“...And when they put you in that cell, those bars slam home! That’s when you know it’s for real. A whole life blown away, in the blink of an eye. Nothing left, but all the time in the world to think about it…”
Whenever I think of prisons, I am reminded of this immortal quote from the iconic Hollywood film about prison life, indomitable spirit and never dying hope, The Shawshank Redemption.
Closer home, Delhi’s Tihar Jail comes to mind. The largest complex of prisons in South Asia, it is styled as a model correctional institution. In keeping with this ideology, many of the inmates here are allowed to continue their higher education through distance learning and a campus placement programme that was launched in 2011 for the rehabilitation of inmates, who are about to complete their terms. The jail factory instituted in 1961 that expanded its activities over the years allows several vocational activities that teach inmates how to earn a living, when they eventually step out.
Of late though, Tihar Jail has been in news for all the wrong reasons. Besides allegations of rampant corruption, it faces a slew of other challenges regarding the safety of its inmates, overcrowding in cells and poor living conditions. The prison houses a large number of undertrials who are apparently hanging in there, waiting for Godot, just to have their cases get to the sentencing stage.
The jail is replete with instances of mysterious deaths that are routinely passed off as suicides. There has been at least one reported each year in the last 15 years and at times the figure has gone up to four.
Most deaths in the prison complex have been attributed to medical negligence, non-availability of specialist doctors and the lack of properly equipped ambulances. The overcrowding of the cells is another issue Tihar is grappling with. Reports indicate that there are over 14,000 inmates holed up behind those formidable walls against a maximum capacity of 6,250.
The presence of criminal gangs and the ever-increasing instances of full-fledged gang wars inside the prison is frightening. The number of casualties from these bloody skirmishes is increasing rapidly. Over 17 shocking killings have been reported in the last four months. Attacks with blades, knives and improvised weapons have become the order of the day, triggered off by inmates refusing to swear allegiance to a particular gang head. Cases of sodomy and sexual abuse are reported regularly.
So, is this correctional institution that Tihar claims to be actually helping in the reformation process of prisoners who may be first-time offenders? Or even young impressionable people drawn to crime due to unfortunate circumstances? The questions we need to ask are: Whether the violent environment of crime and sexual abuse that prevails inside jail is conducive to reformation? Does the outside world accept and rehabilitate jail-birds into its mainstream? Do the families of the inmates face permanent social stigma and drive these embittered prisoners to commit worse crimes once they are out?
Perhaps, the worst situation is that of the undertrials, who have been languishing in prison waiting for their trials to begin. Almost 75 per cent of the inmates lodged currently in prison are undertrials with their numbers increasing each day. More than half of these unfortunate people have already spent more time in confinement than they would, had they been convicted of their crime.
The heart-breaking truth is that there are many undertrials who languish in jails only because they cannot afford to pay for their bail bonds.
But there is a ray of hope.
Last year, the Director General of Prisons, Delhi, had informed the media that efforts had been initiated to identify those prisoners who have been in detention for more than half their prescribed period of imprisonment. The Delhi Legal Services Authority was going to provide their service free of charge.
Indeed, the change may have begun, but a lot more needs to be done. If compassionate people and dedicated NGOs come together to help those who have been rotting in jails for years awaiting their trials, a step in the right direction shall ensue.
Once again, a quote from The Shawshank Redemption comes to my mind. “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
This essentially salutes the power of hope, for many lodged there, for hope is all they have.
archanadalmia@gmail.com
