I met Abdul Naser Maudany, who is an accused in the Bangalore blast case, in jail a few months back with friends. What struck me was the peace which flowed from his eyes. At that time his eyes were becoming dim because of lack of proper treatment. Now he is more or less blind. For me, the conflict between Islamophobia and the way secularism is expressed in Kerala was explicit from my memory of his eyes.

I asked him what people like us can do for him. He said: “I am not the only one. There are thousands of innocent people who are fabricated in jails. I receive some moral support at least once in a while. But they don’t. So do something for them.”

As an example, he requested the boy who was helping him with the wheelchair in jail to call another boy named Zakaria who is around 21 years old. That boy’s case is one of the stupidest cases of Indian judiciary. He doesn’t know why he is in jail. He is already mentally and physically affected because of this harassment.

I have recently heard that the man who was helping Maudany with the wheelchair (he was around 35 years old) is already dead because of lack of proper treatment.

Perhaps, Maudany will be the next to die. Perhaps, the Kerala opinion-makers are waiting for his death so that he can be projected as a “hero”, the way he came back after nine and a half years’ innocent stay in Coimbatore jail.