Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Cultural programme for prisoners launched

Photo: S. Mahinsha

NOVEL INITIATIVE: Minister for Culture M.A. Baby, poet O.N.V. Kurup and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at the Central Jail in the city during the inauguration of a State-level cultural programme for prisoners on Tuesday. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Serving punishment in jail should not be regarded as ostracism or an end to one’s social life, but a new beginning for an optimistic future, Minister for Culture M.A. Baby said on Tuesday.

He was speaking after inaugurating a State-level cultural programme for prisoners, organised by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, at the Central Jail in Poojappura here.

“People commit crimes under peculiar social circumstances. Being a prisoner does not prevent you from aspiring to a better and brighter future,” he told the prisoners. “Jail inmates, like their fellow human beings who are outside the confines of prison, are also entitled to a cultural life,” he said.

Quoting Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, Mr. Baby said prisoners languishing in jails had the potential to build nations. “Our own country was built by the struggles of people like Gandhiji, Nehru, Bhagat Singh, E.M.S. Namboodiripad and A.K. Gopalan who spent several years in jail,” he said.

Mr. Baby also expressed his desire to abolish the distinction between political and apolitical prisoners.

Minister for Home and Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was accorded a rousing reception by the prisoners, told the inmates that the cultural programme would mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of jails in the State. “Open jails will also be brought under the programme,” Mr. Balakrishnan said.

Poet O.N.V. Kurup was of the view that society and circumstances played a major role in making of criminals. “You have been punished by the social justice system of our country, but there are a lot of people who ought to be in jails who are roaming scot-free in our society,” the poet said. Justice and punishment were two indispensable factors for the safe and secure functioning of society.

V.N. Murali, secretary, Progressive Arts and Literary Society, urged the Sahitya Akademi members to take the initiative to identify the literary skills of the prisoners.

As part of the novel programme, poets, playwrights, authors and musicians will participate in readings and live performances and share their experiences with the prisoners.

The proposal for the cultural programme was first mooted by the Akademi earlier this year. It is on the lines of the measures introduced in Tihar Jail, India’s largest prison, in New Delhi

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