Malik Asghar Hashmi/ Nuh

A Mewat court lawyer came to the rescue of a magistrate and her daughter during Nuh riots. Immediately after the District Judge requested him to help his colleague, Ramzan Chowdhary did not hesitate even for a moment to rescue the trapped mother and daughter.

Speaking to Awaz-The Voice, an advocate and social worker of Mewat, Ramzan Chowdhary narrated the harrowing tale of the rescue on 31st July.

When he recalls the story, he begins to shiver even today. “Suddenly the District Sessions Judge Sushil Garg left the courtroom and went to his chamber. It was around 1: 35 pm in the afternoon, Chowdhary said.

The District Sessions Judge’s peon ran out to ask his driver to take the car out. After a while he returned from there and informed Ramzan that the judge was calling him.

On reaching the DJ’s chamber Ramzan Chowdhary saw that the District Sessions Judge had looked very troubled and had wrinkles on his forehead. On seeing Ramzan Chowdhary, he said, “Magistrate Anjali Jain had gone to Nalhar Hospital with her eight-year-old daughter to get medicines. The rioters tried to take them hostage.”

The magistrate managed to somehow escape along with her daughter and hid in the roadways workshop. And that Ramzan should reach there and get them out from that place, Ramzan said the DJ requested him.

On hearing this Ramzan Chowdhary’s hands and feet had become numb. Thinking on his feet he remembered that one of his friends lived near Zubair Workshop.

The walls of his house and workshop were just adjacent to each other. Chowdhary called his friend immediately and explained the situation and urged him to get Magistrate Anjali Jain and her daughter rescued from the workshop.

On hearing this, Chowdhary's friend Zubair immediately reached his terrace with four to six other persons. They tried to contact Magistrate Anjali Jain, and assured her of her safety and asked her not to panic. They called out loudly “You are safe. We will take care of you.”

Zubair then put a long wooden ladder down the workshop so that Magistrate Anjali Jain, her daughter and her PSO could come out safely.

The overall atmosphere in the city was volatile, arsoning and violence was happening all around. Anjali Jain could not trust them. She wanted to talk to the district court through his PSO's mobile before she could trust them. But the phone call did not get connected due to a bad network. And she refused to climb the ladder to reach Zubair's roof.

Ramzan Chowdhary said that his friend Zubair told him everything on the phone. He informed the whole incident to the District Sessions Judge Garg Sahab over the phone. Hearing this, the District Sessions Judge urged him to go in person there to save them.

Chowdhary said when he set out, he saw the situation was terrible, getting out from there was the toughest challenge. Despite this, he proceeded towards the roadways workshop in his car, the entire city was under the control of the rioters. Vehicles were burning on the roads. There was no policeman in sight.

As he was moving ahead, braving everything, he saw some people come around his car with sticks and rods. They asked Chowdhary to return at once.

There, he had an argument with the rioters. He said that after seeing their extremely aggressive attitude, he also got a sense that he himself might not be able to return home alive.

Luckily, someone from the crowd recognized him and allowed him to go ahead. Chowdhary said that when he reached near the workshop, he saw another violent crowd in front of him there. Meanwhile, his friend Zubair was also standing there along with some of his neighbours. Ramzan went inside the workshop with him.

He met Magistrate Anjali Jain and her daughter and assured them of their safety. Then he made her talk to the District Sessions Judge on the phone. Anjali Jain was convinced that they were in safe hands, all three of them were brought to Zubair's terrace through a ladder. Then, taking them through the streets, they reached the house of advocate Mujeeb.

Ramzan said that Magistrate Anjali Jain, her eight-year-old daughter and her PSO were served water at the Advocate's house. Meanwhile, ADG Mamta Singh was given all the information over the phone. During conversation with Mamta Singh, Anjali Jain told how Ramzan Chowdhary and his advocate colleagues saved her and her daughter's life. If they had not come forward, it would have been difficult for them to survive.

After this, Magistrate Anjali Jain, her daughter and her PSO were made to sit in a car. Chaudhary himself took over the driving seat and helped them reach their destination. Chaudhary recalls that day was the worst day ever for Mewat. He regrets that the houses of the people who helped him save their lives were also demolished with bulldozers.

He said that Magistrate Anjali Jain had lodged an FIR regarding the ordeal,  in which she mentioned the role the lawyers played in saving the lives.