MUMBAI — Eighteen years after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks shook the nation, the wounds of that night remain open for many. Families who lost loved ones still carry grief, survivors still live with pain, and for some who were falsely accused, the suffering did not end with acquittal, it followed them home.
Faheem Ansari is one such person.
Once accused of giving a map to the attackers in the Mumbai terror case, Ansari today earns his living by driving an auto in Mumbra. The charges that once painted him as a traitor were later thrown out, yet the damage to his life, family, and reputation remains deep.
“I cannot forget the wounds caused by false accusations and long imprisonment,” Ansari told Clarion India. “The support my family gave me after my release has given me the desire to live again.”
After the arrest of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone gunman caught alive in the 26/11 attacks, investigators named two Indian citizens — Faheem Arshad Ansari and Mohammad Yousuf Ansari — alleging they had helped plan the assault. The claims were sweeping and serious, suggesting local support for a Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba plot.
But facts later told a different story.
Faheem Ansari and another accused, Sabahuddin, had already been jailed in connection with the 2007 CRPF camp attack in Kanpur. They were in custody in Kanpur at the time of the Mumbai attacks, making their alleged role impossible.
Despite this, Ansari spent more than ten years in prison before being cleared of the Mumbai terror charges. By the time of his release, life outside had changed beyond recognition.
Today, Ansari lives quietly with his wife in Mumbra. His daughter is married and settled. There are no grand plans — only the daily need to earn, eat, and survive with dignity. Driving a rickshaw is now his means of lawful livelihood.
“I forget everything when I work,” he said. “I only think about feeding my wife and living with self-respect.”
Even this simple work has challenges. Ansari has petitioned the Bombay High Court for a police clearance certificate, necessary to operate an Auto in areas beyond Mumbra. Without it, he cannot obtain the required permit from the Regional Transport Office, limiting his earnings.
“Until the police give me clearance, I cannot increase my earning,” he said. “I have no other option.” The High Court has concluded hearings and reserved its verdict.
The years behind bars broke more than his body. They shook his spirit and strained his family ties.
“There is no part of prison life that is free of suffering,” he said. “I lost hope. I even told my wife she should move on with her life.”
She refused. “She stood with me at every step,” Ansari said. “She gave me courage to wait until the end.” His parents and siblings were his quiet strength. “They never let me feel alone,” he said.
On November 26, 2008, ten alleged Pakistani terrorists entered Mumbai by sea and carried out coordinated attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Taj Palace Hotel, Trident Hotel, Leopold Café, Chabad House, and Cama Hospital. The assault left 166 people dead, including foreign nationals, and injured more than 300. Sixteen Mumbai Police officers, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, and Vijay Salaskar, were killed. Kasab was captured alive by officer Tukaram Omble, who lost his life in the act.
No one disputes the horror of that night. But cases like Ansari’s raise uncomfortable questions about investigations and who bears the cost when the system fails.
Human rights groups note that poor Muslims are often the first to be arrested in terror cases, held for years, and quietly released when evidence fails — without apology, support, or repair for the lives broken by false charges.
Ansari does not speak in anger, only in tired honesty. “If I keep crying about what was done to us, it will hurt me again,” he said. “I just want to live.”
For him, justice now means something simple: the right to work, the right to move freely, and the right to be seen not as a past accusation, but as a man trying to rebuild a life stolen by mistakes he did not commit.
