B81- Prisons

Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System

From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System https://cms.thewire.in/politics/rights/india-prisons-caste-labour-segregation In several states, prison manuals still dictate that labour within the prison should be assigned on the basis of caste.  everything in prison is decided by a person’s caste. He was able to tell a person’s caste merely by looking at the life they lived in prison. Ajay was a pre-trial detainee, and unlike those convicted, pre-trial detainees are exempted from working in jail. But at the undertrial prison, where convict prisoners were only a handful, detainees like Ajay were called in for free labour.

Caste-based labour, in fact, is sanctioned in the prison manuals of many states. The colonial texts of the late 19th century have barely seen any amendments, and caste-based labour remains an untouched part of these manuals. While every state has its own unique prison manual, they are  mostly based on The Prisons Act, 1894. These jail manuals mention every activity in detail – from the measurement of food and space per prisoner to punishments for the “disorderly ones”.

‘Most Disturbing’, Supreme Court Says of Caste-Discrimination Sanctioned by Prison Manuals

In a significant development, a division bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud indicated it would direct the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to appoint a nodal officer to do away with caste-based discriminatory practices in India’s prisons.

https://thewire.in/caste/most-disturbing-supreme-court-caste-discrimination-prison-manuals-pil 

The court was hearing the public interest litigation filed by The Wire’s Sukanya Shantha, following her investigative work on the state-sanctioned caste-based discrimination and segregation in Indian prisons.

The petition also focusses on the discriminatory provisions specifically targeting the most marginalised Denotified Tribes.

This petition is based on one of the articles from a five-part prison series ‘Barred – The Prisons Project’ produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

Along with the discriminatory practices, the petition also provides a compilation of several testimonies of former and presently incarcerated persons. Wadekar pointed out that regardless of what practices are mentioned in many states, the testimonies give a clearer idea of the practices on the ground.
10/07/2024

'A Solitary Fan': For Kashmiri Prisoners in Overcrowded Tihar, Delhi's Summer Was Brutal Torture

The Kashmiri man has spent several summers in India’s prisons. But this year, he told his daughter, no previous experience compared to the ordeal of living in an overcrowded prison through the summer heat.  The national capital experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer, with temperatures soaring up to 52° Celsius on some days in May.

https://thewire.in/rights/tihar-jail-kashmir-political-prisoner-heatwave-summer-brutal-torture 

But for prisoners, especially jailed Kashmiris facing prolonged incarceration for their political convictions, these conditions became extensions of the state’s brutal treatment of them.
The Kashmiri prisoner quoted above is one of eight men lodged together in one of the barracks in Jail Number 8 of Tihar. The prisoners sent multiple petitions to both the prison authorities and the courts seeking permission to buy air coolers during the summer. All these applications were turned down. Making matters worse, the prison authorities, he says, have placed bright high-voltage bulbs in the barrack. “These bulbs are not allowed to be turned off at any time, not even in the afternoon. With so many people packed together in one small room, with so little ventilation and the burning bulbs all across the room, the heat stays trapped inside,” the prisoner told his daughter, who spoke to The Wire.

by Sukanya Shantha

08/07/2024

  1. Cash-for-beds in prison:

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