- ‘I hope you will not let my sacrifice go waste’
Minutes before Mohammad Afzal Guru was taken to gallows in New Delhi’s Tihar jail on the morning of February 9, he quickly wrote a letter addressed to his wife asking her “not to regret” his death, “but celebrate it.”
“Life takes its own course, and God looks after everyone. Be brave and truthful, and everything will be fine,” New Delhi-based Outlook magazine quoted Afzal as saying in the letter, the contents of which have been revealed by Tihar jail officials.
On Friday, February 8, a day before his hanging, Outook said, Afzal had dinner with his fellow prisoners who were in the six other cells of Jail No 3 in Tihar jail. All of them were Kashmiri Muslims, and would meet thrice a day for their meals. This had been Afzal’s routine for the eight years he had been kept in isolation as a prisoner on death row.
“This Friday was no different. The men chatted as usual while they ate. There was no special food for dinner and Afzal had little inkling that it would be his last,” the magazine said.
“On a regular day, Afzal and other prisoners would be let out of their cells at 5.30am to offer prayers. On Saturday morning, however, as Afzal walked towards the cemented open space in the compound, the guard informed him that he would have to offer his prayers alone. Afzal turned and walked towards another block. Once he finished his prayers, he was told that his mercy petition had been rejected and that his execution would take place some two hours later.”
Jail authorities say he was very calm and did not say anything at first, the magazine said. Then he asked for a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his wife. Handing it over to jail authorities, he requested them to get it delivered to his wife.
“In his letter, he asked his wife not to regret his death, but celebrate it,” the jail staff say. “Life takes its own course,” his letter to Tabassum went on to say, “Be brave and truthful, and everything will be fine.”
“All of us are feeling very sad,” the magazine quoted a senior jail official as saying. “He was a noble soul. You ask a peon or a senior official; though they may not talk officially but deep down in their heart they are all feeling bad.”
“Afzal, say those who interacted with him, was pleasant to have around. He enjoyed music; the radio was his constant companion. He’d often complain about the lack of non-vegetarian food. In the time he spent there, he read books on philosophy and poetry.
“He read all the four Vedas. He’d say the teachings of Quran and Vedas are no different. They give the same message: of peace and oneness,” says a top prison official.
Meanwhile, according to a New Delhi-based newspaper, Afzal has mentioned about the brief time given to him for writing the letter. “I am about to be hanged. Now, near the gallows, I want to tell you (family members) that I was not given enough time to write a detailed letter. I am thankful that Allah chose me for this sacrifice. And please take care of Tabasum and Galib,” Afzal said in the letter, according to the newspaper. “Remain united and maintain peace with each other. I hope you will not let my sacrifice go waste. May Allah, give you patience to bear my death.”
The letter, written in Urdu, reached Afzal’s home in Sopore in Indian-occupied Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday evening, two days after he was executed. The letter is with the family, which is reluctant to reveal its content for now to avoid further shock. The family has however decided to disclose the contents to media “after some time.”
Afzal had met Tabassum, his elder brother Aijaz Guru and father-in-law in November last year in Tihar jail. It was a routine visit – the family was not aware that Afzal was going to be hanged soon – after which he did not talk to or meet anyone in his family. His state of mind in the last months of life is largely unknown.
However, according to SAR Geelani, Delhi University Professor who was co-accused in the parliament attack case, Afzal was disappointed after the J&K government refused to lodge him to Central Jail Srinagar.
“I used to visit him regularly in jail and went there last in January,” Geelani told the Indian Express. “Afzal was a little upset that day. He had filed a petition for transfer to Srinagar jail a long time ago. But the Jammu and Kashmir government turned down his request. That day, Afzal showed me a letter he had received from the Delhi government saying that J&K had refused to keep him in a prison there. We spoke for a long time that day.”
