THE long years he spent in jail on false charges have hardened him. Today, when Abdul Wahid Shaikh talks of his nine-year jail term as an accused in the 2006 Mumbai train bomb blasts case he does so without rancour. It seems as if he is narrating the experience of someone else. The truth is, Shaikh was picked up by the police after the serial blasts on local trains, which claimed more than 180 lives, for informal questioning.
Little did the schoolteacher of Mumbai know that the walk he undertook from his home to the local police station in September 2006 would be the last walk down that road for almost a decade. He was the only one of the 13 accused to be acquitted in September 2015.
Shaikh celebrated his release by writing about his experience in jail in the form of a book, Begunaah Qaidi . The English version of the book, Innocent Prisoner , is releasing in October. Shaikh is now a much sought after author at literary shows. He addressed the press in New Delhi in the first week of October on his book, and then in Mumbai. Subsequently, he participated in a literary festival in Bengaluru.
He took time off to answer a few questions from Frontline .
Excerpts from the interview:
You were teaching in a school before the Mumbai train blasts happened. Did you ever dream of becoming a writer one day?
No, writing was never on my mind. I got this idea after I was incarcerated. At the time when I was jailed, I was pursuing my PhD in Mumbai. I was researching on Abdul Mujahid Zahid, an Urdu poet. I had to give it up on being sent to jail. Instead, I decided to write about my experience in jail. The idea was to tell the world what we [the 13 accused] underwent inside the [Arthur Road] jail.
It is almost impossible to write a book inside a jail. You are forever under surveillance. How did you manage to write?
Yes, it is very difficult. They look at you with suspicion.
Did your writings get confiscated inside the prison?
Oh, yes! That happened many times. They snatched the papers I had written on. They also burnt many pages at times. I never gave up. I managed to find a way out. I started sending the pages out of the jail through my family members who came to visit me. Some policemen also helped.
Slowly, it all added up. After the judgment in 2015 when I came out, I decided to give Begunaah Qaidi a final shape and send it to publishers. Innocent Prisoner , the English translation of the book, is being released in October. It has been translated by Dr Yousuf of Maharashtra.
How many words or pages does the original manuscript contain?
I wrote about 500 pages. It must be more than one lakh words. I have written with honesty and integrity. I have tried to write the way things happened. I have not tried to exaggerate things to get the sympathy of anybody. At the same time, I want the world to know what one goes through as a mere accused.
It is said that you were an activist of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and that was how the police picked you as a possible suspect.
It is not true. It is an allegation of the police. After SIMI was banned in 2001, the Mumbai Police arrested me. It was a false case.
You have nothing to do with SIMI?
No, nothing at all. I was a teacher. Occasionally, I would be invited to SIMI programmes and I would go. But I was never its member. The police alleged that I was its member, and that even after SIMI was banned I was involved with its activities. They made a case out of it. Because of this my name appeared in the police records, and every now and then the police started harassing me. Whenever something happened in the city or even outside, I would be called to the local police station. I always went. I cooperated because I wanted to prove that I had nothing to do with SIMI or any of the later incidents.
In the SIMI incident, how long were you in jail?
I was inside for two months. I was in Mumbai only.
Between 2001 and 2005, when the police came looking for you for questioning, was it confined to mere interrogation or was any violence used?
They would harass me mentally. They would ask me questions, make me sit at the station for hours. Even for the Mumbai blasts, they initially just asked me questions. I kept cooperating, but the police put my name in the Mumbai blasts case.
After the blasts, did not the police take into consideration the fact that you had been cooperating with them for five years and that you were under their watch?
No, the police erased all those records. They called me a terror accused, a bomb blast accused. They alleged I had slipped under their radar, that I had gone underground and that an informer told them about my whereabouts, and that they picked me up from the Ghatkopar railway station when I was trying to escape. Actually, they took me from my home.
You were accused of harbouring nine Pakistani nationals?
Yes, they said that. I have a rented flat in Mumbra. The police claimed that some Pakistani men came and stayed there before and after the blasts, and that I had given them shelter. The accusation was that I had harboured Pakistanis accused of blasts.
You were not related to Pakistanis. So, how did the police come to that conclusion?
The police concocted the story. They are experts in that. To prove that they are correct, they created witnesses after thrashing and threatening them. One of my relatives was picked up, thrashed and forced to give evidence against me. He got frightened and because of his word I spent nine years in jail.
It must have soured your relations?
No. He said this in front of the police. But some six years later when he had to testify in the court, he spoke the truth. He told the court that he had given the earlier statement under police pressure and that he had not seen any Pakistani at my place.
Did the police actually make you sign on blank papers, as you have written in the book?
Yes, they asked me to sign on blank papers. They called it panchnama and asked me to sign. They asked me to sign on blank papers, saying they would ask their lawyer to fill in the details. When I refused, they used third degree torture. Under duress, I had to sign.
It is reported that extreme torture was used and that you were the last one to break. All the other accused had given in much earlier.
Yes, it was too much. It was unbearable. At times, they would strip you and give electric shock to private parts. They would inject an oil into the anus that would produce a burning sensation all over the body. Then they would tie you and subject you to waterboarding. They would keep you tied in solitary confinement. They would not give you food or water and not let you sleep.
How does a prisoner survive?
They have a technique. They torture only as much as a person can live with because they have to produce him/her in court.
Were you able to meet your lawyers at that time?
There are two types of custody: police custody and judicial custody. When the accused is in police custody, they do not let him meet his lawyers or family members. There is extreme torture in police custody. It gets better in judicial custody and one can meet the family, lawyer, etc. In police custody, they get a confession signed. In my case, the police custody lasted for 30 days.
When you were writing the book, did you get an editor to guide you?
No, nobody was there to guide me. But when I was inside the jail, and had made up my mind to write this book, I read some books on similar cases. I also got other books procured after obtaining permission from the court. I read diaries of prisoners. I read S. Hussein Zaidi’s Black Friday . I read Indian and foreign authors. I read other documents relating to torture, etc. I realised I had to tell my own story. Gradually, things fell into place.
Did the police harass you after the book was released?
Nothing direct, but I got to know that the Intelligence Bureau people were reading it. Policemen in civil clothes come to my house to harass me. Sometimes, they come in their uniform.
Have you got your job as teacher back?
I was under suspension for nine years. It was a minority institution. They reinstated me, but I got no compensation for the nine years I spent away from school. I have got no compensation from the Government of Maharashtra either for all the lost years. No Congress leader or any other party leader has come forward to help. Only Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party visited me or tried to help me. He called up the school to have me reinstated in my job.
Is the book being translated into other Indian languages?
Yes, the book is likely to come out in Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati. The publishers plan to take it to international literary festivals, too. I hope my book helps the other accused who are still in jail. They have been pronounced convicts. I believe they are all innocent.
I want this book to help in highlighting their plight and getting them justice. No innocent man should be framed.
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