“Two days before the D-day, Afzal Guru knew if there would be a hanging in Tihar jail, it would be his.”
Left activist, branded a ‘shadow man of Maoists’ for decades, Kobad Ghandy recalled his time spent with 2001 Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru in Tihar Jail. “We would often go for evening walks, he would teach me about Rumi’s work, he would tell me about his views on Islam and how he was against fundamentalism.”
In his new book, ‘Fractured Freedom: A Prison Memoir’, Ghandy reminisces the ten years he spent in six different jails across the country and how he turned towards Communism while studying in London. He also discusses the shabby condition of Tihar jail and how Nirbhaya’s rapist Vinay Sharma had no remorse for his heinous crime.
“Vinay Sharma was a vile man. Every 16 December, when Nirbhaya’s mother would come on TV for interviews, he would say that she should be raped. And, he would get cheered on by several other inmates in the jail.”Kobad Ghandy
Ghandy was convicted of forgery and impersonation in 2016 but acquitted of charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He was released on bail in 2019. He says he has received both suspicion and solidarity outside prison. “There is a fear amongst a section of people to have their names linked with me. But, I have surprisingly received a lot of solidarity from my batchmates at Doon school.”
Having worked mostly among Dalits and socio-economically backwards sections of the society, Ghandy recalls several youths had taken inspiration from him and his wife Anuradha Ghandy in dedicating their lives towards the upliftment of the underprivileged.
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