Mumbai-based writer Wahid Shaikh talks about his wrongful imprisonment, academic journey, prison literature, and the relentless struggle against injustice
WAHID SHAIKH, a resident of Mumbai, was named by the police in a terrorism case. In 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested him in connection with the serial bomb blasts on Mumbai’s local trains. Shaikh spent nine years of his youth in Arthur Road Jail. The case continued, and in 2015, the Sessions Court acquitted him of all charges. Since his release, he has been raising his voice against wrongful convictions in the country. He set up an NGO called Innocents Network about five years ago.
From his Arthur Road Jail cell, he wrote his acclaimed book, Innocent Prisoner. Currently, two of his books — Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case (Urdu) and Fair Trial? (English) — have hit the shelves. Recently, he completed a PhD on prison literature.
Clarion India spoke with him to understand the difficulties he faced during all this time and how he managed to stay motivated through it all. Here are some key points from the conversation.
First of all, heartfelt congratulations on completing your PhD. How was the journey to attain this academic milestone?
Thank you very much. This journey has been quite long, exhausting, interesting, surprising, and demanding. Since 2005, that is 20 years ago, even as an undergraduate in Mumbai, I wanted to be a PhD. I wanted to do it on the Urdu poet Abdul Majid Zahid’s Hayat-o-Khidmaat. But as you know, the 2006 incident happened, and I was pushed behind bars for nine years. But I continued my education in jail and did an MA in English, LLB, and other short courses from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. I wanted to do my PhD from jail as well, but could not because of a myriad of problems. After my release, I reviewed the topic again and found “Prison Literature” to be a very interesting and important subject, since I had experienced it personally. So, I completed my dissertation on this topic. You can say this is a 20-year journey, a 20-year desire that has been fulfilled today.
Why did you choose “Prison Literature: A Research Study After Independence” as your PhD topic? How much did your own connection to the subject influence your choice?
As you know, this topic is important to me because I wrote a book while being in jail called Begunah Qaidi (Innocent Prisoner). During that time, I studied many books written about prison and by prisoners in both Urdu and English. Later, I discovered that prison literature is a distinct literary genre, which has been well explored in other languages, but not much work has been done in Urdu. Or you could say that after independence, this field came to a standstill in Urdu. When I spoke to poets, writers, and intellectuals about prison literature, they all directed me to pre-independence works such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s Ghubaar-e-Khatir and Hasrat Mohani’s Mushahidaat-e-Zindaan and said they mark the beginning and the end of prison literature in Urdu. Some people believe that after independence, prison literature or Habsiyaat doesn’t exist in Urdu. I was surprised and puzzled by this and wanted to understand why this was so. So, I started exploring Urdu books and translations related to prison literature, and began studying them. I found that after independence, many essays, research papers, and books have been written on this topic in the subcontinent. Most papers cover pre-independence writings, but even after independence, many people went to jail, and in Urdu, books, poetry, diaries, letters, and memoirs continued to be written. However, all this work is scattered and not gathered in one place, so it is unknown to many. Therefore, I chose this topic and started working on it. I am thankful to Mahatma Gandhi Mission University for not only accepting my proposed topic but also giving me the full opportunity to work on it. I would also like to express my gratitude to my guide, Dr Aswad Kohar, who always supported me and provided me with excellent guidance. You could say that the walls of jail did not obstruct this journey, but instead acted as a motivator.
Do you think the experience of imprisonment refines a person’s intellectual and mental dimensions? How did it affect your personal life?
Imprisonment can indeed contribute to a person’s intellectual and mental development. We have seen that many people, after being imprisoned, because they have ample time and moments of leisure, despite all difficulties, focus on themselves and try to improve their academic abilities. In this regard, the government has established branches of the Indira Gandhi National Open University in almost every jail so that prisoners can receive free education. Many IGNOU courses are offered to prisoners with free admission. Besides this, when prisoners get the opportunity, they engage in writing according to their interests. On an intellectual level, this leads to maturity. The time in jail is considered a very serious kind of experience, where there is a pause in life, depth in thoughts, and some profundity in experiences. A person gradually becomes much more mature both intellectually and practically. Since I was engaged in education and training before imprisonment, after being sent to jail, by court order, I not only continued my academic pursuits but also engaged in personal study, wrote books, and wrote countless letters to my wife, which serve as a kind of jail diary. This diary will soon be published, God willing.
After returning from jail, you undertook an academic journey that is not commonly seen. What gave you the courage to follow this path?
After coming out of jail, since the court had honourably acquitted me of all charges and even the police did not have any genuine evidence against me, they did not file an appeal against my release in the high court. All these factors together gave me the courage after my release to raise my voice for innocent prisoners and work for their release. Therefore, immediately after my release in 2015, we established an NGO called Innocents Network for prisoners and, in collaboration with intellectuals, lawyers, judges, and human rights activists, we launched a movement. Although that movement and voice were initially very faint, we have continued this work consistently for the past ten years. Through the book Innocent Prisoner, we have conducted programs across different parts of the country, providing legal guidance, human rights awareness, and support as legal leaders. After earning my law degree, I recently completed an LLM as well.
I also wrote a book on the case of Ishrat Jahan. She was innocently killed in an encounter. Once out of jail, all these public engagements encouraged me to keep working and raising my voice for justice. This is not only a human necessity but also our duty as citizens and Muslims.
Another reason is that my fellow prisoners took a pledge from me to work tirelessly for their release after I was freed. I continued this work, honouring my commitment. Despite warnings from some quarters of provoking police action and my reimprisonment, I tried to keep my promise. Even now, trusting in Allah, I continue this work. It gives me great satisfaction that I can be of help to others, provide legal guidance, and many people, God willing, will benefit from it.
Your autobiography, Innocent Prisoner, has had a great impact. Has its popularity encouraged you to write and research more?
Innocent Prisoner indeed gained a lot of popularity. When I was writing this book while sitting inside Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, I had no idea that it would ever be published or that people would like it so much. Because of the popularity of this book, I decided to write another. The second book, titled Ishrat Jahan Encounter, was also published and was well-received. However, the government and its agencies have made many attempts to suppress it. Even today, that book is not banned, but it is viewed in government circles with suspicion.
At present, I am compiling the numerous letters I wrote to my wife from jail, and I also intend to publish my completed thesis on prison literature in book form. Additionally, I have plans to write a book about a prisoner involved in a serious terror case.
God willing, these three works will be published very soon, one after the other.
Prison literature is a special literary genre on which not much work has been done in Urdu. In your opinion, what is the significance of this genre?
Not much work has indeed been done on prison literature in Urdu. One major reason for this is that after independence, Urdu was considered the language of Muslims and was marginalised. When Pakistan adopted Urdu as its national language, in India, Urdu was often viewed as the language of an enemy country. Every political government practically tried to suppress it.
Recently, the Supreme Court judges clarified important points about Urdu: they asserted Urdu is not a foreign language but was born, nurtured, and grew in this very country. Yet, some people want to see it eradicated.
Because Urdu lacked political support and faced hostility, its decline began. As a result, reading, writing, and publishing books in Urdu drastically decreased. Those who continued to read and write Urdu tried to write while imprisoned, but their works either remained unpublished or did not receive the recognition they deserved.
We believe these factors have severely limited the growth and flourishing of Urdu prison literature.
During your research, which writers, prisoners, or writings influenced you the most?
I studied many books and articles on prison literature. This subject is very interesting, emotional, and unique. The research journey brought moments of laughter, sadness, reflection, grief, and shock. The incidents and events covered in these works are so remarkable that one wonders how such things happened.
The book that influenced me the most was Tazkira-e-Rindan by Prof Khurshid Ahmad from Pakistan, who was imprisoned during General Ayub Khan’s martial law regime. It is a very interesting and literary book, which every Urdu reader should read at least once. It offers insight not only into jails in India and Pakistan but also reflects the deep attachment and love Urdu speakers have for the language. The author decorated the book with the best Urdu poetry and verses throughout.
Another influential book was Zindagi Zinda Dili Ka Naam Hai, written by Captain Zafarullah Poshni from Pakistan. This book frequently mentions Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who was a fellow prisoner. It reveals details about the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case, the many mushairas (poetry gatherings) held in Rawalpindi Jail.
Did you face any official or academic obstacles during your research, especially since the topic is sensitive?
No, I did not face any official obstacles, Alhamdulillah, because the research was being conducted through a private university that fully supported me. However, I faced significant difficulties in obtaining books on this topic. Many books that surfaced during the research were found to be out of print. Numerous books had ceased to be reprinted, and many were rare and hard to find.
I even tried to procure some of these books from the neighbouring country, but due to the ongoing tensions at the border, efforts to acquire these books often failed. Except for a few, most of the books we sought were not available to us.
During your research, which authors, prisoners, or writings influenced you the most?
I believe that although the police procedures are quite similar across different cases in India, where people are imprisoned under various minor charges, the stories and experiences of the prisoners themselves are unique and distinct. So, while the police methods may show similarities in all these writings, each prisoner’s story is different and throws a new perspective.
From this point of view, it is very important to record and preserve these stories, incidents, and experiences by putting them into writing. That is why we have taken a step in this regard through our NGO, Innocents Network, to publish the writings of prisoners who have expressed themselves but have been denied publication by certain authorities.
We also continuously encourage prisoners—both those who have been released and those still incarcerated—to write something, keep jail diaries, and document their feelings and experiences. We urge them to write about themselves so that these narratives can reach the public and become part of history.
In the future, when historians study this era, these accounts will greatly help them understand the attitudes of political parties and police behaviour in light of these events.
Will your PhD work be published as a book for Urdu readers?
Certainly, our PhD work will soon be published in book form for Urdu-speaking readers. I have met with Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, the owner of Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd, and informed him about the PhD research and some important chapters. He has expressed willingness to publish several key chapters as a book, in sha Allah.
We have already handed over all the files to him, and he is working on the project. Very soon, a book on the topic of post-independence prison literature will be released, from which we all will benefit, in sha Allah.
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Mohammad Alamullah is an author and a journalist. He did his PhD from Dr KR Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Alamullah has written innumerable columns, poems, travelogues, and short stories and is the author of two books, Muslim Majlis Mushawarat: Ek Khususi Tareekh and Kuch Din Iran Mein.
