FUTURE TENSE: Aziz Ahmed Sheikh with his children

Come September 12 and the fate of 123 people booked in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case will finally be decided. The key accused apart, there are those who got arrested by — what appears to be — a quirk. From porters who weren’t aware of the exact contents of the luggage they were towing away to those like actor Sanjay Dutt’s friends who tried to help him destroy his gun but without success — they have all been living under a shadow for 13 long years. Aziz Ahmed Sheikh is one of those who is still trying to come to terms with the losses he has suffered in the last one decade and more — he lost his youth, his fortune and his parents.

At 47, Aziz Ahmed has acquired the mannerisms of a frail old man. He stoops when he has to get up after sitting for long in one position, his face wears the marks of the ravages of time but his spirit remains indomitable. For his never-say die-attitude has steered him through life’s rough terrain.

There was a time when this nautical engineer who worked for the Merchant navy earned Rs 2 lakh a month in dollar terms. That was in 1989 — which he describes as the happiest period in his life — when his job entailed tinkering with the complex engines of ships at temperatures that dipped to minus 24 in Nova Scotia in Canada.

He soon shifted base to Mumbai to be with his family. But instead of joining his father who ran their 80-year-old family business of dyeing, Aziz Dyeing Works, on New Kazi street in Pydhonie in south Mumbai, the enterprising Aziz Ahmed set up his own business in imitation jewellery and leather shoes. Soon after, he began to export hosiery products he obtained from Tirupur in Tamil Nadu to Dubai.

But his good fortune was shortlived. May 4, 1993 sealed his fate. The crime branch investigating the March 1993 Mumbai blasts stated that it had found a gun that belonged to Aziz Ahmed in a graveyard in south Mumbai, some distance away from Aziz Ahmed’s home. At that time, Aziz Ahmed used to shuttle between his office in Dubai and Mumbai. The gun and Aziz Ahmed’s base in Dubai put together, the police surmised he was a suspect and Aziz Ahmed was promptly arrested.

He recalls that when the police asked him to spin a conspiracy theory, he had disdainfully remarked that he had nothing to do with the conspirators as they had criminal records. Later, of course, third degree torture forced him to spin a yarn. “I never cried though. They tried their best. I didn’t cry,” he says with pride.

That was the beginning of the nightmare. Not just his father’s business but his own businesses collapsed — all in one stroke of destiny. Trying to account for the reasons for his arrest, Aziz Ahmed says, “As head of the imitation jewellery business in Mumbai in the 1990s, I had made several enemies. There were people who wanted to loot my shops but I stood my ground and didn’t allow them to cause any damage.” Collateral damage, however, was inevitable when they apparently got back at him through the blasts.

His father, Mohammed Ahmed, the patriarch of the household, was unable to come to terms with the fact that his first-born was imprisoned in Arthur Road jail. Instead of tending to his dyeing business, every morning the 58-year-old man would leave home at 9 am and head straight for the Arthur Road jail. He would wait patiently outside the jail in the hope that some messenger would emerge from the confines of the jail and tell him that his son was going to be released soon. All through the day, he would chew on tobacco without eating a morsel and would return home dejected, at nine in the night.

The excruciating routine took a toll on his health and one day the inevitable happened. He contracted lung cancer. Aziz Ahmed, incarcerated in jail, didn’t have the money for treatment and eventually his father succumbed to the disease in 1997.

His eyes become moist as he recalls the time when his father heard the former police commissioner, M.N. Singh, proclaim on television: All the bomb blasts accused will be hanged. “I think that statement in many ways led to his early demise,” says Aziz Ahmed.

Within a year of his father’s death, his mother — who had by then suffered three heart attacks subsequent to Aziz Ahmed’s arrest — succumbed to her fourth one. He was in prison and pleaded with Judge Kode for bail. Kode was considerate and asked him to bide time as his permanent bail application was also due. Having been granted bail, Aziz Ahmed was able to perform the last rites of his 55-year-old mother Sadurinnisa in 1998.

Those five years were a test of fortitude for Aziz Ahmed’s wife, the 37-year old Zeenat. She says it was “unimaginable patience” that saw her through. She gave tuitions to more than 30 children to keep the fire burning in the kitchen. Her sons are now in college.

In 2002, Zeenat delivered two twin daughters who, says Aziz Ahmed, “reinforced my faith in God and life”. That is evident in his proactive stance. The same year, he contested the elections in Phoolan Devi’s Mirzapur constituency where he won 28,000 votes. In 2004, he contested against former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in Lucknow where he garnered 40,000 votes as a candidate for the Uttar Pradesh Muslim League. Voters in both the areas remember his trademark green cap which he himself designed. He had his reasons for jumping on the political bandwagon. “The only way to change and beat the system is to be a part of it,” he emphasises.

Despite all the trials and tribulations that he has been through, Aziz Ahmed remains undaunted in the face of adversity. “Nothing can break my spirit,” he declares. However, he still hasn’t been able to overcome the tragic death of his parents living in penury. Nor has he been able to emerge from the shadow that fell on him, following the Mumbai serial blasts. His son, who is now pursuing a degree in college, was denied a passport recently because his father is one of the accused. “I feel terrible about that. I wanted him to join a ship but as he doesn’t have a passport, he is now pursuing a B.Sc degree which isn’t to his liking.” But then, that’s a price Aziz Ahmed will have to pay till Judgment Day.