shahid

Lokmat

today

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00:00on july 21 2025 the bombay high court delivered a judgment in which all 12 men convicted in the

00:072006 mumbai 7-11 train bombing men who spent nearly two decades behind the bars were acquitted

00:14the blast that killed around 189 people shook india but the court said the prosecution's case

00:20were flawed the evidence was shaky and now one name is echoing again shahid asked me so who was

00:27he why is he surfacing after the judgment shahid azmi was no ordinary lawyer he was a man who fought

00:34for the voiceless a man who dared to challenge the system and paid the ultimate price stay with

00:40us as we unravel a tale of courage sacrifice and a legacy that still lights up the darkest corners

00:46of our courts a boy from the slums caught in the storm of violence a teenager thrown into prison

00:52for a crime he never committed a man who rose from ashes to pick up india's most fearless lawyer

00:59and then silenced forever by a bullet this isn't a bollywood blockbuster this is the true story of

01:05shahid azmi a hero who fought for justice and paid the ultimate price hello and welcome i am gaurang and

01:12you are watching lokma times stay with us as we unravel a tale of courage sacrifice and legacy

01:19that still lights up the darkest corners of our courtrooms shahid azmi was born in 1977 in mumbai

01:25shivaji nagar slump where dreams often drowned in poverty he dared to dream of justice from being a

01:31boy scared by riots who turned into a lawyer who challenged the system his life was a script bollywood

01:37couldn't dream up today we'll tell you his story his battles and the night it all ended it's 1992

01:44mumbai is on fire the babri masjid demolition has sparked riots and a 14 year old shahid azmi growing

01:51up in a muslim slum sees horror no child should ever see neighbors been attacked homes thoughts the police

01:58turning on his community in a moment of rage he runs away to a militant camp in kashmir

02:03thinking violence is the answer but the bloodshed he sees there shocks him within months he was back home

02:10his heart heavy but resolved unbroken then at 17 the system strikes he was arrested under tada a brutal

02:17anti-terror law shahid is accused of plotting to kill politicians no evidence just a forced confession

02:23that he never existed he's thrown into the tihar jail india's toughest prison for seven years

02:29torture isolation fear they try to bake him but into the dark cell a mentor gulam nabi war hands him a

02:36lifeline which were books shahid then decides to study earns a journalism degree and discovers the

02:42law he vows if i get out i'll fight for those who trapped me it's 2001 shahid walks out of prison

02:49not as a broken man but as a warrior with a law degree from mumbai's casey college

02:54he sets up a tiny office in kurla's taximmons colony shahid then takes up on cases which no lawyer

03:00dares to touch shahid takes on cases which no lawyer dares to touch which included muslim youth

03:06accused of terrorism underlaws like tada pota and makoka these boys are like me he said branded

03:14terrorists without proof he often fought for them often for free because he knows what it is to be

03:20voiceless his first big win was in 2002 ghat kopar bus bombing case shahid got nine men acquitted proving

03:28the police had no evidence that victory helped him scrap potter a law he called a tool of oppression

03:34then came the big case of 7 11 mumbai train bombings and the 2006 malikav blast the 26 11 terror

03:40attacks in the 26 11 case he defended fahim ansari who was accused of drawing maps for the attackers

03:47shahid's razor sharp questions tore apart the prosecution's lies and fahim walked free in just

03:54seven years shahid secured 17 acquittals a filmy style hero in a real courtroom fighting for truth

04:01against all odds but as it is said that every hero has enemies shahid victories made him a target

04:08police politicians and even underworld dons they did not like a lawyer who exposed their flaws threats

04:14poured in phone calls in the dead of night goons outside his office once his face was also blackened

04:20outside a courtroom which was nothing less than a public humiliation but what about shahid he was

04:26not a filmy hero who backs down he tells his enemies you do your work and let me do mine

04:36to his brother khalid he whispers the agencies after me they don't want the truth out he hands khalid a

04:42list of trusted contacts as if we knew that the climax is near shahid's courage was a superpower but it

04:49came with a ticking clock february 11 2010 it's 7 30 pm in kurla shahid exhausted after a long day in

04:56court sits in his office three men walking in posing as clients no words no warnings just gunshot

05:04five bullets ripped through shahid's chest he was rushed to rajawadi hospital but it was too late

05:10shahid azmi the man who gave hope to the hopeless was gone he was just 32 leaving behind a wife and a

05:16young son the police arrested four suspect linked to barat nepali gang with whispers of underval dawn

05:22chota rajan's involvement but after 15 years the trial drags on no conviction no justice for the man

05:30who lived for it shahid's story did not end that night his brother khalid now a lawyer carries his torch

05:36fighting from the same kurla office abdul wahid sheikh acquitted in the 7-eleven case became a lawyer too

05:41inspired by shahid across india young law students read his code quoting his words if i don't fight

05:48for them who will bollywood told his tale in shahid a national award-winning film starring rajkumar rao

05:56it's not just a movie it's a mirror to a man who lived bravely his mother rehana says my son was a legend

06:03he stood for the truth no matter the cost shahid azmi wasn't a hero with cape or a song he was a man who

06:10believed justice was worth a dying for in a word quick for judge he dared to ask what if they are

06:16innocent his voice was silenced but his fight lives on in every courtroom every heart he has touched

06:23share the story his voice was silenced but his fight lives on in every courtroom and every heart

06:29he has touched share his story this is a story india must never forget this is gaurang from lokma times

06:36signing off

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