Jailhouse rock
In the fiction movie of the same title, Elvis Presley never had it as good as do the inmates of Karachi Central Jail in real life. While the normal facilities provided to prisoners in the jails of Pakistan are close to abominable, in keeping with the other countries of South Asia and the Third World, there are perquisites galore available to those who have money or influence or political alliances. Some of the liberties and luxuries would put Colombia and Pablo Escobar to shame. Blissfully ignorant about the wider ramifications of the muck they were about to uncover, the Army recently raided Karachi Central Jail, rounding up a motley loot of contraband in the form of liquor, heroin, imported cigarettes, cash money in large quantities, Foreign Exchange Bearer Certificates, even an unregistered car, etc. That these would be found in the cells of the prisoners would be bad enough and not surprising, given that prisons all over the world have their own particular surreptitious supply routes for such luxuries. Unfortunately most of the illegal stuff seems to have been stocked/stored in the official residences of the senior Police staff, even in the sacred personal abode of a DIG Prisons, the second senior-most jail official in the Sindh Province.
Foreigner non-Muslim guests of Sheraton or PC who complain about the requirement of showing their passport documents before they can take a swig of alcohol are now officially notified about a place under Pakistan’s Islamic sun where Shariat Laws are held in absolute abeyance. Some of the luxuries that the prisoners have access to (at a price of course) like heroin and women, etc goes way above and beyond what the services of a five star hotel can provide (certainly not the root cause of the change of name of Holiday Inn to Marriott!). The modern trend all over the world may be to reform the brutal prison system and treat prisoners with soft gloves in order to individually reform them, this type of reforming Pakistan can do without. This seems more to be systematic rejuvenation rather than reformation.
People may keep waiting for the Sindh Government to take action against those involved, is such an action possible by the present incumbents? When asked why he did not write an autobiography of his interesting and varied life, Henry Wilson, the man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice in one of the greatest scams on this Earth, respectfully declined on the contention that would be like blowing a police whistle on himself. Syed Muzzafar Hussain Shah may remain squeaky clean by a virtuoso performance of remaining administratively deaf, dumb and blind due to political reasons, he should take care not to reach out in the darkness to those officials and colleagues who surround him day and night lest he accidentally smudge his “spotless” record.
The most shocking thing to emanate from the Army’s raid was the rumoured discovery of contraband items from the official residence of DIG Prisons Ukash Ahmad Shaikh in Karachi Central Jail. It is reported that this gentleman has occupied this house for quite a number of years, beginning as Superintendent Jail in 1976 and upgrading it commensurate with his new post every time. A teacher in the Education Department before his sudden and vertical ascent to Grade 18-officers’ rank in the Jails Department, apparently due to the influence of his cousin serving presently as a Deputy Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Production, DIG Shaikh has a rather chequered record. Reverted to Grade-17 on the basis of an enquiry report about selling away Jail land to a local Zamindar in Jacobabad, he made it back to high rank on the basis of seniority. His cousin has strange connections for a Federal government official. Two notorious dacoits, Hatim Shaikh and Asghar Shah, reportedly lived on his poultry farm next to Gaggar Phatak and shared their ill-gotten loot with him. DIG Shaikh himself is believed to have been hauled up along with another serving jail official, Qamar Hussain Shah, by Late Police Inspector Noor Ahmad Shaikh and Inspector Aurangzeb from a car in possession of 8 kgs of heroin. Sources insist that despite the fact he got away by paying a huge bribe, the Narcotics Crime Diary has due record of the incident, the two “drug peddlers” only going free because the “evidence” against them subsequently took wings. With that type of money one can purchase almost anybody, can the auction of respectability to the highest bidders be far behind?
The Army raid had been preceded by wholesale postings in the Jails Department in Sindh. Some middle-level officials, besides being corrupt, are also suspected of having close links to ethnic political parties and have been shifted from one prison appointment to another. These include Ghulam Mohd Saryo, Muzzafar Alam Siddiqui, Mirza Shuja Hyder, Abu Bakar Shah, Qamar Hussain Shah, Abdul Hai Qureshi, Nazir Hussain Shah, Mumtaz Hussain Shah, Anwar Mustafa, Majid Akhtar Qureshi, Amanullah Khan Niazi and Salim Shaikh. Similarly a list of those officials closely identified with drugs smuggling providing heroin, women and liquor to prisoners, etc has been prepared and these have also been shuffled around. These include people like Ghulam Hussain Baloch, SM Taqi, Mumtaz Ahmad Raja, Papu Solangi. A Chief Warder called Zulfikar Ali, suspected of being involved in the murder of a colleague, late Superintendent Rahim Shaikh (of Juvenile Jail Landhi) is also in the postings list, being sent from Juvenile Jail Landhi to District Jail Jacobabad.
While the motive behind the postings to disrupt their bases of criminal activity may be laudable, this is also laughable, being basically a temporary measure and at best an exercise in futility. These gentlemen are mostly part of an organised criminal network and except for the odd one out due to his extreme ethnic views, the whole establishment remains united and looks after their own. None of the aforementioned officers is less than Grade-17 or 18, comparatively an exalted gazetted government rank, that they should be involved in organised crime and then be responsible for such prisoner wards who may be on trial for the same or have been convicted thereof is not only nonsense, it amounts to making justice look ridiculous.
What happens in Pakistani jails is not uncommon in the rest of the world, the only difference is that in most countries of the world, corrupt jail officials remain an exception for the most part. In Pakistan, an honest jail official is not only an exception, he becomes an endangered species. By not playing ball according to the rules of the corrupt, he risks his life by running afoul of the corrupt system, a system that is energised by the endless money supply of drug smugglers. Pablo Escobar, of the Colombian Drug Mafia fame, hit the news because of his luxurious self-designed Colombian prison (from where he directed the murders of his opponents with impunity and from which he promptly escaped), in Pakistan every jail is more or less a luxury penthouse if you are able to afford it. Why single out only the corrupt prison officials of Sindh?
The Army raided the Karachi Central Jail in sheer frustration but the exercise should open the eyes of our national leaders. In the first place, the persons the Army would apprehend for heinous crimes like kidnapping, car snatching, dacoity, etc and hand over to the police have been more than likely to go scot-free the next day, thumbing their noses at their former captors. If these gentlemen were unlucky enough to be held and actually prosecuted they continued living a life of luxury in jail, sharing their ill-gotten wealth with the jail officials who spared no effort for their comfort and pleasure, allowing them to live off the fat of the land. We have a system so corrupted that it motivates crime by its very fallibility, instead of being a deterrent it acts as an incentive to crime. In this case punishment did not add to dissuasion. The moral of the story is that crime pays, maybe the expenses become a little more than normal if you go to jail and your freedom may be restricted somewhat but there is no real difference in your lifestyle. The whole judicial system is now in the grip of a severe crisis, if we cannot enforce the laws of the land to successful practice in name and theory, our society may develop a case of terminal illness.
Make no mistake, the Pakistani jails are no Hawaiian paradise, the interior of jails can be incredibly bad if you do not have money or influence of some kind. All the rumours or stories that you have ever heard or read about are probably true. A small glass of water, the normal visit of relatives, home-cooked food, etc, all cost money, more money going to the prison doctor, and so on. The prison officials are likely to treat you brutally if you cannot pay their “dues”. You can also end up being a “slave” of the incarcerated criminals. The perfect robberies and murders are planned from within the jails, convicted dacoits and murderers being let out to do the dirty work and then return to their jail cells with the perfect alibi. Most of Karachi’s urban crime can be traced back to them. It is a sorry reflection on the system that while the innocents should fear to go to jail, even self-respect being a deterrent, hardened criminals should see it simply as a respite, indeed may even welcome it, where else can they have a better sanctuary?
We must take corrective action immediately. One suggestion is that a new force be created with an in-built regular turnover to deter corruption. Retired armed forces officers/junior commissioned/warrant officers must be employed on a three year contract and become the nucleus of a revamped Jails Department in Sindh. These inductees should make a clear statement of their net assets and liabilities and these should be independently verified. With the type of money floating around, it is quite possible that these fresh inductees could eventually be corrupted. The Intelligence Agencies must maintain close monitoring to ensure that this does not take place. No contracted person should be given an extension to his/her three year period unless it is necessary to do so in the national interest and he/she is found to be scrupulously honest. This reform of the Jails System has to take place on a war footing, unless we have a completely honest prisons system we cannot begin to enforce accountability seriously, what to talk about the validity of judicial punishment as a deterrent! At this time, the moral of the story is that people should avoid jails unless they can afford to. For those who can afford it, have no fear!
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment