Pandit Jawaharlal Lal Nehru , the first Prime Minister of India once said that criminals are largely creation of social conditions and therefore, they are required to be treated rather than being punished”. The Tihar Jail has capacity of mere 6,500 inmates and the number of people lodged in this jail exceeds the capacity by 221%. Majority of under trials in Tihar can’t furnish bail bonds due to their poor payment capacity. 75% of the inmates are under trials, majority of them are poor. According to National Crime Bureau Figures, Delhi is positioned at S No 3 among the overcrowded jails of India and are as such placed next to Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In 1995 there were 8500 prisoners in Tihar Jail as against the capacity of 2500 persons. As per NCRB report the jail has the capacity of mere 6,500 inmates and henceforth the capacity of the jail by 221% and resultantly the possibility of hardened criminals spread their influence on the other inmates can’t be ruled out.National Human Rights Commission of India states that unnecessary and unjustified arrests made by the police and slow judicial process causing congestion of under trial prisoners are the main causes of overcrowding in jails.
Two out of three prisoners in India are still undergoing trials, and a quarter of them have been in prison for over a year without being convicted on charges of involvement in any crime because of routine violations of their legal rights, a new report has found. According to the report, tens of thousands of people are trapped in jails because they don’t have access to good lawyers (in some cases any lawyers), or simply because there is not enough infrastructure for them to actually have a court hearing in time.
Besides the problem of overcrowding of prisoners in jails, the prisoners are also subjected to torture and humiliation especially muslims. On November 27, the Counsel for Shahid Yousuf, the son of United Jehad Council (UJC) Chief Syed Salahuddin who is in the high security Tihar Jail produced a ‘blood-stained’ shirt. Tamil Nadu Force is guarding the Jail Cells of Tihar. While confirming it, family members said that Shahid was not only abused but mercilessly thrashed before the Patiala Court alleging that his client was ruthlessly beaten up by Tamil Nadu Force inside Tihar Jail. Dr Bilquies Shah, the wife of senior resistance leader Shabir Shah recently said that Shabir Shah was recently shifted from jail 7 to jail number 1 where “death convicts are lodged” and alleged that in Tihar Jail prisoners are subjected to gross human rights violations. Jail rules are thrown to winds and prisoners are subjected to mental and physical torture. Jail authorities denied the use of credit card to deposit Rs 600 in Shah’s account. There are dozens of families from Kashmir who have stopped sending money to their loved ones.
Dozen of Kashmiri prisoners languish in languish in jails in different parts of India. It is not Only Tihar Jail where kashmiri prisoners are subjected to torture, but almost in every jail kashmiri prisoners are subjected to torture.
On August 31 last year 92017), Nasrullah Khan, 25, and Manzoor Ahmad Khan, 22, of Dewar village in Lolab valley in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district were allegedly abducted by troops of the army’s 27 Rashtriya Rifles. Manzoor said “I can’t walk properly, I can’t work, I can’t eat and I can’t sleep as a normal man – I am still on bed rest in one of my rooms. Not only do I have kidney problems, several of my internal parts are not working properly, and I am begging before my relatives and friends to take care of my five small children, wife and aged mother.
Article 5 of UDHR, states that “ no one shall be subjected to torture inhuman or degrading treatment. In Tihar Jail , the kashmiri inmates are being even deprived of basic rights to survive and no medical treatment is being provided to them and they are not allowed even to meet their relatives. Various jails had become a torture centre where kashmiri inmates are deprived of human contact for months.The modern Indian prison system is a legacy of British colonial rule. Its roots can be traced back to England in the eighteenth century, the time when even the slightest criminal offence was punishable to the extent of death sentence. Today’s prison system is based on Prison act of 1894.
Mary Robinson said, “Today’s Human Rights Violations are the causes of tomorrow’s conflict”. My message here to Government is that it must announce package for prison reformation as part of the National Prison Policy being implemented by the Centre. Government must set up working groups, committee’s and commissions to investigate the issue of prisoners an offer solution. The present legal structure of prisons should be changed, loopholes in Criminal law should be amended. Indian Judiciary must give adequate attention to prison justice system.
(The author a Law student is a freelance writer. His views are personal but not of “Kashmir Horizon”)
