Imam ensured Hindu-Muslim harmony in jail

Freed Of Terror Charges, Maulana Recalls Dark Days In Arthur Rd Jail

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Imam Gulam Yahya Illahi Bakhsh, acquitted of all terror charges in the first case handled by the state anti-terrorism squad, did not sit idle during the four years he spent in prison as an undertrial. It was he who ensured that there was no fight among the Hindus and Muslims there, especially when members of the two communities would offer their daily prayers.

Bakhsh was released from jail on Sunday afternoon, a little more than four years after he entered prison (on January 13, 2006), after a Sewree fast-track court acquitted him of terror charges.

“When I was taken to jail, they first kept me in an isolated cell called ‘anda’ cell meant for hardened criminals and terrorists. Later, they shifted me to a barrack where most of the inmates were accused of murder. There were Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the barrack. But there was some problem as the timings for Hindu prayers and the namaz clashed,’’ he recounted. “When I requested my Hindu brothers to time their prayers just before or after the namaz, they readily agreed. Everything went off smoothly after that,’’ he added.

“Even in the cell, I continued leading namaz. I was happy that I was an imam even though I was in jail,’’ said Bakhsh, who has been leading namaz at various mosques in the city for around 24 years.

According to Bakhsh, he got a lot of emotional support from Hindu inmates during his days in prison. “There were times when I was completely shattered but several Hindu inmates would sit next to me and console me. They said I would be released if I had not done anything wrong,’’ a tearful Bakhsh said.

Another VIP prisoner at the same prison was police officer, Saji Mohan, now under scanner in a drugs case. “He would prefer to keep himself busy reading the Bible and his legal papers. He hardly spoke to other inmates but, whenever we met, he would talk to me very politely and console me,’’ the Imam said.

The Times of India, January 19, 2010