Gunning for truth

Khalid Azmi is missing his slain brother today more than ever, as he awaits the release of the film 'Shahid'. The film is based on the life of human rights activist brother Shahid Azmi, who was gunned down by three assailants in 2010, and is produced by UTV Spotboy, Sunil Bohra and Anurag Kashyap. He saw the film as soon as it was ready and with it came alive a whole lot of memories that left him teary eyed.

He says, "I saw my past coming alive through the film. I am happy that facts have not been tampered with at all. There is this one scene in the film during the '93 riots, where our mother on screen tries to protect my brothers and me. A man breaks a stone into two and throws it at a window. We children wonder why he did that. Seeing it onscreen refreshed memories and the incident kept flashing before my eyes. I could not control my tears."

Shahid was arrested when he was just 14 years old following the riots and was released soon after. The scars of the '93 riots remained with him and even took him to a militant training camp in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. He returned disillusioned and wanting nothing to do with being a mercenary. Khalid says, "He was usually the collected one and loved watching old films especially the Bhagat Singh biopic. Later after he was arrested under Tada and acquitted, he decided he had to stand up for those who were being wrongly accused of crime. And so he started studying law."

Shahid had spent seven years in Tihar Jail, on charges of plotting against the state, but the charges were never proven.

Khalid recounts how he would often wonder why his brother would help the wrongly accused without charging any fee. "I would see people at our house everyday who would say we don't have money to fight the case and my brother would fight for them. I always questioned his decision at the back of my mind but after he was killed, my mother asked me to continue the good work he was doing. Relatives and friends advised my mother against it saying that she has already lost one son and is now endangering the life of the other but her decision was firm. I then fought my first case for a 26/11 accused along with senior counsel R.V. Monakshi."

Shahid may have gone out of his way to help others but not everyone paid him back with equal kindness. Khalid admits being let down by certain people and organisations that his brother had helped in the past. "There was this NGO that Shahid was helping and they refused to support our case after his death. So I decided to fight the case on my own and my mother is providing all the financial help. The case is still on and we are hoping for justice."

With hope for justice in their hearts, the family is also hoping that the film 'Shahid' will make people aware of all the good work he had done before he was mercilessly killed.

"When Hansal Mehta approached me to make this film, I found support that someone has come forward to tell my brother's story. My involvement in the project was that I presented all the facts to him and knew that he would take the story on the right path."