Jail Reform

When a talented actor goes to jail, it is worth giving a thought to the event. I have no specific comments on Sanjay Dutt’s jail term that begins today, but feel that there are questions that go beyond his case.

A jail sentence can be thought of as a punishment as well as a correctional step. There is rigorous imprisonment which goes beyond denial of freedom and inflicts physical labour as a punitive measure. Depending on the crime, convicts serve fairly long terms like 10 years or more.  It is worth asking to what extent a jail term acts as a correctional device. In a vast majority of cases, convicts are poor and not well-educated individuals. In addition to correctional education/training, training them to do something economically useful will equip them to take care of themselves and their family after coming out.  In exceptional cases, Indian jails have shown flexibility and have given opportunities to convicts. Nalini was originally handed down a death sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, but she was allowed by the jail system to study for and earn a Master of Computer Applications degree.  

I would like to raise a question about prisoners who are going to spend years in a jail. If they are young enough to be able to study, is it not fair to give them opportunities to undergo part-time education? If the system is a true correctional system, should it not motivate the bulk of them to benefit from such a scheme? I do not plead for any reduction in workload that is required by their sentence. Let them do the work that is specified. But if they have any spare time left, they should be free to use it to learn something instead of being merely locked up like caged animals.

The TV Channel “National Geographic” offers episodes from a series named “Banged up Abroad” dealing with real life stories of people who do stupid things like smuggling narcotics and get caught in countries which have very harsh laws. They usually suffer terrifying conditions in jails. The episodes use a variety of presentation techniques, letting them tell their story, using staged flashbacks, using interviews with members of their family etc. to throw some light on their crime and the punishment they got. There is no preaching, but I am sure that the episodes make a very useful impression on the viewers. 

I wonder for a minute if Sanjay would be allowed in this country to use his spare time in jail to trigger a series like that about crimes and prisoners in India in general, and contribute in some way to it being made. If he goes to a jail with several hundred inmates, many of them would be willing to tell their own stories. Perhaps a nearby film institute could create the series.

A truly correctional system should not reduce a creative human being to do mindless repetitive work only.  He should be free to do the prescribed hours of that and do something in addition involving his talents - as a contribution to society, without any benefits, special privileges or payments.

Srinivasan Ramani