Overcrowding District Jail

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  I was sent to Mandi Bahauddin Jail for protesting against imposition of emergency plus and sacking of SC judges not taking oath under the PCO. I found the jail was overcrowding. There were 1120 inmates against a capacity of 250; majority among them under-trial prisoners. 180 prisoners had received death penalty and they were put 12 each in a cell meant for accommodating one. 6 of them will recite Quran while other 6 lied down on ground for rest in a squeezed condition. This arrangement was made in turn. Appeals of these prisoners were pending in High Court Lahore.

With me there were twenty lawyers from Mandi Bahauddin and six from Muzaffar Garh in one room; all of them were arrested when sitting in their chambers, as per their statements. The jail staff was little kind to us but our friends were not allowed to visit us. Provision of food from the blood relatives coming to visit us was prohibited.

On enquiring about reasons for overcrowding, some prisoners told me that their cases were pending in the courts without any progress. They are taken to trial courts on each date of hearing but continuous strikes by lawyers were the main cause of delay in disposal of cases against them. Most of the prisoners had minor cases in which they could be released on bail.

The courts have not been working on regular basis, since 9 March, 2007, because of lawyers' movement for restoration of judiciary's independence. The rulers are involved in playing power game and they have no time to attend welfare of masses. The country is under turmoil. No one can predict as to when normalcy will return. In the mean time under-trial prisoners will remain deprived of their basic right of getting speedy justice and will rotten in jails for no fault of theirs. And with them their family members at home will live under agony too.

Will some rulers at the top be kind enough to consider the pathetic condition of under-trial prisoners rotting in jails and arrange administration of speedy justice to them?

Gangly Khan
Mandi Bahauddin

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