10 years of Naushad Kashimji murder case: A crime that made the victim immortal, inspired several
While gunning down Mangaluru-based lawyer Naushad Kashimji on April 9, 2009, his killers must have thought that this act would strike terror within the activists fighting for social justice and human rights and one particular community, especially amongst its youth. That it would deter those who’d dare to follow in the footsteps of their dearly loved lawyer – instilling in them the fear of an untimely and abrupt end. But, Naushad’s death seems to have worked to achieve the opposite, as 10 years into his killing, many youngsters are on their way to fight for justice, or to become a Naushad in their own right.
Mangaluru: On the eve of April 9, 2009, one of the most prominent criminal lawyers of the town Naushad Kashimji was gunned down at his apartment’s basement in Falnir of Mangaluru.
Naushad, hailing from coastal town of Bhatkal and practicing law in Mangaluru, was a human rights lawyer who regularly contested against social injustice and police atrocities and hence raised to prominence in the profession at a very young age much like his senior advocate Purushottam Poojary who trained him.
At the time of his murder Naushad was handling the case of Abdul Rasheed Hassan (Malbari) wherein he had opposed the police custody as sought by Ullal police. According to Purushottam Poojary this was the flashpoint of Naushad’s murder as he named four police officers as accused of the murder in a complaint. Purushottam claimed that Naushad had informed about threats he received by the police officers on the day of his murder. The court however did not consider the allegations and quashed it.
Several NGOs, Lawyers’ fraternity, his community men in Bhatkal all joined in to protest against the brutal murder, which had in many ways changed things in the coastal Karnataka.
Years after the legal struggle of Purushottam Poojary, Advocate Sameer Kashimji (Naushad’s brother) and Advocate Nusrath Jahan (wife of Naushad Kashimji) Mangaluru Sessions Court in November 2015 convicted five people in the case and handed life imprisonment to three of them and seven years rigorous imprisonment to the other two, while the look-out for mastermind of the murder Ravi Poojary continued.
The Karnataka High court in August 2018, acquitted all the five citing lack of concrete evidence in the case.
Ten years after the murder Naushad brother Sameer and Naushad’s wife Nusrath Jahan continue to practice law in Mangaluru, while Purushottam Poojary passed away in May 2014.
A decade later Sameer feels his brother’s sacrifice did not go waste and it is paying off. Speaking to Vartha Bharati on Tuesday, April 9 Sameer did not speak about the emotional aspect of the murder of his brother but stressed upon the change it has brought in the society.
“Naushad fought against social injustice and police atrocities. And his murder was shocking for everybody who cares about human rights. His murder brought in a lot of change in the society and mindset of youngsters as several students started adventuring into legal profession to work like Naushad did. They all want to become Naushad, they all dream and aspire of serving the society. That is something I look at and feel that the sacrifices he made is reaping fruits for the betterment of society. We need more such lawyers in this profession who can fight for the suppressed people. And if not after Naushad’s murder I don’t really think the numbers (especially in the Bhatkal community) of young lawyers would increase over the years” Sameer said.
“It’s been ten years now and yes it is still disturbing at the personal front for all of us” Sameer added.
Sameer says there are several others in his home town who want to practice law like Naushad. In short, for those who conspired to see Naushad dead, he might be long dead and gone. But for dozens of Muslim youth across the country, Naushad abhi bhi zinda hai (Naushad is still alive). His community has proudly given him the status of Shaheed (Martryr) and Naushad lives to inspire them.
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
