Inspired by Gandhi and ‘Lago Raho Munnabhai’, prisoner confesses to crime
Movies sometimes have a strange impact on you and in this case, it has worked out something that even the jails could not. All it took for prisoner Laxman Tikaram Gole to see ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ and leaf through Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, ‘My experiments with truth’ to admit to his crimes.
The Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal (BSM) has been conducting a Gandhi Peace Examination - which tests the examinee’s knowledge on Gandhi and his works - for jail inmates across the state for the past five years. It also organised special screenings of the super-hit Bollywood movie in six major jails in the state last year. The BMS, which had sent him a copy of Gandhi’s famous book, now proudly refers to Gole as its ‘Brand Ambassador’ in the Nashik Central Prison in Maharashtra. After reading the book, Gole became a changed person.
He wrote to the special metropolitan magistrate, Vikhroli confessing to his crime in the only case pending against him. Gole had 19 minor and major cases slapped against him by Mumbai Police over the past few years. However, he was declared innocent in 18 cases. Gole made a simple handwritten plea in June 2007 that all court proceedings in the matter be stopped since he did not wish to waste the government’s time.
The magistrate, taken aback by this unusual plea, finally awarded him two sentences of two years’ jail term. All that was in August last year. Having already spent 18 months in prison as an undertrial, Gole will walk out a free man in February. “Because of him, scores of prisoners from across the country are demanding Gandhiji’s books, especially the autobiography,” says BSM trustee TRK Somaiya.
Article from DNA India