My son is Kafil and he is not a terrorist: Salam

 “My name is Khan. And I am not a terrorist.” This is what Shah Rukh said in the movie “My name is Khan” when he was branded a terrorist.

Seventy-five-old Abdul Salam, a distraught and completely devastated man wants to say the same. “My son is Kafil. But he is not a terrorist.”

And he has reasons to say so. His son Kafil Akhtar was picked up by the Karnataka police in the early hours of May 6 from his house on the charge of his link with terrorists held in Chinnaswamy stadium blast case.

The entire operation was carried out so secretly that even the Bihar police had no inkling about what actually happened.

“Early in the morning I was having my daily stroll when three persons on bikes stopped by and asked my name. I told them I am Kafil Akhtar, a farmer of Barh Samaila village under Keoti police station. No sooner had I said this that I found eight persons in plain clothes had surrounded me and were looking for my fifth son Kafil Akhtar,” said Abdul, in his first and exclusive interview to Deccan Herald.

“Since Kafil was sleeping with his newly-wed wife (he was married two years back) and an 18-month-old son in another room, they gate-crashed there and took him under custody. Before we could understand anything they took Kafil along saying they were Karnataka police men and were looking for Kafil in a blast case,” Abdul continued to narrate the incident.

Branding his son a terrorist was a complete shock for the father who insisted that his son, except for once (in 2005), had never been out of Darbhanga. “How can he become a terrorist. He is such a simple man that he did not ask for a new piece of cloth even during his wedding, forget seeking any dowry.” said Abdul.

To buttress his point, Abdul showed the cracks on the muddy wall and plaster coming out of ceiling. “Had Kafil been a terrorist, we would not have led a hand-to-mouth life. We earn less, but we have respect,” Abdul breaks down while narrating his tale of woes.

His elder son Akhil Akhtar, an electrician, who regularly talks to Kafil on phone in Bangalore (through Karnataka police) said that even though Kafil was in custody, the police had not misbehaved or ill-treated his brother. “I feel that the confusion could be because of arrest of Md Kafeel, who is our distant relative and resided here till he was held in the stadium blast case.”