Mumbai-based prison rights activist Abdul Wahid Shaikh (also known as Wahid Deen Mohammad Shaikh) has once again defied all odds and had his PhD published.
The topic chosen by the former political prisoner is the books and literature written by other political prisoners before and after partition in the Indian subcontinent.
Shaikh, a primary school teacher respected in the neighbourhood, was picked from Mundra as an accused in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts of 2006. Despite no evidence, Shaikh had to spend almost nine years in jail to prove his innocence. Of the 13 accused charged by the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad, Wahid was the only one to be acquitted of all charges.
Since he has come out, Shaikh has fought against the wrongful incarceration of people from the community, especially those who are slapped with anti-terror laws.
Shaikh, while speaking to Maktoob, pointed out that the topic was not easily accepted and he had to work extra hard on it due to the limitations of prison rules as well as due to the lack of information and recognition of such literature.
Shaikh’s PhD is in Urdu, something that is rarely seen, according to him.
Speaking about his topic, Shaikh said, “After 1947 till now, people who have been politically incarcerated have written books, whether literature or poetry or any other form, published by people in the Indian sub-continent and its compilation that people are not aware of.”
He further said that after India’s independence and partition in 1947, many people from Jamaat-e-Islami – a Pakistani Islamist political party – were jailed, wherein many activists have been arrested in the name of Naxalism, all of which is something he has tried to cover in his PhD. Shaikh has not only spoken of political prisoners and the books they have written just in India, but in Pakistan as well.
“Because Pakistan is also a part of my research, there were many such books in Pakistan, so access to these books was difficult in India. But I was still able to find 100 books,” he added.
The idea behind Shaikh’s PhD stemmed from his own personal life, the activist added.
“Since 2001, in the name of terrorism, many Muslims have been incarcerated, an issue that is going on even in current times. We have tried to put all of that in the PhD. I have tried to know about the leaders who were jailed and the kind of books they published, what kind of books there were and how one can access them,” he also said.
Shaikh said that his research made him travel to different parts of the country and meet people and activists who were alive and jailed.
“I have also approached those people who had written literature in prisons but could not publish it. There are so many stories, so many books that have been published from prison by these great leaders that the world should know,” Shaikh added.
The activist, who himself has written a book named ‘Innocent Prisoners’ that talks about the false cases against him, the torture he faced in the aftermath of the 2006 Mumbai bomb blast case, and his release from jail.
Despite there being so many people who had similar stories to his, it was difficult for him to access things, while a lot of people were scared of people getting to know their stories.
“The other difficulty is that post-independence, the people who were slapped with anti-national laws and were wrongfully incarcerated, even their writing doesn’t get that much attention. And people were also scared to come out because of the fear that comes with people knowing,” he added.
Shaikh, who was acquitted of all charges in the case in 2015, is still hounded by police officials using harassment as a means to disturb him and his family.
In September 2024, Shaikh complained that two police personnel from the Crime Branch reached Shaikh’s while he was at work and questioned his wife about his “whereabouts, his work, office address, daily schedule and activities, his mobile number and other questions.”
Shaikh alleges that while the police cited “official duty and routine inquiry,” the visit has created a climate of fear in his neighbourhood. The letter states, “Due to the said police visit, a sense of fear has pervaded the neighbourhood of the applicant.”
Since being released from jail, Shaikh, who completed law during his prolonged imprisonment, began campaigning for prisoners’ rights.
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