DIALOGUE BETWEEN JAILERS AND JAILED!

THE latest incident at a jail in Sindh speaks volumes about the way institutions are being managed in the country. The trouble that erupted in the jail, forced the jailers to hold dialogue with the prisoners and as a result of which the two sides arrived at a mutually agreed formula for settlement of the problem.

 

This is not for the first time that such a situation was witnessed at a jail. Sometime back, about 450 prisoners took control of Khairpur Jail and held 12 officials hostage in protest against bad conduct of the jail authorities. At that time too, negotiations were held to resolve the issue. There is no denying the fact that prisoners too are entitled to their rights and they can legitimately protest against maltreatment or violation of the rules. But the question arises as to why the rules are trampled and the inmates denied of their due rights. There are frequent complaints about over-crowding, worst kind of sanitation, short supply of food and its substandard quality, corrupt practices in arranging meetings of the visitors with the prisoners and even supply of drugs and narcotics in the jail. It is because of all this that instead of serving as corrective centres as elsewhere in the world, our jails produce more hardcore criminals. During his Eid visit to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, Prime Minister Gilani announced several steps for improvement of conditions at the said prison but there is a need for overall jail reforms and strict vigilance to ensure their sincere implementation. This is because this latest incident and similar other instances are reflective of almost total collapse of various institutions and urgent attention should be paid to rectify the situation.