March 03, 2026 10:55 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Iran claims Netanyahu's office targeted in 'surprise missile attacks' | India, Canada to host renewable energy summit as Modi, Carney push to deepen bilateral ties | Gold, silver surge as Middle East conflict sparks safe-haven buying | Middle East tension: Several US warplanes crash in Kuwait, says Defence Ministry | Indian defence shares jump as West Asia conflict triggers investor rush | Modi-Carney talks signal fresh start as India, Canada push to revive trade pact and strategic partnership | IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after projectile fire toward Northern Israel; 31 killed | Israeli airstrikes hit Tehran’s Gandhi Hospital amid Middle East conflict | 'Historic leadership': Netanyahu praises Trump as US–Israel launch Operation Lion’s Roar on Iran | 'Lay down arms or face death': Trump's ultimatum to Iran; US Prez says 'bombs will be dropping everywhere'

After acquittal Akshardham accused pens book on 11 years of travails in jail

| | Apr 10, 2015, at 05:56 pm
Ahmedabad, Apr 10 (IBNS) Mufti Abdul Qayyum, acquitted by the Supreme Court in the 2002 Akshardham temple terror attack last year, has penned a book recounting his personal account of injustice and travails that he faced for 11 years in jail for a crime he had not committed.

The book will be released next week.

Titled 'Gyarah  Saal Salakhon Ke Peeche', the book, as Qayyum says, is the account of a life branded as a terrorist without evidence.  "This book is not just for the Muslims, it is for the most oppressed class of the country. If through my book, even one person is spared from state sponsored excesses then I will be happy that I have achieved something,"  Qayyum told NDTV.

He was 29 at the time of arrest in 2003 - a year after the attack on the Akshardham temple.

Police claimed to have recovered a letter written by Qayyum from the possession of  two terrorists, who were killed in the gun battle with security forces.

A lower court in Gujarat later convicted Qayyum and two others, sentencing them to death.  But on May 17 last year, the top court acquitted him of all the charges.

When Qayyum, now 40, was arrested his son was barely ten months old. All the 11 years he was in jail his wife struggled hard to run the family bearing the stigma of being a "terrorist's wife."

"As my son grew older, his only constant question was about his father. Every day before going to school he would always ask; when will father come home. Every moment was filled with pain,"  Qayyum's wife told NDTV.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.