The passing away of Alyque Padamsee is indeed a huge loss for us at the “Zero Tolerance Campaign (ZTC).” It was a humbling experience to have worked with a legend who was so approachable and made himself readily available to any cause he believed in.
I still remember the first time he met us, he introduced himself as an ex-Muslim. On further enquiry, he explained that he gave up religion due to it's hypocrisy and many illogical rules and followed his conscience instead. He may have given up on religion, but was deeply spiritual and wedded art and soul with his zest for life.
A Friend In Need After Keenan-Reuben Murders
I, along with a few friends of mine, have known Alyque since he got in touch with us post the Keenan-Reuben Amboli murders, where two brave hearts were murdered in cold blood. They had stood up to perpetrators who believed they could get away by sexually harassing one of their women friends who they were hanging out with. The perennial pragmatist that he was, he was more interested in ensuring that their sacrifice didn't go in vain and if we could convert the increased public interest into a mass movement.
He was kind enough to help us get legislation through in the House by the state government, to amend Sections 354 and 509 of the IPC, way back in 2011 in Maharashtra, much before Justice Verma Committee’s recommendations became the law.
He did this by using his good offices with the then Deputy CM RR Patil and CM Prithviraj Chavan. These sections were made cognisable and non-bailable after our campaign, a template, which was later used by the Justice Verma Committee recommendations post the Nirbhaya episode.
Thereafter we worked closely with the police to fight gender-based violence on the streets. A man of action, Alyque immediately collaborated with the then Additional Commissioner of Police of the western zone, Vishwas Nagre Patil. He ensured that by using crowdsourced data about sexual harassment hotspots, the police would actually catch perpetrators of sexual harassment across 21 police stations in the western region of Mumbai. As a result, a whopping 3,000 perpetrators were caught in the act.
A perfectionist, Alyque didn't stop at this. He actually interacted with police officers and perpetrators arrested alike, to understand their perspectives and the reasons for why they behaved, the way they did. Furthermore, he organised a workshop along with us for the Mumbai Police to sensitise them about handling both victims and perpetrators of sexual harassment. Senior police inspectors across 21 police stations showed up.
Supporting India Against Corruption
India Against Corruption (IAC) was at its peak then, and he always had a keen interest in what we did. We were among the founding members of IAC in Mumbai along with Mayank Gandhi and Praful Vora. Alyque would always enquire about (current Delhi CM) Arvind Kejriwal. When IAC metamorphosed into a party (the Aam Aadmi Party) in the Lok Sabha Polls 2014, Alyque himself volunteered to help. He put up a campaign 'Sweep Them Away' and helped us strategise and communicate better.
Even during the Delhi Assembly polls, he would constantly call me; such was his concern for us. In his words, he believed that both the party and the movement, were the only thing which could stand up to the politics of hate and systematic dehumanisation.
An Invaluable Personal Mentor & Activist
Our last personal collaboration with him was in the run up to the BMC polls, where we as an organisation had partnered with the State Election Commission, in a bid to increase voting percentage in the BMC Polls 2017. We were successful as we increased voting percentage by 13 percent to 56 percent, the highest ever in 70 years. Despite his frail health, Alyque gave us time and feedback on our communication strategy and messaging.
As a personal mentor and guide, his contribution to our activism and our personal growth, was invaluable. Not only was he a thorough world-class professional – an ad guru – but also a great human being. He actually had the courage of his convictions to fearlessly stand up for what he believed in and gave voice to the voiceless and those being persecuted on the margins.
His First Love – Theatre
Theatre was always his first love and he was a stickler for detail. I remember clearly his repeated rehearsals at his place of 'Jesus Christ Superstar', till he was convinced that the actors had got it right. This could could sometimes take hours, but there weren't ever any compromises. His portrayal of Jinnah in Attenborough's ‘Gandhi,’ always stayed with him, the image of him immaculately dressed in a shot on the sets adorning his study. He even took out the monocle and demonstrated its use and narrated how he practiced to use it, so as to live the character. He also got us to download Jinnah's biopic, where the lead was played by Christopher Lee, just to compare his portrayal and he actually took notes at that ripe old age.
Lastly, he was nicknamed 'God', and he always lived up to it, with his trademark perfection in professionalism. He lived in pursuit of excellence of all things – with the genius of an artist and the love of a father.
A doting father, he always discussed his children Rael, Quasar and Shazahn and was proud of them and their work.
My last conversation with him was when he replied to our initiative to save Aarey, he would send voice notes. “Keep it going” he said. “Here is Alyque signing off”– how prescient.
Alyque, you will be missed, you will live on in our hearts through your legacy of action and free will.
(Ruben Mascarenhas is National Joint Secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party and Co-founder of the Zero Tolerance Campaign works towards combating and preventing sexual harassment against women)
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