What happened: Bashir Ahmed Baba is from Srinagar and was jailed in an Indian jail in 2010. The charges against him by the police were proven false after 12 years. He was cleared of all charges against him including the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Under this law several activists and journalists have been charged during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Details: The 44-year old Baba has a diploma in Computer applications and was working with a German NGO that arranged medical support for Indian children in rural areas when he was arrested. Following his arrest, the Indian media falsely named him the “Pepsi bomber” for his supposed skill in making tin can bombs. In prison Baba used his time to finish a master’s degree in political science with a special focus on public administration and the intellectual property act and now intends to teach in his field of study. Baba’s family struggled to keep up with the costs of Baba’s legal case and his father’s illness, his father passed away while Baba was in jail. Their condition got so bad that the lawyer who was fighting for Baba’s freedom decided to not charge any fee for his services. A week before all charges were dropped against Baba, the lawyer who had fought for him passed away. Baba’s mother always believed her son would return home.
“I would only ask Allah one thing. Return my son in the same way he was taken from me. All these years, the sadness, the tragedies and everything our family faced shook us to our cores. But not our faith, I knew he would return one day,” said Baba’s mother Mokhta.
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