On July 13 (Thursday), three of the six accused- Sajil, Nassar and Najeeb, found guilty in a 2010 Professor TJ Joseph’s hand-chopping case were given life sentences by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in Kerala. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 under Section 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The other three accused- MK Noushad, PP Moideen Kunhu and PM Ayoob were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment varying from three years to six months and a Rs 10,000 fine under the IPC.
Notably, the six accused were held guilty of the attempted murder of the Kerala Professor by a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court on July 12. All of the convicted accused are alleged members of the now-banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). The remaining six accused namely Shafeeq, Azeez, Rafi, Subair, and Mansoor were acquitted.
While handing over the punishment, Special NIA Judge Anil K. Bhaskar said, “The citizenry has a ‘fundamental’ and ‘human right’ from any kind of psycho-fear, threat, danger or insecurity at the hands of anti-social elements. Otherwise, they cannot strive towards excellence in all spheres of their individual and collective activity.”
“The accused, by their violent terrorist activity, had really struck terror in the people’s minds. To avoid repeating similar incidents, imposing stringent punishment on the accused is highly necessary”, he added.
“The convicts did not deserve any leniency. They committed a terrorist act which is a challenge to the secular fabric of the country. It attempted to establish a parallel religious judicial system that is absolutely illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional. It has no place in independent India, it said.
2010 TJ Joseph hand-chopping case
On July 4, 2010, members of the now-banned radical Islamic group Popular Front of India (PFI) severed the right hand of T J Joseph, a professor at Newman College in Thodupuzha, Idukki district in Kerala.
In March 2010, one Malayalam Professor TJ Joseph prepared a set of questions for the Malayalam language paper for 2nd-year BCom students. Reportedly, one of the questions asked students to punctuate a conversation between God and a character.
The conversation was extracted from the book ‘Thirakathayude Reethisasthram‘, written by Malayalam Director Kunju Muhammed. The character in the passage was a man suffering from schizophrenia and having a constant dialogue with God. Without thinking much about the consequences, he named the man ‘Muhammed’ after the name of the Malayalam director. However, Islamists were quick to label this as ‘blasphemy’ and interpreted the question as a conversation between Prophet Muhammad and God.
Later, the matter escalated further when the Jamaat-e-Islami-run newspaper, Madhyamam, reported about it. Subsequently, radical Islamic outfits such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Campus Front of India (CFI), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and even the Congress party led large-scale protests against Professor TJ Joseph.
The Kerala Police lodged an FIR against Professor Joseph for stirring communal hatred under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Police arrested him when he allegedly tried to evade law enforcement authorities, however, he soon was released on bail. To make matters worse, Newman College, which is a Christian minority institute affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, fired Professor Joseph.
On the fateful day of 4th of July, 2010, Joseph, 53 years old back then, was returning home from church in his car at about 8 AM. He was accompanied by his sister and mother. Within no time, a gang of 6 Islamists laid siege to his car. Armed with an axe, they chopped off his hand below the wrist and ditched the severed part in a nearby land. The assailants also stabbed the Professor in the leg and arm.
The Islamists burst crackers and bombs to create an atmosphere of panic. They soon fled the crime scene, leaving an injured Joseph to fend for himself.
