How do we know that people arrested as suspected ‘terrorists’ (and already indicted by the lawyers) are not innocents? Most are young Muslims, probably not very educated and hence not likely to get the kind of support that Geelani got. If they do not get proper legal support, how do we ensure that justice will be done to them?

UP’s lawyers should know that it is their professional responsibility to ensure that no innocent is punished. In a landmark order passed on November 26, Judges Amar Saran and Vijay Kumar Verma, taking suo motu cognisance of the blasts, sought an explanation from the government for security lapses as well as from the UP Bar Council for the professional misconduct of their errant members.

The intolerance exhibited by the legal fraternity is symptomatic of the state of mind of society at large. A society in which people are becoming intolerant of each other cannot be a secure place for anybody. A society that will not respect an individual as a human being cannot hope to exist in peace.

The writer is a Magsaysay awardee