The best word in the dictionary that the terrorists would like probably is ‘human right’. They – the terrorists can kill the innocent humans with bombs and bullets, but when they are caught by police, they would sing a song of their own ‘human right’.

Mohammad Hanif Umerji Patel(presently in UK and arrested there) masterminded the 1993 Surat bomb blast that killed an eight-year-old innocent girl and injured 12 other people. So that eight-year-old girl was deprived of human right to live her life, but Mohammd Hanif who masterminded her death is now talking about human right and in the name of human right he is avoiding his extradition to India.

A matter of surprise is that a British court is sharing his worry and wants to depute a human rights expert team to visit Gujarat jails to check human rights condition here before allowing extradition of Mohammad Hanif!

According to a news report, a British court has sought India’s consent to depute a human rights expert to visit Gujarat jails to examine the conditions there before it grants extradition of Mohammad Hanif Umerji Patel, alias Tiger Hanif, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 bomb blast in Surat.

Like every other criminal caught abroad(remember Nadim Shravan fame Nadim and Gulshankumar murder case?), Hanif is trying to avoid his extradition to India by putting fancy claims about India’s poor human rights records. Hanif is expressing fear of torture in his plea to a British court which is hearing the Indian government’s application for his extradition.

Hanif is important for us because he can shed light on the terror links of the Dawood Ibrahim-Lashkar-e-Tayyaba network.

According to a report published from Delhi, the Union home ministry has agreed to meet the conditions set by the British court but said a “reciprocal” approach will be adopted. The home ministry has also written to the Gujarat government seeking its response to the court’s move to send a human rights expert to study the jail conditions in Surat.

Hanif was arrested by Scotland Yard last year on the basis of a Interpol red corner notice. A member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, Hanif fled India after the 1993 Surat bombings. He was being hunted by police forces worldwide for over 17 years. Hanif is believed to have acquired a British passport while hiding there.

The Surat blasts took place soon after the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992 and the March 1993 Mumbai blasts, and a total of 17 persons, including former Gujarat minister Mohammed Surti, were convicted for their role in the bombing and given jail terms ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.