Ranjan Lakhanpal

He Lost His Father And Son To Excesses Of The State. But This Human Rights Activist Is Still...

Had such tragedies happened to any other man, he would have been broken, perhaps irreparably. But not human rights activist and lawyer Ranjan Lakhanpal, who lost both his father and son to excesses of the state.

“But those two incidents only prodded me to fight harder against the dispossessed, the weak and the vulnerable,” said the 52-year-old who’s taken up more than 10,000 cases of human rights abuses. "I know the pain of a sufferer."

Tears still fill Lakhanpal’s eyes as he talks about the death of his father and, much later, his son. “My father, an advocate like me, was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) because he raised his voice against imposition of Emergency and arbitrary arrests being made at that time,” he said, going back in time. “He died in jail."

What happened years later was worse. “My son, just 10, was killed by the police because I was fighting cases against them. They had earlier threatened me repeatedly, but I took no note. When I didn’t agree, they did this to put pressure on me,” said the man who’s now a rallying point for those taking up rights issues.

The legal eagle, who started his practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1980, has been instrumental in freeing 250 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails. Not that he’s spared Pakistan. “I filed a petition in the Pakistan Supreme Court for violating the human rights of Lieutenant Sourabh Kalia and five other Indian soldiers who died during Kargil war. This was the first case to be filed by an Indian in Pakistan,” added Lakhanpal, who’s been crying hoarse about Bhikiwind’s Sarabjit Singh, awaiting execution in the Kot Lakhpat jail across the border.

Not one to back out from a tough, and often dangerous fight, the lawyer was one of the first ones to leap up to defend the accused in the infamous Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal. “Everyone needs a fair hearing,” is his simple argument against all charges, including that of treason.

So what’s been his best battle? He remembers the touching case of POK resident Shenaz Praveen Kausar and her India-born daughter Mobin. In a suicide bid, Kausar had jumped into the Jhelum in POK but survived and reached the other side of the river in India. She was immediately arrested and was later raped in jail. Kausar then delivered Mobin. But that was just one part of her unfortunate story. The Pakistan government agreed to take Kausar back but refused Mobin entry, saying she is Indian.

Lakhanpal filed a PIL in Jammu and Kashmir High Court for their release and adequate compensation. The court ordered cops to release Kausar and Mobin. It also granted Rs 3 lakh to them. After the matter got highlighted at the international level, Pakistan government too took back both Kausar and her daughter.

“This case is close to my heart because I helped a woman and her child who were totally helpless in a foreign land,” said Lakhanpal who sees Mother Teresaas his guiding light.