A Dalit prisoner vents his anguish over politicians “using” his community for votes. An undertrial inmate writes that the jail “transformed” him in such a way that no educational institute could ever do. A prisoner implicated in a chit fund scam urges people to introspect on their greed too.
These are snippets from pieces penned by these inmates from various Jharkhand jails, which are part of a booklet published, for the first time, by the state government.
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The booklet titled, “Sarhul: Creative Expression of Prisoners of Jharkhand”, is a compilation of articles, sketches and poems penned by more than two dozen prisoners lodged in 30 jails across the state.
The booklet opens with a poem by a Dumka Jail prisoner Asha Mishra, expressing a pessimistic view of the country’s criminal justice system. She writes, “Kanoon ke pinjre mein lachar parinda hai. Kya raah dikhayega…kanoon to andha hai. Lachar jahan jaaye…har aur andhera hai…Nirdosh ke gardan par faansi ka fanda hai (There is a powerless bird in the cage of law, what road will it show…the law is blind. Wherever the powerless goes…there is darkness all around…a noose is dangling over the heads of innocents.”
A Dalit inmate serving life imprisonment, Subhash Chandr Bauri, in his poem, “Dalit se Karne Parichit (An acquaintance with Dalits)”, highlights how politicians take advantage of his community. Referring to the trend of leaders visiting Dalits’ homes and eating with them for “optics”, it raises various points relating to the Dalit identity and the community’s accomplishments.
Praising the booklet, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said, “This initiative identify the prisoners from the creativity and artistic point of view and make the outside world aware of their good feelings…This is a matter of happiness.”
The initiative for the booklet was taken by Jharkhand IG, Prisons, Manoj Kumar, who said, “Initially only criminals were supposed to be punished and from ‘hating criminals to hating the crime’, criminals justice has travelled a long distance. Now the prison is also about reformation and publishing the booklet is a step in that direction,” he said.
Kumar said it was a “conscious move” to let prisoners vent their grievances for the sake of their mental health, adding the public at large also need to be aware of their views. He said such a compilation will be brought out now after every six months.
In his piece, an undertrial prisoner Kamal Kumar Singh, currently lodged in Khunti Jail after being implicated in a multi-crore chit fund scam, recalls his job as a government employee before his fall in “pursuit of success”. He, however, underlines that the people also gave him money as they were also greedy.
Another prisoner Sukhdev Mahato, lodged in Saraikela Jail, states he used to imagine that prisons were inhabited only by “bad people” amid an atmosphere of oppression. He admits he was proved wrong when he found a library, hospital and school for inmates inside a prison. He also notes that all prisoners are not “professional criminals”.
“Yahan aakar mere andar kaafi saare badlaav aaye…is safar mein main kuch sikha hoon, shayad main bahar kitni bhi degrees haasil kar leta paratnu jo anubhav mujhe jail mein mila hai wo bahar kisi sikchanik sthan mein nahi hota (Here there have been so many changes in my life…I learnt so many things in this journey, and I would not have got such an experience and learning from any educational institute outside),” Mahato writes.