Transcription
[Praise] [Music] [Praise] [Music] Welcome to Bombay Press. Today, we are with Shabnam Sheikh Madam. You must have often seen her helping everyone, haven't you? You must have seen that if someone is wronged, she has exposed it. Today, we are at her office. We specifically want to know why you are seen so less these days. Earlier, you were everywhere. Every person would look for when they could open your page and see Shabnam Madam. Shabnam Madam doesn't need anyone's recognition because she has done so much work, countless things, and hasn't even told people what she's done. Today, we've come to ask her some questions about the many problems in Mumbai today. Issues like drugs, children taking drugs, and unmet needs. First of all, welcome to Bombay Press. What would you say?
Salam Walekum, Jai Hind, friends. Thank you so much, Masood bhai. You have praised me so much that I have to think before speaking; that was such a long introduction. Thank you, Masood. Thank you very much. The reason I'm seen less is that when I used to appear a lot, I would have five live videos a day, sometimes ten. At that time, the court, our court, still functions the same way today. But, what shines brightly fades quickly. I was shining so much that I had to quiet down. My office had more crowds than a police station. How can one bear that? I constantly received calls from police officers. It felt like all the city's problems came to me for help. There were more crowds than the police station could handle. This was unbearable. Because of this, the police couldn't do their best. Someone asked me, and I'll start with that question. Someone asked me how long my experience has been. "When I was 18, I started this foundation. Almost 20 years ago. In 20 years, approximately, I'd say more than this, not less, around 21,000 submissions of cases I've filed. More than 2,000 FIRs made by me. Honestly, I won't categorize myself by saying who is what level of officer, how many FIRs they've made in their life, what they did or didn't do. I don't know. I've done so much work that when a helpless victim doesn't get justice, I become their last voice. And today, my office is the same. You see, it's a weekend, Saturday. The office is very quiet. We arranged a special meeting with Bombay Times, with Bombay Press. And Inshallah, this conversation, this interview, will be very meaningful for people. Regarding appearing less, I'll explain again. After 21,000 submissions, I myself had to face jail. Cases were filed against me, be it 353, POCSO, or even a 385 case. If I have really done any crime, six years have passed, the seventh year will be complete, six years are complete. Why haven't four cases been filed yet? Why hasn't a single complainant come to court? Why? Because all the complainants, all the well-wishers suddenly appeared in society; new social workers. New social workers who felt bad that I obstructed the work of the law. If the police were killing people by putting up wrong blockades, if I objected and asked, "Who gave you the right to kill?" Those live videos are on social media. Yes. If I object, what do people like? They like what is being trolled more. People have understood the curiosity within that. You have the courage to stop at a blockade and ask the officer, "Who gave you the right to kill?" In fact, where's the permission letter for this blockade? You know that permission is required for a blockade. You need the DCP's permission, written permission. Those written permissions that go to the police station as orders for blockades are passed by the DCP. So, you are putting up blockades on your own accord. It's Bakrid day. People are riding triple seat, double seat, without helmets. You have the law in your hands, you're upholding the law, you stop them, they flee. Take the bike number. You beat them with a stick. And you think you are upholding justice, upholding the law? No. You are not upholding the law. Those voices that used to rise, by raising them, today, Alhamdulillah, I have prepared many voices like mine in the city, in society. They do the work seeing me. I'm happy to see that. So, the reason I appear less is that what shines brightly fades quickly. People like that which fades quickly. But see, that's just my view, that’s just my disgrace. I was the same yesterday, I am the same today, and I will be the same tomorrow. No matter how much the guilty try, no matter how much they cover up, create a new drama, file a bogus FIR against someone, okay, where our inefficient officers are involved. Because when there are inefficient officers, baseless cases will be created from where? The agenda is to silence those who are at the forefront of activism, those who are at the forefront of journalism. Journalism has the same problem. You publish a story about someone powerful, or someone powerful from the ruling party, someone powerful by position, that's it. You are a 353, you suddenly abused an officer, something no one heard. You said something to an officer that no one heard, but you have a case. This is basically to silence revolutionaries, to silence the right voices of society. By filing such false complaints, better people are suppressed. I'm not the only victim. If you look for such faces in the country, you'll find many who have done good work and faced jail.
I have one more question. Today's youth have become addicted to drugs, and the drug trade is flourishing. What would you say about this, Masood?
This is a very big issue. I will continue with one point again, because I'm seen less. We were three best friends. We grew up together since childhood. I am the only one alive; both of them are dead, and both died because of drugs. Until 2013-14, we had a name, probably no one in Bombay would have such a name. And I detoxed myself. Thanks to Dr. Y.A. Matchiswala, he treated me, he really helped me recover. I stood on my feet again. It took me four or five years to recover my health. I am speaking for the first time on any channel that I was addicted, I was damn addicted. We used to score 10 grams of cocaine a day, all three friends. We were in competition because we earned well. The three of us had financially sound families. We had a passion for cars, food, drink, everything beyond limits. I quit in 2014. My grandfather passed away; for me, that was the biggest trauma. I felt that if I hadn't fainted that day, maybe I would have taken him to the hospital on time when he had a paralytic attack. Then he faced those traumas for two months, then he passed away. For me, it became a curse that my grandfather passed away because of me. I gave up that date, but my two friends didn't. One left me in 2018, one in 2024. And trust me, those who sell drugs think it is work. They think it's work that's going on. The police who allow them to do this work, they think it's work, like a panwala selling pan, a drug seller selling drugs. You know how many complaints I make about drugs? After I quit drugs, I launched a big drive in Mumbai. We arrested cocaine and MD users. You may have seen my news, my live videos, because Masood bhai is my old friend. I only found out today. I ran such a drive that I almost swept it clean. SS Branch and thank you to Rakesh Maria sir at that time. Rakesh Maria sir was there, Rakesh. He gave me proper cover from ED, Enforcement Directorate. There was a club like a royalty club where I learned all this. Yes, it was Sohail Khan's club in Bandra itself. I got these things for the first time from there. My goal became to shut down those clubs where these things are easily sold, the areas where we went, from where our sources got the items from. We shut down all those things. In fact, when I got them arrested, I faced so many assaults. The expenses incurred by the drug mafia, in fact, the money they gave to avoid getting beaten up by the police, they were demanding that money from me because of me they faced it. The moral of the story is what? I'm talking about 2014. We're in 2025. Even after 11 years, the drug business is flourishing openly in Mumbai. What is the reason behind it? I filed complaints here. Entire Bandra East, Bandra West, and many areas where the Muslim population is high. I'll make a point to remark that basically, I don't understand, especially where the Muslim locality is high, below the poverty level. Talk about Gawandi, talk about Bandra Patel Nagar. Now, even in Bandra East, there's something called Papdi, our Andheri Dongri is famous, our Dongri is famous, Antop Hill, Wadala, Sumer is famous, Mumbai is famous, your Lallu Bhai Compound is famous. Here you see the majority is what? The majority is the Muslim population. This is basically a conspiracy to hold our community back. Why does the police support the drug mafia to run their business in those areas where the Muslim population is high? Are Muslims being targeted? This must be understood by our community's children. No one from above, Allah will not come and tell us to do this or not to do this. Life is a test, experimental life. Allah has said, whatever you do in this life, you will receive its result in the hereafter. I've heard from knowledgeable people that there's no world after death. There is nothing after life; there is no God, there is no Allah. Then tell me, if there is no Allah, how did Gaza's victory happen? How did Gaza's victory happen? There is Allah, isn't there? Allah is the cause. Allah will answer everything. The Creator is there. We Muslims must remember that we are Muslims. We have faith. Our faith is very strong. We have to control our nafs. Our nafs is our biggest enemy. If Muslims learn to control their nafs, we will win. Our victory is behind; see, in every department, Muslims have excelled. Stop us as much as you want. We have our legs, grab us from behind and pull. We have the strength to lift our feet and move forward. There isn't a single department where our community is not present. But it's a huge curse that our community's children are the most involved in drugs. What would you like to say to our viewers as a final word? Those in the police department who let the drug trade run in their zones, remember one thing: the children are yours too, the children are ours too. It's not necessary that they are Hindu or Muslim; children are children. It's not necessary that children only touch drugs after the age of 18. I have posted videos of 10, 12-year-old children. Whether you liked it or not, thank you very much. This was Shabnam Sheikh with us, who told us to take care of our children and stay away from this addictive substance. Like, share, and subscribe to Bombay Press for fast, fresh news. With Masood Sheikh, Bombay Press.