Lawyer removed from Islam Gymkhana for defending Kasab

Mumbai, May 1 (PTI) Shortly after being criticised by the
Shia community for defending Mumbai terror accused Mohammed
Ajmal Amir Kasab, lawyer Abbas Kazmi has been removed as a
trustee from the prestigious Islam Gymkhana on the same
ground.

Kazmi's appointment as a trustee of Islam Gymkhana was
terminated this week on the ground that defending a terrorist
was against the essence of Islam.

This is the second instance where Kazmi has been
criticised after he took up Kasab's case. A few days back,
Muslim Ulemas, clerics and scholars had said that "by calling
himself a Shia community member, Kazmi has given an impression
that he is the leader of Shias".

Gymkhana sent Kazmi a letter saying "you have agreed to
defend the most dreaded terrorist Kasab. This is against the
essence of Islam. There is no place for terrorism in Islam and
also no scope for any defence of a terrorist. To maintain
Gymkhana's integrity, your trusteeship is being terminated".

Reacting sharply to the Gymkhana's decision, Kazmi told
PTI that "this smacks of political vendetta. The gymkhana is
not a Muslim body but an association of persons. How can they
say that defending an accused was against the essence of
Islam"?

"I am performing my professional duty. Accepting Kasab's
brief has nothing to do with Islam. The court has appointed me
to take up Kasab's case and I have followed the directive".

"Asking me not to defend Kasab is like putting pressure
on me and it amounts to interference in the administration of
justice. They have removed me from the board of trustees and
now they want to expel me from the membership", Kasab's lawyer
said.

Kazmi said he had openly aired differences with the
Gymkhana President Zakat Siddiqui at the Annual General Body
meeting of the body recently and this alone was the
provocation for removing him as a trustee of this body.

"It seems that the President wants to settle personal
scores with me. There is a hidden agenda behind the decision
to expel me as a trustee", Kazmi alleged.

Siddiqui, however, refuted Kazmi's allegations saying
the general body meeting of Islam Gymkhana had rejected the
proposal to admit Kazmi as a trustee because he had not only
"belittled" the Gymkhana but also the entire Muslim community
by defending Kasab.

The Gymkhana was founded in 1890 and has about 1,500
members on its rolls. PTI