azmi 1977 Bombay, India |
| Died | 11 February 2010 (age 32) Mumbai |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Lawyer Human rights activists |
Shahid Azmi (1977 – 11 February 2010) was a noted Indian lawyer and human rights activist, most known for defending those accused in cases of terrorism, including some of accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, such as Faheem Ansari, who was later acquitted for lack of evidence. At age 14, he was arrested during the 1992 Bombay Riots. He was arrested again under TADA, serving seven years in Delhi's Tihar Jail, on charges of plotting against the state, though he was acquitted later. He started studies while in jail, and went on to become criminal defence lawyer in Mumbai in 2003, defending cases for those accused of terrorism. Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was later repealed. He was shot dead by four assailants in his office in Kurla, Mumbai on 11 February 2010 at the age of 32.
He was the nephew of Abu Asim Azmi, a Samajwadi Party politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly (India) from Govandi, Mumbai.
Azmi was born and brought up in Deonar suburb of Mumbai, in a Muslim family with origins in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. He was third amongst five brothers. One of his brothers, Khalid Azmi, is also an advocate in Mumbai. Shahid Azmi was married to Maryam of an affluent Assamese descendant whom he later divorced.
At age 14, Azmi was arrested by Govandi police, for violence during the 1992 Mumbai communal riots which hit the city, a few days after the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 at Ayodhya. Subsequently, he crossed over into Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where he spent a brief period at a militant training camp, but soon returned. As he said to The Times of India in an interview, "I had seen policemen killing people from my community. I have witnessed cold-blooded murders. This enraged me and I joined the resistance." In December 1994, he was arrested under the TADA (now repealed), for an alleged conspiracy to assassinate some politicians and Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray, and given a five-year jail sentence, however in the same year, the Supreme Court acquitted him. In all, he spent seven years at Tihar Jail, Delhi.
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