Tuesday, 6 December 2016

[amdavadis4ever] Life term convict goes from jail to jail to de-radicalize others! (Posted by B D Jesrani)

 


 
Mateen Hafeez


Afroz Khan, serving a life term in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, is emerging as the state's poster boy in its fight against radicalization.

Qaidi number C-299 in Navi Mumbai's Taloja jail, Khan speaks against the use of Muslim youngsters by anti-national forces. He is now taken to prisons across the state to narrate his story of how he was used in a fight against the country .

Khan, 36, is eloquent and fluent in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and English. Terror outfits disturb him. "I know how anti-national people misguide Muslim youths, ruin their careers, dest roy their lives and carry on with their subversive plans. I have been meeting Naxalites, suspected Indian Mujahideen and IS operatives, among others, in jail. I narrate my story and tell them how I lost my life to these anti-national elements. I am trying to ensure that no one falls into these terror organizations' trap," Khan, in a white kurta-pyjama, told TOI inside Taloja jail.

It was the brainchild of Rajvardhan Sinha, inspector-general of police, prisons, to enrol Khan in the fight against terror."Since he narrates his own story , it makes an impact on other prisoners. He says his life was destroyed after he took the wrong path. Rajvardhan Sinha, IG, prisons, said: "Afroz says he wants to work for the country now. He meets inmates to convince them to not repeat his mistakes.We plan to send him to more prisons."

The soft-spoken Khan described his experience of how terror outfits and their handlers use incomplete verses from Quran to mislead youths. "The Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Indian Mujahideen misrepresent Islam and are ruining young Muslims," Khan said. "Today , the internet is available on phone. Youths are selected by terror outfits through social media and brainwashed. A youth does not know whom he chats with but feels the handler's description of religion is right. Such a youth commits a mistake and repents for the rest of his life."

A Beed resident and a pharmacist by profession, Khan had surrendered before a Mumbai court on June 13, 2006. He was accused of conspiracy in the arms haul case in which the state anti-terrorism squad had arrested 22 people.

This August, Khan and six of his associates were sentenced to life for their role in the case.

"Till today, I have met 17 persons accused in Indian Mujahideen terror cases.While I am satisfied many have had a change of heart after my discussions with them, some don't even like sitting next to me," said Khan, who described Yaseen Bhatkal as a hopeless case. Bhatkal, now in a Hyderabad jail, was heading the IM's Indian operations and is an accused in as many as a dozen bomb blast cases. "He (Bhatkal) cannot improve. He has ruined many youths' lives and still feels what he did was right." Khan has met the accused of almost all terror cases in the state in jails at Arthur Road, Nagpur, Solapur and Taloja.

Avoracious reader, Khan is currently reading John Grisham's `Confession' and the Marathi version of `Mein Kampf ', Adolf Hitler's autobiography , in his high security anda cell. "I read newspapers, my case papers, history and literature books, booklets on Mahatma Gandhi and fiction. I am also studying deradicalization articles written by various authors," said Khan, who wrote to the then ATS chief, Vivek Phansalkar, last year to offer his services for de-radicalization sessions. Sadanand Gaikwad, superintendent of Taloja jail, said, "He consults with police personnel if he needs any book or papers. His behaviour is very good and he is doing brilliant work."

He is lodged with several terror convicts and undertrials, including S Mali, an alleged Naxal, a gangster from Arun Gawli gang and four accused from Nanded arms haul case, among others.

He wakes up by 5.30am and after his bath offers namaz, reads and then goes for breakfast where he interacts with several prisoners.

Khan last met his elder brother and11year-old daughter in 2015. He was arrested when she was just a year old.

Khan has applied for work in the jail hospital's medical store as a pharmacist.

 

 


__._,_.___
Posted by: imamdavadi@ymail.com
Reply via web post • Reply to sender • Reply to group • Start a New Topic • Messages in this topic (1)
Have you tried the highest rated email app?
With 4.5 stars in iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the highest rated email app on the market. What are you waiting for? Now you can access all your inboxes (Gmail, Outlook, AOL and more) in one place. Never delete an email again with 1000GB of free cloud storage.
World's Best forwarded emails...

Spread a word to join amdavadis4ever-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To translate the posted material into your native/regional language,
please visit http://translate.google.com/

Like us on facebook: amdavadi amdavadi

.

__,_._,___
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)