“Jail was hell for me and my family,” says Dr Kafeel Khan in his chilling disclosure about his time behind bars in an interview with Human Rights activist Teesta Setalvad.
Watch Dr Khan open up like never before to Teesta Setalvad – second part of the 4 part interview.
In this interview, Dr. Khan opens up about the distressing conditions in jail where he alleges that different intimidation tactics were used on him. Dr Khan says that he was constantly moved from barrack to barrack. He also spent some time with criminals that had been charged with murders of 7-8 people. He alleges that the jail officials warned him not to mention why he was in jail as they wouldn’t take any responsibility if he was harmed in any way.
While he was in jail, his family was also allegedly harassed by the police. Cops would land up at odd hours at his house where his wife, child and mother were staying. Sometimes 20-30 of them would turn up at 11pm, go from room to room and stay till as long as 3am! There was an instance when his brother had come to visit him in jail and they picked him up from outside the jail. They allegedly put him in a car and drove around for 12 hours before letting him go. This sent a clear message that whoever comes to visit Dr. Kafeel Khan will be detained.
He talks about the many months he spent in jail and how he kept questioning God, “Allah! Why is this happening to me? I tried to save lives, why am I being treated like this?” But he also goes on to say that maybe God has other plans for him. The moment he stepped out of jail, he was welcomed by thousands of people holding placards saying ‘Welcome Back Dr Kafeel Khan’. Not only did the crowd comprise parents of the children whose lives he saved, but also the parents that lost their children; reinforcing his belief that he did nothing wrong that day.