Iftikhar Gilani, acclaimed author of the 2005 bestseller My Days in Prison, and a journalist with this newspaper, spent eight months behind bars at Tihar Jail in 2002 on charges of spying for Pakistan. He spoke about experience as a member of one of the teams competing at the Tihar cricket tournament.
Of the eight prisons of Tihar Jail, Jail Number Three held the distinction of housing good cricket players, including some Kashmiris like Gilani.
Gilani reminisced about how the quest for victory was in part due to the treat given to winners — a range of special food, like milk, butter, and the best quality bread available. Jail Number Three had all but won, reaching the finals, when a major shake-up happened:
“The team skipper, who was accused in a robbery case, was acquitted by the court, despite him earnestly wishing for a conviction for the crime only so that he could win the tournament,” Gilani recounted. The team ended up losing the final match.
“The same prisoners, who had so far been pampered till the semi-final, were punished for the final loss with confinement in the high-security Kasoori Jail,” remembers Gilani.
