Roughly 700 inmates were released from county jails in New Jersey as the region emerges as one of the hotbeds of the novel coronavirus in the United States. Globally, several prisons have made exceptions or are considering the release of prisoners as epidemiologists warn of mayhem if the deadly virus spreads in the jails.
The prisons in India do not have a reputation for hygiene and sanitation, let alone social distancing. The water scarcity compounds the problem and add the influx of new inmates in the crowded barracks, and there's the recipe for an irreparable disaster.
Amid the scores of prisoners, languishing in the prison with uncertainties are the activists arrested for their alleged Maoist links in the Bhima Koregaon case.
“The last time I saw my mother - Prof. Shoma Sen, was on February 29, at the Byculla District Jail, Mumbai, for fifteen minutes. All jail mulaqaats have been shut ever since this nationwide lockdown was announced.
“And, tonight, as the entire nation comes together to light candles and show solidarity, others like us - families of the Bhima Koregaon arrestees, remain in the dark about the future of their loved ones,” says Shoma Sen’s daughter Koel Sen, who has been toiling for two years to prove her mother’s innocence.
Sen, Professor and Head of the Department of English at the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, was arrested on June 6, 2018, less than two months before her due retirement. A renowned figure in Nagpur, Sen is well recognised for her social work and tirelessly battling for the underprivileged. Amid the pandemic, her friends, relatives and acquaintances are concerned about the safety as the 61-year-old battles illness and low immunity that in the face of the coronavirus are easy baits.
The last time Koel spoke to Sen, the latter informed that she stays with 30 people in one cell. Social distancing, anyone?
“The prisons across India have many political prisoners, undergoing incarceration as undertrials for many years or as convicts. Already imprisoned for several years, many are suffering from ailments. We call upon the Union and State Governments to take the directive of the Honourable Supreme Court in letter and spirit and initiate steps to avoid a humanitarian crisis in the prisons,” adds Koel, who is a filmmaker.
The pandemic is being fought vigorously by India. The state governments are gearing up steadily. But the general public remains in the dark about any concrete plan of action by the government in case the numbers start growing exponentially. What happens if the virus decides to spread in our crowded jails?
SUPREME COURT ORDER
The Supreme Court, in an order dated March 23, directed all states and Union Territories to set up high-level panels to determine the class of prisoners who could be released on parole for four to six weeks to avoid overcrowding in prisons. Consequently, the State of Maharashtra constituted a high-power committee on March 24 headed by the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority. In a meeting on March 25, guidelines for release of the prisoners were framed by the Committee. The Committee directed prisoners (both undertrial and convicts) who are accused of offences punishable with seven years or less, to be released on temporary bail or parole.
After that, the State Home Minister notified the release of 11,000 inmates from prisons across the State for 45 days on emergency parole, through a press note. However, this High-Powered Committee has made “a rather artificial distinction” between the prisoners who are accused of offences under the IPC and the Special Acts like the UAPA, that the nine Bhima Koregaon activists have been charged under.
The classification led to the release of around a thousand to date.
Nations, like the United States or Italy, the first world countries with their advanced healthcare facilities, are struggling to deal with the pandemic. The question lingers: What happens if the virus finds abode in the Indian jails?
“Forget sanitisers and masks, these undertrial activists who are lodged in Taloja and Byculla jails now get two buckets of water for each cell that is crowded with at least 30 inmates. Even washing of hands repeatedly is a distant thought,” adds Koel, before sharing her plight on the two-minute allowed communication that further multiplies the stress.
“With our lawyers working for their release day and night, we have now been allowed phone calls from our family who are inside the jails. But the time restriction is only two minutes.
"Again, in the backdrop of social distancing, they are allowed to make a phone call using one single mobile phone shared by 3000 prisoners. Each inmate is allowed precisely two minutes to talk, and the phone gets cut automatically in two minutes," she says.
“I haven’t even received that two-minute phone call from my mother yet. This situation is not only frustrating but also quite scary for family members of the nine Bhima Koregaon arrested activists,” she adds.
On March 30, two bail applications were filed for Sen and Varavara Rao, an 80-year-old Telugu poet and writer, respectively.
Sen suffers from anxiety, hypertension, glaucoma, arthritis and low immunity. Varavara Rao has respiratory problems and piles. At 80, his condition inside the jail is worsening by the day.
The NIA special court that heard their bail pleas for their release on medical grounds due to the COVID situation brushed aside these facts claiming that the conditions for them inside prison do not change much. This was the argument presented at the NIA court while denying them interim-bail.
As the Indian Prime Minister calls for unity by igniting lights, Koel and many like her are battling anxiety and confusion. Through Sakal Times, she makes a plea, “We urge the state government of Maharashtra to intervene in this case as these jails fall under the state government's jurisdiction. Every life matters, and during this time of COVID19, any inaction on the State's part would be irresponsible.
“These arrestees are well-known members of civil society; they have homes and families dependent on them. They are just as likely if not more, to follow the same conditions laid out for bail or parole as any other prisoner. They certainly deserve the same empathy from our judicial system. One can only imagine the mental health conditions of our family members inside the prisons in this state of lockdown when those of us outside are battling anxiety every moment."
In these times of darkness, can there be a hope of light for all?
