Behind bars, many reform, build new lives

FROM REPAIRING FANS TO MOTORCYCLES, JEWELLERY DESIGNING TO BAKING, PRISONERS GET TO CHOOSE AMONG 100 DIFFERENT COURSES IN TIHAR

NEWDELHI: Tihar prisoners Manu Sharma and Sushil Sharma — convicted for murders that rank among India’s most high-profile crime cases — are among 90 prisoners up for an early release because of their ‘good conduct.’

Jail officials say both Manu Sharma and Sushil Sharma are ‘model prisoners’ and examples of reformation stories in prison.

Manu Sharma, who has spent over 15 years in jail, was convicted for model Jessica Lall’s murder in 1999. Sushil Sharma has spent over 23 years for killing his wife Naina Sahni in what came to be known as tandoor murder case.

While the duo await their fate, ahead of the next Sentence Review Board meeting, ther e are many stories of reformation behind bars.

“I was not an artist before I came to jail i n February 2000...My grandfather was a Thanga artist and made beautiful paintings of Tibetan gods and goddesses. But I could never be like him,” reads Dal Lama’s (38) resume.

Lama, who was released from Tihar in 2010, teaches painting to prisoners in different jails, including Tihar.

In 2000, at the age of 20, when he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for smuggling drugs, he stared at a decade of depression behind bars.

Originally from Nepal, Lama, who had painted during his school days, took up classes under the jail’s vocational train- ing programme. The walls of Tihar’s jail number 4 today are painted with his works.

Inside Tihar prisons, there is a competition among jail superintendents to start new vocational courses for prisoners. Their Annual Confidential Report – also yearly appraisals — depends on the courses they have started and how it has benefitted prisoners.

From repairing fans to motorcycles, jewellery designing to baking, prisoners get to choose among 100 different courses. Officials say the objective is to ensure that every prisoner, especially the underprivileged, can be reformed.

They have helped many prisoners. Like Sajid Ali (26), who had a job when he walked out of prison on March 7. Inside jail 1, Sajid was a part of the jail’s first rock bank – The Rockers. Today, Ali teaches music to inmates of Rohini jail. The prisoners call him ‘Sajid Sir’.

“I try to ensure that all the inmates spend their time fruitfully. They can do a lot if they want,” he said.

Smita Chakraburtty, independent researcher and honorary commissioner for Rajasthan prisons who works on prison reforms, said jails should not be human cages. Chakraburtty, whose name was also proposed by the Supreme Court as one who should be consulted the Union home ministry before framing policies for open jails across the country said, “If there is a murder convict, we look at it under Indian Penal Code section. The murder could have been accidental; the person could be a victim of circumstances or a first timer. He or she deserves a second chance.”

Senior jail officials say there are hundreds of prisoners who have chosen to study or continue their studies in prison. According to jail records, at least 20,000 illiterate prisoners have become literates in the last 10 years.