SOCIETY

Assam prison turns criminals into useful citizens

     Guwahati: The Bishwanath Chariali district jail in Assam is more than a prison. Here, criminals are given a chance to reform themselves by serving society! The future of the inmates in the jail was once doomed. But then they chose to mould it with their own hands and education came in as a handy tool. They realised that education would enable them to give a new direction to their lives. The produce from the prison grounds is sold in the town and the money earned is utilised for running the jail, transforming its inmates into skilled labour. Today, most of them know the happiness that hard work can yield and they no longer have an excuse to commit crime. Ashis Dutta helped them in this. Himself a murder convict, Dutta was brought to the jail in 2002. Filled with venom for a society that had put him behind bars, Ashis realised that he would be better off doing something constructive rather being angry at the world. One of the few educated persons in the prison, he offered himself as a willing teacher to educate other inmates in the jail.

     He says: "The immediate reflex of my mind was anger when I convicted of murder. But, after a few days of my entering the jail all the anger were gone. The friendly environment and the teachings did the trick. The jailer gave me the responsibility of teaching in the school he has started in the jail. I am happy being busy in teaching those who never saw the light of education." The jail authorities have taken various steps to rehabilitate these inmates. Attempts are being made to productively use the time that would have otherwise been spent counting days and may be, planning the next act. Here they are trained in various skills from basketry to carpentary, according to their aptitude. This is done in an attempt to induce confidence and self-respect in them. Thus armed they will be ready to go back and face the society...ready to start life afresh.

     Ananta Bargohain, an inmate, said: "I was interested in learning wood carving from my childhood. And I got the chance here in the jail. The artefacts I made have been exhibited in many places. I feel some kind of happiness when they are appreciated by people, I can not explain." Besides making them self-reliant, the authorities also recognise the importance of introducing them to the deeper meaning of life. Thus, the regular visits from the members of Prajapati Brahmakumari foundation, yoga classes and spiritual discourses form an essential part of their routine. Baikuntha Kakati, the jailer, said: "There is drastic change in the thinking and behaviour of the inmates. Especially those who are serving life imprisonment. They have become reliable. Their intellectual and spiritual development are becoming apparent with each passing day."
-Aug 21, 2004

Azamgarh sari weavers selling blood for survival

     Azamgarh (UP): In the month of August, Shahid Zaman, a destitute weaver of the fabled Benarasi silk saris in Uttar Pradesh, has visited hospital over five times. But the visit had little to do with his health. Zaman has been a regular in selling his blood to keep his home fire going for a week. Zaman's family of 15 is among the 3,000 weavers in Azamgarh district who have resorted to selling blood after their looms cranked to a halt over the last five years, mainly due to the invasion of domestic powerlooms and cheap Chinese silk. Zaman's wife, Hamida Begum, said she was unaware of her husband's routine until the day he was brought back home from hospital in a dying state. Zaman is currently battling for his life in the intensive care unit of the hospital. His 19-year-old brother, Nurool, who has already donated his blood over 60 times, says both had no choice as they had to feed a large family. "I have a very big family of 10 to 15 people. We need 150 to 200 rupees daily. Our business does not exist anymore. I became jobless. I experimented with other jobs, but that too did not help. It was then that I started selling blood for money. I did not tell anyone in my family," said Nurool. The district authorities admit that the Rs. 10 billion industry is passing through a recession and that they are committed to providing the weavers with economic support. In 2003, three weavers in Varanasi district committed suicide as they were unable to repay the loans they had taken to resuscitate their trade. Of the one million weavers in the state, over half have been forced to take up menial jobs, like pulling rickshaws in the cities of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Some of them have even sold their new born babies for just Rs. 500. The story is similar in other silk-producing areas of Bhagalpur, where the Muslim weavers are dying of tuberculosis. Ahtar Jamal Lari, the leader of Apna Dal, an NGO, said they are striving for better condition of the weavers. "We, under the banner of Human Rights Welfare Association, together with other organisations, are protesting against this and want the government to announce a special package for these weavers," said Lari. The state government has levied a 12.5 percent tax on powerlooms to help the handloom weavers, but this has been of little help.
-Aug 13, 2004

One-year-old sacrificed to appease god

     Khurja: In a bizarre display of superstition, three men in Khurja district of Uttar Pradesh sacrificed a one-and-a- half-year-old boy in an attempt to appease the gods. According to police, the body of Sunil, the son of Prem Lal and Prembati, was found in paddy fields on Friday where the three suspects Bhura, Ramavtar and Manoj allegedly threw it, after slaughtering him. The neighbors lodged a complaint in the police station and had the accused arrested. "On the basis of our investigations we have come to a conclusion that Ramavtar, Bhura and Manoj, all three of them sacrificed Sunil to appease God, and then threw his body into the fields," said Rajiv Sharma, SHO, Pahasu, Bulandshahar district of UP. Manoj, who was the son of a 'tantrik', was following the footsteps of his father. He was also training his brother Bhura and friend Ramavtar in the same field. After completing their course, the three wanted to perform some sacrifice to appease God. Since they felt that a chicken or a goat would be expensive, they decided on a human sacrifice. "Since they did not get any chicken or goat as these were too expensive and they did not have enough money, they picked up my child and sacrificed him," said Prem Lal, Sunil's father.
-Aug 7, 2004

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