Taloja jail inmates pay musical tribute to 26/11 martyrs

Navi Mumbai: Gangster Abu Salem stayed away, but in a unique tribute, 17 prisoners, including naxalites, Indian Mujahehideen operatives, and others with terror charges lodged at Taloja jail, paid a musical homage to the 26/11 martyrs. Mostly, the inmates sang patriotic and Bollywood songs.

Though Salem, an accused in the 1993 serial bombings case, was spotted standing near his cell, his close aide Riyaz Siddiqui, also an accused in the case, captivated the audience with his Urdu shayari as the anchor of the programme organised by the jail authorities.

As Siddiqui, an undertrial at the jail for the past 12 years, took the stage, the crowd of prison inmates gave a round of applause. The 58-year-old is considered an elderly figure who usually resolves petty quarrels among the prisoners and is looked upon for advice, according to jail sources. “Nobody should get attracted towards crime. This is not a place for spending the most important phase of one’s life. We get the opportunity to do yoga, participate in sports, play carrom, chess and volley ball. We also have access to the library, due to which we are up to speed with news in the outside world but in the end, a prisoner is a prisoner,” Siddiqui said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Selvam alias Anna Selvam who is a close associate of the Chhota Rajan gang and an undertrial for the past three years, performed

matka-tabla on the stage and also sang ‘Gurur Brahma’ and the Tamil version of ‘Om Shankara’. “These kind of programmes are very good for us as they freshen up our mind,” he said. He too had a word of caution for those thinking of entering the world of crime: “No youngster should turn to crime because a prisoner remains a prisoner all his life. Youngsters should listen to their parents and be responsible citizens.”

“November 26 also marks Constitution Day. So the idea was to take a constitutional pledge and pay homage to the martyrs of 26/11. To keep their minds occupied we keep doing sports, yoga and pranayam,” said Sadanand Gaikwad, Superintendent of Taloja jail.

The writer is a freelance journalist