Here is the Video that so pungently describes India’s Strings of Dirt and makes us stop. And think. Are we doing enough for Umar Khalid and the likes of him confined and chained? It is a wakeup call to you and to me, to also the media houses who have shut their eyes and ears to the reality that confronts us all.

If you have already seen this video, then watch it again.
If you haven’t, then watch it to Understand #UmarKhalid better.

मैल की बत्ती और उमर… #1000DaysOfInjustice

Part – 1 pic.twitter.com/FDMBbjR6hF

— Darab Farooqui (@darab_farooqui) June 9, 2023

“उमर खालिद जो नफ़रत के बदले प्यार की बात करता था वो जेल में है। लेकिन गोली चलाने वाला रामभक्त गोपाल बाहर है, भड़काऊ भाषण देने वाला कपिल मिश्रा बाहर है।”

दिल्ली दंगों का सच जानने के लिए देखिए @ShyamMeeraSingh की वीडियो: https://t.co/zJqKrlT6yw#1000DaysOfInjustice pic.twitter.com/YrqwxtHPDN

— Free Umar Khalid (@FreeUmarKhalid1) June 9, 2023

Here is another social media tweet from yesterday #ShyamMeeraSingh #1000DaysofInjustice

“उमर खालिद जो नफ़रत के बदले प्यार की बात करता था वो जेल में है। लेकिन गोली चलाने वाला रामभक्त गोपाल बाहर है, भड़काऊ भाषण देने वाला कपिल मिश्रा बाहर है।” दिल्ली दंगों का सच जानने के लिए देखिए @ShyamMeeraSingh की वीडियो:

Caravan Magazine put it presciently

Today, #UmarKhalid completes 1000 days in prison over a case connected to the 2020 Delhi riots.

From 2022, how Khalid’s trial can set a precedent for the treatment of all terrorism and sedition cases and for the state’s strategy to deal with dissent: https://t.co/8ZJmgxvSqW

— The Caravan (@thecaravanindia) June 9, 2023

Today, #UmarKhalid completes 1000 days in prison over a case connected to the 2020 Delhi riots. From 2022, how Khalid’s trial can set a precedent for the treatment of all terrorism and sedition cases and for the state’s strategy to deal with dissent:

On Friday June 9 afternoon, the courtyard of the Press Club was crowded with a solidarity group, packed as journalists, students, activists and academicians gathered to hear panelists talk as they marked 1,000 days of Khalid’s incarceration. The speakers included journalist Ravish Kumar and senior economist Prabhat Patnaik.Supreme Court advocate Shahrukh Alam, who spoke at the event, noted that the Station House Officer, instead of invoking sections of the law, had used the authority of his office to order the cancellation of the event. “There is no legal basis for such a request,” said Alam. She added: “We are not thinking in terms of constitutional and civil liberties. We are operating in terms of law and order and national security.”

Senior journalist Ravish Kumar on his You Tube channel has hostel this episode especially on the injustice behind Umar Khalid’s arrest and long incarceration. The venue for the event had to be changed at the last minute: around 9 pm on Thursday, Delhi-based activist Nadeem Khan shared a poster with journalists on WhatsApp asking them to attend an event marking 1,000 days of the incarceration of activist Umar Khalid. Khalid has been behind bars since September 13, 2020, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, for his alleged involvement in the Delhi riots earlier that year.

The poster titled “Democracy, Dissent and Censorship: A Discussion by Concerned Citizens” said the event was scheduled for 3 pm on Friday. The venue: the Press Club of India at Raisina Road in New Delhi. Earlier the venue was Gandhi Peace Foundation at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg near ITO in the national capital. The poster, too, had a slightly different title: “Dissent Under Trial: 1000 days of Injustice”.But on Thursday, the IP Estates Police Station wrote to the office-bearers of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, a charitable trust, telling them to cancel the booking for the event, according to a copy of the letter accessed by Scroll.

This is the latest of efforts in the capital for the Delhi police that falls under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to restrict dissenting opinion and permissions in public spaces.

Related:

Delhi court rejects application to handcuff Umar Khalid & Khalid Saifi

Umar Khalid’s speech prima facie not acceptable, obnoxious: Delhi HC

Protest was secular, chargesheet is communal: Dr. Umar Khalid’s counsel

Umar Khalid bail hearing: Counsel points out “cooked up” witnesses

Chargesheet against me looks like a film script: Umar Khalid to court

The post Umar who spoke of love & justice is in jail for 1,000 days, hate mongers roam free #1000 Days of Injustice appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Acknowledging the hordes of undertrials still in jails, the Supreme Court on July 11, 2022 directed the Government of India to consider introducing a Bail Act to streamline the grant of bail.

A Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh said, “Bail applications ought to be disposed of within a period of two weeks except if the provisions mandate otherwise, with the exception being an intervening application. Applications for anticipatory bail are expected to be disposed of within a period of six weeks with the exception of any intervening application.”

Accordingly, the court directed all state governments, union territories and high courts to file affidavits/ status reports within four months. The landmark judgement was taken during the Satender Kumar Antil vs. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case.

The court observed that jails in India are flooded with undertrial prisoners. As per data received by the court, more than two-third of prison inmates constitute undertrial prisoners. Further, the court said that most of these prisoners may not require arrests despite registration of a cognizable offense, charges punishable for seven years or less. Further, it noted that many prisoners were poor, illiterate and women.

This includes cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe and many others who have been put behind bars for an alleged role in the Elgar Parishad Bhima Koregaon case. In May 2022, Gorkhe went on a hunger strike to protest his inhuman treatment in jail. Gorkhe wrote to then Maharashtra Home Minister about how the Taloja jail authorities denied him medical treatment, telephone services and ignored the lack of water, facilities for visitors among other things.

“There is a culture of offense being inherited by many of them. As observed by this Court, it certainly exhibits the mindset, a vestige of colonial India, on the part of the Investigating Agency, notwithstanding the fact arrest is a draconian measure resulting in curtailment of liberty, and thus to be used sparingly. In a democracy, there can never be an impression that it is a police State as both are conceptually opposite to each other,” said the Court.

Bail is the rule

The Bench said that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, as recognised by Article 21 of the Constitution. The innocence of an accused is presumed while the prosecution has to prove the guilt of the person. As such, the concerned agency has a duty to warrant the need for an arrest and denial of enlargement on bail.

This presumption of innocence is seen as a cardinal principle of law in Article 14 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 and Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“It has been the consistent stand of the courts, including this Court, that presumption of innocence, being a facet of Article 21, shall inure to the benefit of the accused… The weightage of the evidence has to be assessed on the principle of beyond reasonable doubt,” said the court.

Role of the court

The top court said that the “abysmally low” rate of conviction in criminal cases in India negatively influences courts’ decisions on bail applications. The Bench said that bail hearings are often decided strictly and contrary to legal principles because courts think that a conviction is more of a rarity.

“We cannot mix up consideration of a bail application, which is not punitive in nature, with that of a possible adjudication by way of trial. On the contrary, an ultimate acquittal with continued custody would be a case of grave injustice,” said the order.

Therefore, the court directed investigating agencies and their officers to comply with Section 41 and 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that deals with the arrest of persons.

“The courts will have to satisfy themselves on the compliance of Section 41 and 41A of the Code. Any non-compliance would entitle the accused for grant of bail,” said the apex court.

Further, all state governments and UTs will facilitate standing orders for the procedure under the sections while taking note of the February 7, 2018 Delhi High Court order among other orders. However, there need not be any insistence of a bail when the application comes under Sections 88, 170, 204 and 209.

“State and central governments will have to comply with the directions issued by this Court from time to time with respect to the constitution of special courts. The High Court in consultation with state governments will have to undertake an exercise on the need for special courts,” said the court.

Further, high courts are directed to find out undertrial prisoners who are not able to comply with the bail conditions and take appropriate action under Section 440, facilitating the release. Similarly, while insisting upon sureties the mandate of Section 440 of the Code has to be kept in mind.

The Supreme Court also called for a strict compliance of the mandate laid down in the judgment of the court in Siddharth (supra).  It also called for compliance with the mandate of Section 436A both at the district judiciary level and the high court as earlier directed in Bhim Singh (supra).

The entire judgment may be read here:

Related:

Bhima Koregaon: Accused Sagar Gorkhe goes on hunger strike against jail authorities
GN Saibaba to go on hunger strike to protest being placed under CCTV surveillance
Sharjeel Imam claims he was assaulted, called “terrorist” in jail
Speech in bad taste, not a terrorist act: Delhi HC On Umar Khalid’s Amravati Speech

The post Bail over jail: SC says bail pleas to be disposed of within two weeks appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Gulfisha Fatima, the student activist who has been in custody since February in the Delhi riots case has alleged mental harassment by jail authorities. She made these submissions before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat when she was produced through video conferencing during the hearing of the case.

LiveLaw reported that after Fatima made her submissions directly to the court, the judge asked her lawyer, Mehmood Pracha, to file an application regarding this. “I have a problem in jail. Ever since I was brought here I have been constantly facing discrimination by the jail staff. They called me educated terrorist and are hurling communal slurs at me. I am facing mental harassment here. If I hurt myself, only jail authorities will be responsible for it,” she alleged.

She has been lodged in the Tihar jail since February and has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as well as several sections of the Indian Penal Code. The court has directed that the accused be handed over a copy of the chargesheet filed by the police, and has kept the matter for further hearing on October 3.

In the chargesheet, which discusses the conspiracy behind the Delhi riots, the police has claimed that “on January 8, Tahir Hussain had met Umar Khalid and Khalid Sai at Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest. Meetings subsequently also took place in the PFI oce in Jamia nagar where Khalid Sai instigated Tahir.”

“WhatsApp groups were used by conspirators for violence in Seelampur Jafrabad area. There were 25 protest sites. 25 WhatsApp groups were especially created for each. The impression was given that they were anti-CAA protest groups but through these sites conspirators were being guided,” said the police.

Related:

More activists named in riots case: Delhi Police getting desperate?
100 days and counting, free Gulfisha Fatima: Activists
Delhi Violence case: Court reprimands police for failure to get video footage

The post If I hurt myself, only jail authorities will be responsible: Gulfisha Fatima appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi, who has been hounded by a right-wing proto-fascist regime and held behind bars after being implicated in a series of cases based on trumped-up charges, has reportedly gone on an indefinite hunger strike.

According to literary critic and social scientist Dr. Hiren Gohain, who is also the President of Coordination Committee of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) organizations, “Peasant leader Akhil Gogoi and three of his associates have gone on indefinite fast at Central Jail, Guwahati, in protest against primitive living conditions in jail and inhuman treatment of inmates. Poor inedible food, unhygienic housing and bedding, awful toilets, terrible congestion that turns social distancing into a farce, scornful neglect of illnesses suffered by inmates turn prison into hell. This is in complete defiance not only of modern ideas of prison management but also rules of old jail manuals.”

Gogoi and his fellow activists Dhaijya Konwar and Bittu Sonowal have been incarcerated under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) since December 2019. Earlier this month, KMSS leaders had condemned the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) effort to establish that they were guided by a Maoist ideology. They said that the chargesheet made against the KMSS leaders had no basis and only attributed charges based on books read and words like ‘Laal Salaam’ and ‘Comrade’ being used by them.

Dr. Gohain also told SabrangIndia, “Akhil has been behind bars for seven months as he is detained under one charge after another in spite of being granted bail in every case. The moment bail is granted in one case the police arrest him on yet another vacuous and trumped-up case. It is an open secret that he was among those whose role turned the anti-CAA movement into a vast surging tide of popular protest and resistance that rocked the BJP government in the state. One prominent demand of the opposition today, made through statements, protest-meetings and rallies, is to release Akhil and other political prisoners.”

Related:

No Maoist links, NIA trying to smear anti-CAA agitation: KMSS
Gogoi, other KMSS leaders taken for voice sample test
Gauhati HC denies default bail to Akhil Gogoi in UAPA case, as NIA investigation pending

The post Akhil Gogoi goes on indefinite hunger strike in Assam appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Soni Sori

Data
According to the report, women inmates are more densely packed in Chhattisgarh state  than any other state in the country as per 2017 data compiled by NCRB with a staggering 166.4% occupancy rate. (“Chhattisgarh Prisons – Most Overcrowded for Women Inmates , 23 States and UTs Don’t Have Women-Only Jails”, Suhas Munshi, updated October 22 2019, News18.com).

It is followed by Uttarakhand with an occupancy rate of 155.3%. In terms of women-only jails, the most overcrowded jails were in West Bengal with an occupancy rate of 142.04 per cent followed by the state of Maharashtra with 119.85%.

Another astounding data emerged from the report is that of the total number of women inmates in the country in 2017, which stood at 18,873, only 16% (3,019) were lodged in women jails. Around 84% ( 15,854) were lodged in other type of jails. Jharkhand (99.64%), Bihar (96.29%) and Maharashtra (94.49%) were among the highest with female inmates in other jails except women jails.

Depressing situation
This reflects the pathetic treatment of women in prisons. Not only they have to endure long terms of sentences, they have also to follow horrible living conditions. The women who were incarcerated  like Soni Sori wrote extensively on the unbearable and depressing situation in prisons.

Cyber crimes
The latest report published after one year’s delay, has presented some new data. Report includes cyberstalking and cyberbullying of women. A total of 555 cases relating to the crimes have been registered across India in 2017 with Maharashtra registering most cases -301- among the states. (“Cyber crimes against women to sexual abuse of boys: What new data in NCRB 2017 covers”, by Geetika Mantri and  Sanyukta Dharmadhikari, October 25 2019, thenewsminute.com). The cyber crimes against children has also been  presented in the report.

Reforms
There is a need to reflect upon the grim and tragic situation and initiate speedy prison reforms specially in case of women inmates. Many prisons have no adequate medical and non-medical women staff to look after them in emergency situation.

According to NCRB data of 2014, 55 female inmates died within prison premises during 2012 of which 47 were reported as ‘natural deaths’ and five as ‘suicides’ and three as a result of  ‘assault by outsiders’ (“Women jails exiguous in the country: female staff minimal”, by Press Trust of India, published September 7 2014, indianexpress.com). Even some women are made to involve in clerical work in jails. They are also forced to clean up toilets and rooms used by men.

Most of the inmates are undertrials and are imprisoned under false charges. They have to bear male oppression and abuse. They are made to bear patriarchal practices with jail staff humiliating them.

The worsening situation should be addressed urgently. Activists involved in civil rights and rights of prisoners should take concrete steps in improving the condition of women prisoners.

—
*The writer from anywhere and everywhere is interested in human rights

Courtesy: https://counterview.org/
 

The post Pathetic treatment of women prisoners, who endure long terms of sentences, horrible living conditions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Since 2014, murder convict Deepak Lalaprasad, 33, has been living in an open prison in Udaipur, having conducted himself well for 10 years in a conventional prison. One of 24 inmates at the open prison, Deepak now runs a stall near the Udaipur central bus depot. As many as 1,127 prisoners in 29 open jails in Rajasthan work as accountants, school teachers, domestic help and security guards.

Casual passersby or customers could never guess that these two men were convicts serving life sentences under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code of 1860–for murder.

Since 2014, Kalu and Deepak have been living in an open prison in Udaipur, having conducted themselves well for 10 years in conventional prisons. Inmates at this prison are permitted to stay with their families and go out during the day to earn a living. As many as 1,127 prisoners in 29 open jails in Rajasthan work as accountants, school teachers, domestic help and security guards, even those serving time for murder.

Prisoners’ rooms at the Udaipur open prison. Inmates at this prison are permitted to stay with their families and go out during the day to earn a living.

Not only do these prisons present an early opportunity for prisoners’ reform and rehabilitation back into society, they also cost less in terms of money and staff, a 2017 report on Rajasthan’s open prisons said, based on which the Supreme Court in May 2018 ordered state governments to fully utilise and expand the capacity of open prisons as well as set up more open prisons.

Why open prisons
Conceptually, open prisons were developed to rehabilitate prisoners who had almost completed their sentence. In the earliest open prisons developed in the U.S. in the 19th century, prisoners nearing release were sent to work as labourers to evaluate their behaviour. In India, the earliest open prison established in 1953 in Uttar Pradesh housed prisoners who were requisitioned to construct a dam over the river Chandraprabha, near Varanasi.

It was in Rajasthan’s first open prison–a farm set up in Durgapura near Jaipur in 1955–that prisoners were first allowed to stay with their families and work on the farm or nearby.

In December 2017, the Supreme Court asked states to establish an open prison in each district based on a 2017 report that detailed the success of Rajasthan’s open jail system. It followed up this suggestion with an order on May 8, 2018, asking states to “try and utilise the capacity of these open prisons”–which number 63 and have a capacity of 5,370, but have 30% seats unutilised–adding that states should consider increasing the capacity of existing open prisons and “seriously consider the feasibility of establishing open prisons in as many locations as possible”.

In creating open prisons where the rehabilitation of prisoners could start from the day they are incarcerated, instead of after they have served the greater part of their sentence, India would not become any less safe, the report mentioned above showed.

Commissioned by the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority and released on National Law Day–November 26–in 2017, the report showed that open prisons “reduce the burden on the exchequer”, “reduce overcrowding in prisons” and “strengthen the social fabric by mainstreaming estranged individuals who are in conflict with the law”, to quote Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri, executive chairperson of the authority, who commissioned the report. He is now the chief justice of the Odisha High Court.

‘Not a threat to society’
Consider this scenario: A man’s daughter is raped. The man murders the rapist to avenge the crime. He is put in jail to serve a life sentence. The man is a murderer alright, but to what extent is he a threat to society now that he has no motive to kill?

Very low, according to prison researcher Smita Chakraburtty: “Seeing all prisoners through the same lens doesn’t help use the limited funds available for prisons judiciously.”

Or, consider how Kalu landed up in jail: “I squabbled with a man over a piece of land,” he told IndiaSpend. “I had a piece of wood in my hand, so did the man I murdered, we were beating each other,” said the native of Ghosunda village, in Chittorgarh tehsil of Rajasthan.
In the scuffle, the opponent got hit on the head and died, and Kalu became a murderer. “I hadn’t planned on killing the man,” Kalu said.

Kalu Tulsiram, 35, was imprisoned after a squabble with a man over a piece of land led to the latter’s death. Such accidental or unplanned murderers constituted 57% (244) of the 428 prisoners that researcher Smita Chakraburtty met during her visits to 15 of 29 open prisons in Rajasthan.

Such accidental or unplanned murderers constituted 57% (244) of the 428 prisoners Chakraburtty met during her visits to 15 of 29 open prisons in Rajasthan. She spoke to 90% of the inmates, except those out on work during her visit, so the 57% figure is fairly representative. Eighty-one percent (347 of 428) of the prisoners were also first-time offenders, with no previous police record.

This situation is mirrored in prisons across the country. Habitual offenders or ‘recidivists’ accounted for 3% of the 186,566 convicts admitted in prisons across the country during 2015, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) prison statistics for that year.

“Repeat offenders are the ones with real ‘criminal minds’, who pose a threat to society and hence must be kept in closed jails, but they are also the ones who need reform and rehabilitation the most,” Udaipur Central Jail superintendent Surendra Singh told IndiaSpend.

“Repeat offenders are the ones with real ‘criminal minds’, who pose a threat to society and hence must be kept in closed jails,” Udaipur Central Jail superintendent Surendra Singh said. Habitual offenders or ‘recidivists’ accounted for 3% of the 186,566 convicts admitted in prisons across the country during 2015, government data show.

Often, people are incarcerated merely due to lack of awareness of the law, Chakraburtty said, citing as an example people imprisoned in Rajasthan for possession of opium. This reflects a lack of understanding of the nature of their offence, she said, “Because their communities have had access to opium since time immemorial, and they have no idea of the prevailing laws.”

The possession of any narcotic is a non-bailable offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985. However, the cultivation of opium is permitted, under license, in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from offenders who are psychopaths or who have performed exceptionally brutal crimes, most prisoners do not need to be removed from society, Chakraburtty said. They need to be watched over, made aware of their crime and rehabilitated.

“Justice is not revenge. It has to work for the victim as much as for the perpetrator,” Chakraburtty said, “If society responds with more violence, the prisoner develops vengeance for society and comes out hardened. If we ignore a prisoner’s need to earn a livelihood for his family, a man could enter the prison as a rapist and leave as a gangster.”

Open jails and prisoner behaviour
At Udaipur’s open air camp for prisoners (open prison for short), a roll-call each morning and evening keeps a count of the prisoners.

Overall, 1 in 45 prisoners in Rajasthan’s open prisons absconded from parole or escaped, while the all-India figure for closed prisons is 1 in 481, as per 2015 prison data. Chakraburtty’s report attributed most of the escapes from open prisons to “problems related to procuring parole and remission”–in other words, due to prisoners’ failure to furnish a bail bond, or due to adverse reports by police personnel willing to err on the side of caution.

“Administrative issues regarding parole are a common problem in prisons across India, and should be addressed,” said R.K. Saxena, former inspector general of prisons, Rajasthan, and the director of the 1982-83 Justice Mulla Committee on Prison Reforms. “Parole is a prisoners’ right, a conditional release and an opportunity for prisoners to assimilate into society.”

The report made several suggestions that would improve parole administration and thereby lower the number of prisoners recorded as having escaped. These are: Reducing the bond amount; encouraging personal bonds instead of requiring guarantors (unless a prisoner misbehaves); considering a prisoner’s behaviour alone based on social welfare department statements instead of police reports for the second parole onwards.

The police, on their part, could be sensitised on the role of open prisons in prisoner reform so that they make unbiased investigation reports when parole applications come up.

“A proactive approach in addressing the rights of prisoners is much needed,” said Ajay Chopra, an artist and social worker who was imprisoned in 2017 on corruption charges but was released on bail after three months. He now campaigns for greater acceptance of open prisons, especially after the Supreme Court’s endorsement. “A positive mindset towards prisoners is essential for prisoner reform,” he said.

Prisoners in Rajasthan’s open prisons have generally conducted themselves well, Chakraburtty told IndiaSpend. “Open jails in Rajasthan are doing something very right,” said Chakraburtty, a leading prison researcher and honorary prison commissioner for the aforementioned report, “Prison authorities have actually had to evict open jail inmates who asked for extensions after they had served their sentence because their children’s exams were approaching or because they were receiving decent medical care as convicts.”

In conversation with IndiaSpend, Kalu and Deepak, who are among 24 prisoners currently lodged in the Udaipur open prison, emphasised that a life of crime was far from their minds.

“Hotel business” is how Kalu described his tea stall work, something he said he wanted to continue doing after he was freed.

“I’d like to live in peace and work,” said Deepak about his plans after his prison term.

Segmenting by threat level
Rajasthan’s open prison system is considered a best practice in prisoners’ welfare and rehabilitation in the NCRB’s 2015 prison statistics. It has been acclaimed for “facilitating social adjustment and financial independence” of prisoners before their final release. Eligibility typically extends to “prisoners who have completed their one third part of total sentence and whose conduct in the jail was found good”, subject to the “recommendation of the committee formed by the State government,” the compilation notes.

Chakraburtty has proposed expanding the open prison network across the country to make it the norm instead of the exception, particularly for female prisoners; aged and physically infirm prisoners; people convicted for one-time offences, accidental offences, petty offences and those categorised as low risk for not showing any violent trait in prison; accused persons who surrendered; and prisoners undergoing extradition requests.

While the existing system provides for only convicted prisoners to be kept in open prisons, Chakraburtty has also recommended extending the facility to undertrials–who account for two in three people in prison in India today–to significantly lower overcrowding and inhuman living conditions in prisons.

But not everyone agrees with this idea.

“A person is denied bail and sent to judicial custody only when a magistrate has applied his mind and assessed that if not incarcerated, the evidence may be tampered [with] or investigation hampered, or there is a flight risk, thus disabling the trial process,” said Sugandha Mathur, senior programme officer for the prison reforms programme at the Delhi-based advocacy, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. “If none of these reasons exist, an accused should be released on bail to uphold their right to liberty,” she said, implying that basically, if the circumstances warrant bail, the undertrial should be freed, and if not, the prisoner should be put behind bars and not in an open prison.

Mathur is a member of the sub-committee convened by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in February 2018 to draft the Model Uniform Rules for the Administration of Open Correctional Institutions.

Economic sense, societal benefit
India has 63 open jails with a capacity of 5,370, enough to house 1.28% of the 419,623 prisoners across the country. However, 30% of their seats are unutilised, the Hindustan Times reported on December 12, 2017.

While Rajasthan tops with 29 open prisons, Maharashtra has 13, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have three each, and Gujarat and West Bengal have two each, according to Prison Statistics 2015.

The Rajasthan report advocated opening two open prisons per district because they are better suited to prisoner reform and pose less of a financial burden on the state. By comparing monthly spending on prisoners, it showed that Jaipur’s Central Jail was 14 times as expensive as its open prison in Sanganer town.

The report also recommended making legal aid and health services available to open prisoners and helping them get gainful employment by negotiating working hours with potential employers to facilitate their timely return to the camp. Keeping prisoners in their home district and improving the remuneration for those employed on state farms and facilities were some other recommendations.

“You can’t put people in prison and expect them to come out as Gandhi after seven (or however many) years unless the system is conducive to reform, which the existing closed prison system isn’t by any measure,” Chakraburtty told IndiaSpend, adding, “Open prisons should become the norm, the prisons of the future.”

Why prison reform is needed urgently
The fact remains that overcrowding is a pressing issue involving the “violation of human rights”, to quote the Supreme Court.

In 2015, the prison occupancy rate exceeded 200% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli (276.7%), Chhattisgarh (233.9%) and Delhi (226.9%), according to NCRB data. Prisons in another 13 states were full beyond capacity.

Source: Prison Statistics 2015, National Crime Records Bureau
In a recent TEDx talk, Chakraburtty, who has interacted with 30,070 prisoners lodged in closed jails in Bihar, described prisons so overcrowded that inmates tied themselves to the bars to sleep because there was no space to lie down.

Adopting the concept of open prisons–or “semi-open prisons” where eligible convicts could be allowed to work within the jail premises during the day, or in a factory after making special arrangements for their secured transport, which Mathur proposed–would free up scarce resources, in terms of funds as well as staff.

The Jaipur Central Jail spends 14 times as much as the Sanganer open prison–Rs 7,094 as against Rs 500–on each prisoner each month, Chakraburtty’s report said.

In the Sanganer open prison, Rajasthan’s largest with a capacity of 400, one staff-person manages 80 prisoners while in Jaipur Central Jail, one manages six prisoners (the recommended number is one staff for four prisoners), Chakraburtty recorded.
Staff shortages are a reality across prisons. In Rajasthan, of the 4,426 sanctioned jail department staff positions, nearly half or 2,129 are vacant.

“We’re managing roughly 1,250 prisoners with 155 guards today, while in the 1970s we had 165 guards to manage 250 prisoners,” said Singh of Udaipur Central Jail.

Staff shortages are a reality across prisons. “We’re managing roughly 1,250 prisoners with 155 guards today, while in the 1970s we had 165 guards to manage 250 prisoners,” said Surendra Singh, superintendent of Udaipur Central Jail.

Having more open jails would enable better management of closed prisons too.

“If only every state could set time guidelines for parole applications to be processed, and make prisoners aware of these rights and actively implement them, possibly fewer prisoners would abscond from parole and make open prisons a stronger proposition in prisoner reform,” Mathur said.

*The prisoners were introduced by their first name and their father’s name, as is prison convention in Rajasthan.

(Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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On Independence Day,, Dhurji Bhai, Vijay Bhai and Santu Bhai leaders of Narmada Bachao Andolan remain in Jail; Waiting for justice

Bachao MP government trying hard to crush the movement by implicating thousands of displaced persons in Kukshi, Dhar and Badwani in many false cases.

• Shivraj and Modi government, maintain stoic silence on the displacement in Narmada valley, status of rehabilitation sites and adverse social and environmental impacts.

Badwani, Madhya Pradesh. August 14, 2017: The day Medha Patkar and others broke their 17 day indefinite fast, Madhya Pradesh police foisted cases of disturbing peace, kidnapping and many other trumped up charges on 55 named and 2,500 unnamed project affected and activists of Narmada Bachao Andolan. Most of the cases are related to the incident on August 7^thwhen 2,000 strong police force violently attacked the fasting protesters, injured 42 and forcibly hospitalised 10 of them in Dhar and Indore Hospitals. This itself speaks volumes of the terror and oppression being unleashed in the Narmada valley today.
 
Medha Patkar, Dhurji Bhai, Vijay Bhai, Santu Bhai have completed five days in different jails of Madhya Pradesh today. All these fabricated cases have been imposed so that movement against the illegal and unjust forced eviction of 40000 families in the Narmada Valley can be crushed. Police vehicles are roaming around the villages all day and is creating fear in the minds of people, however, people stand firm in their villages for their rights. According to the compiled information, FIRs have been registered against 72 people in 9 cases in Barwani, and FIRs have been filed against 94 people in 12 cases in Kukshi, District Dhar. There are also many other serious charges and non-bailable warrants pending. While, the government maintains stoic silence on the demands of the people, the police are busy in naming activists and displaced persons in false cases.
 
Today, the world recognizes the 32 years of non-violent struggle and Satyagraha of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. But the Madhya Pradesh Police, at the behest of the Government is charging them in cases, such as under section 307, accusing them of being involved in murder and kidnapping. This is highly condemnable and can only be termed as actions aimed at hiding the failures of the government. The police should be working to protect the public and implementing the laws, not to suppress the people struggling for the rights. Unfortunately, what we see is the same old tactics of the government, where they have resorted to such tactics to suppress the democratic voice of different movements across the country.
 
Narmada Bachao Andolan condemns such actions of the police and administration. We also want to reiterate that, our movement is non-violent and it is the State and its different bodies which are unleashing violence and terror in the Narmada valley. We consider the attempted submergence of the 40,000 families in the Narmada Valley, also an act of state violence, which will kill many dreams and livelihoods.
 
On the Independence Day, as we greet all the countrymen, we also ask, is this freedom not for people of Narmada Valley ? Is this freedom not for the falsely implicated non-violent movement activists like, Medha Patkar and three others, who are lodged in the prison? Does struggle for rights of people, enable government to take our freedom ? Can we remain quiet, when we see so much repression and inequity in this society ? We can’t. We in Narmada Valley are struggling with these questions today and invite our fellow countrymen and women to join us in struggle for true independence.
 
It is rightly said that, when injustice becomes law, then the struggle becomes duty. We in Narmada Valley believe it’s our duty to continue to fight for the ideals enshrined in the Constitution and for freedom and justice through non-violent means and Satyagraha. Our fight is not only for the Narmada Valley but for the humanity and well being of mother earth. We remain committed to this struggle.
 
On the eve of independence, we also present to you the song we wrote more than two decades ago, which remains relevant even today.
 
We shall fight, we shall win !
 Shyama Behen, Bhagwati Bai, Pushpa Bai, Rahul Yadav, Gendaram Bhai, Bachuram Bhilala, Rohit, Pawan Yadav, Mukesh Bhagoria
 
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
Medha Patkar
When millions are evicted in the name of nation’s development
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
When the forests, the life and culture,
Nurtured for centuries are destroyed forcibly
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
The nature suffering silently, reminds
Wake up the consumerist, or else we perish.
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
The dreams of ‘foreign’ land, remain chained in foreign hands
Without shame, they mortgage the country,
To bring suffering to all.
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
The loot prospers only few,
While millions struggle to survive,
Such distribution is injustice and inequitable.
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
They, who believe, destruction is development,
Are in a trap.
Unfortunately, those who speak the truth face the police and jail.
Can we be proud of such independence?
 
Don’t embrace the song, let the chains clash,
The free people, let us fight for true independence.
Let people ask,
Why they be evicted, always, in the name of nation’s development?
 
When millions are evicted in the name of nation’s development
Can we be proud of such independence?
 

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