The Qadian Diary — Page 32
Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad 32 arrived at our destination and we nodded in assent. It seemed as though news of our arrest had gotten around. Soon after our arrival, we were presented before the chief jailor. His name was Seva Singh and he was from Pindi. His family had suffered greatly during the recent disturbances, and he took a disliking towards us from the outset. We stood before him straight and upright. Our lack of timidity angered him and he asked us if we knew who he was. We said yes. At this he ordered us to be thrown into solitary confinement. Even though the cell we were placed in was just about large enough for one person, a total of six of us were crammed inside of it, including a man accused of lewd and vulgar crimes. The cell was so small that when we tried to lie down we had to raise our legs up against the walls. We were subjected to a body search but, thankfully, after that we did not suffer any kind of torture. The food we received was abysmal and was little more than uncooked wheat. Owing to this ghastly diet, I came down with a series of stomach cramps, which were so painful, that I collapsed to the floor. My cell mates tried to soothe me as best as they could and shouted out for a doctor. But instead of calling for a medic, our captors shouted back that if anything happened to me they would just throw my body in the gutter. Upon hearing their reply, I felt a sudden upturn in my condition, and soon after I got up off the floor and dusted myself off. It was common practice at the prison, that when prisoners had served their sentence, they were murdered upon their release. The Muslim prisoners eventually informed the relevant officials about what was happening. The chief jailor was warned against this and told that all released prisoners should either be taken to the border, or sent away on a refugee convoy. After this the murders stopped. But even still, whenever a prisoner was released they would often