The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

ARTICLE

Turmoil in Islamic world
Sectarian rivalries to affect India too
by G. Parthasarathy

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid paid a visit to Iraq on June 19-21-- the first by an Indian Cabinet Minister in over two decades. While New Delhi had a friendly relationship with the minority Sunni-dominated Saddam Hussein dispensation, there were naturally some anxieties about how the new dispensation would react to overtures from India.

Mr. Khurshid was, however, very warmly received by the Iraqi government, which expressed warm feelings for India and readiness to expand cooperation in the energy sector, while recalling Iraq's old connections with India, in areas ranging from education to defence. The Iraqis are unhappy with the direct dealings of US oil companies with the minority Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq. Moving dexterously, China has emerged not only as the major buyer of Iraqi oil, but has also been awarded lucrative exploration rights.

Iraq, which has the second largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia, has set ambitious targets to increase its oil production from its present level of 2.6 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 9 mbpd by 2019. With Saudi Arabia producing oil to almost its full capacity, Iraq, with its huge surplus capacity, will be a crucial player in meeting future oil demands.

But Iraq is located in a dangerous neighbourhood, where old Arab-Israeli rivalries are giving way to a deadlier Shia-Sunni conflict, across the Muslim world, stretching from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the Maghreb. Under Saddam Hussein, sectarian differences were set aside, as Shia-dominated Iran and Iraq fought a bloody conflict. Today, Iran and Iraq collaborate closely, as they confront an alliance of Sunni-dominated Turkey, once the occupying power in the Arab world, which has joined hands with an alliance of Sunni Arab States, backed by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Government of President Morsi and the members of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Even in the Gulf, the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide in Bahrain pits the Shia majority population, backed by Iran, against the ruling Sunni monarchy backed by Saudi Arabia, with some assistance rendered by Pakistani mercenaries

The epicentre of this bloody sectarian conflict today is Syria, where the Sunni majority has, since the 1970s, been ruled by the secular and modern minded, but ruthlessly authoritarian Alawite (Shia) minority, with Kurds constituting a 10 per cent minority, at the receiving end of discriminatory treatment. Shia-Sunni rivalries exploded into a no-holds-barred conflict in April 2011, in which an estimated 100,000 people have since been killed.

Both Israel and the US have viewed the growing ties between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia with considerable concern. Iran has been providing arms and members of elite Revolutionary Guards to bolster the Syrian regime. Iraq is providing over-flight facilities to Iran and strengthening its border with Syria, to block the movement of al Qaeda-linked Sunni fighters endeavouring to reinforce the resistance to the Assad regime.

To add to Israel's discomfiture, Hezbollah, which is the only Arab force to have successfully resisted Israel's military might, has moved in significant numbers into Syria. In recent days, the Syrian regime and Hezbollah have scored notable successes in ousting the Sunni insurgents from urban centres like the city of Qusayr.

Externally, the US has been reluctant to get directly involved in Syria as it has seen how a military intervention without a clear political game plan can produce disastrous results like the Anglo-French misadventure in Libya. Even in Syria, the European meddling has been largely orchestrated by the Anglo-French duo, with Germany and others reluctantly expressing token support. While President Obama has agreed to provide some military support to the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition (which has been recognised by the Gulf Arab States), military support is being provided to the "Free Syrian Army" which operates across the Turkey-Syria border, primarily by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Diplomatic efforts by the US to get the Security Council to condemn the Syrian regime and call for its ouster have been thwarted by Russia, discreetly backed by China, which simultaneously makes some noises about the need for political change, to ensure that it does not earn the wrath of Saudi Arabia and its allies. Russia, with a naval base in Syria, appears determined to ensure that it remains a player in developments in West Asia and to back a traditional ally. It also has concerns about the impact of growing Salafi fundamentalism in Chechnya and its other Caucasian Republics.

The Syrian sectarian conflict seems to be heading towards a messy stalemate. While Israel has bombed supplies of Russian missiles being transported to Hezbollah through Syria, even Israel, like the US, cannot be comfortable with the armed insurgency in Syria being taken over by al Qaeda-linked Salafi-oriented fighters. The real challenge that the US faces is the prospect of the armed insurrection falling into the hands of the rabidly fundamentalist "Al Nusra Front," made up of six to ten thousand foreign fighters from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, Kuwait, Chechnya and Bosnia.

The Syrian conflict thus appears headed for a stalemate unless all parties display a sense of realism and statesmanship. Such a stalemate could involve a de facto partition of Syria, with the Alawite Shias controlling the coastal areas and Northern Syria coming under Kurdish control. This will be akin to the situation in Iraq, which is being torn apart by rivalries between Arab Sunnis and Shias, while the Kurds seek and assert greater self-rule.

Ever since the Iranian Revolution and the emergence of Salafi-oriented, Saudi-backed armed groups in Pakistan, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan has been torn apart by continuing violence against its estimated 20 per cent Shia minority. Even moderate Bareilvi Sunnis have been targeted by these extremist groups. In Afghanistan, Taliban rule resulted in a bloodbath of Shia Hazaras bordering Iran, provoking a warning of intervention by Iran, whose diplomats were massacred in Mazar-e-Sharif, by the Taliban.

In Bangladesh, the fundamentalist "Hefajat-e-Islam" has attacked the homes, businesses and places of worship of the Hindu and Buddhist minorities, demanded introduction of "blasphemy laws", advocated curbs on the rights of women and called for the adoption of "Islamic education". These events were accompanied by demonstrations in Kolkata, where the secular Awami League government in Bangladesh was denounced, with the slogan "Islam is in danger in Bangladesh". India will not remain unaffected by sectarian rivalries and the growth of Salafi fundamentalism to its west.

MIDDLE

Remembering a chief
by Lieut Gen Baljit Singh (retd)

HE would be one hundred today but when King George VI pinned the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Medal "for conspicuous gallantry……." at the Buckingham Palace, the recipient had barely stepped past his thirty-third year. As he saluted the King, turned about and stepped out in the Parade-Ground posture, the guests inside the Investiture Hall broke into a thunderous applause. The essence of the DSO citation was focussed on a pitched battle fought South of Bir Hachiem (today's Libya) in early 1942, where the 3 Indian Motor Brigade with just 28 Field guns but not a single tank, were deployed to face over 300 tanks and 150 Field guns of Rommel's Afrika Korps. Once the battle was joined it was over in less than two hours, the Germans losing 84 tanks of which 56 fell to our Field guns. One German tank was just 30 m when hit by No 3 Gun of 07 Field Battery where the Battery Commander stood erect and fully exposed, motivating his gun detachments! Two days later, the Battery Commander along with a dozen survivors would return to the devastated gun area and retrieve 16 of their 28 guns! However, a month later on a deep penetration mission, he was taken prisoner.

But what followed the investiture was one episode which must be recounted and recorded lest it should be lost to posterity. That gallant Major was among the first to leave the Palace and he headed for London's premier perfumery, on the Reagent Street, to purchase a gift for his fiancé. When he came out and walked to his car, he was confronted by a policeman for a car-parking infringement. The Bobby enquired: "Is this your car"? The Major nodded and the policeman demanded "May I have your name". In his typical, unhurried drawl and perhaps with a tinge of mischief, the Indian stated "Paramashiva Prabhakaran Kumaramangalam" to which the flustered Bobby responded "I ain't going to write all that for a mere 10 Shilling fine. Don't do it again, sir."

Following German capitulation in May, 1945, Kay disembarked at Bombay in August, 1945 and he was greeted by a hoarding announcing the Mahalaxmi Race Course Season. Horses were Kay's first love, so he looked for lodgings but finding none, he luckily met an old acquaintance who took him to his friend Bharucha who had a sprawling bungalow, overlooking Mahalaxmi Course. The Bharucha household took to Kay with tender warmth and Kay's personal life was to change forever. Piloo, the Bharucha's eldest daughter, educated in England and an accomplished horse-woman, was also the most eligible spinster of Bombay. No sooner did Kay and Piloo set eyes upon each other than they were to "remain as one till death do us part". So never mind a car parking violation, Kay must buy the best in perfume for Piloo!

All POW camp repatriates were given six months leave to reunite with their families. Kay was by nature very reclusive and he was particularly tongue tied in the presence of women. Yet paradoxically, he simply could not bear the thought of separation from Piloo. So after the briefest of visits to his parents, near Bangalore, Kay returned to the Bharuchas at Bombay. However, he was soon posted to an Air Defence Regiment at Quetta. No one knows whether they were formerly engaged but we do know that Mr Bharucha not only ensured secure lodgings for Piloo at Quetta but also four horses and staff. So Kay and Piloo were on horse-back daily. Unfortunately, the interlude was too short-lived because the Army Headquarters had bigger things in store for Kay. They detailed him on a year-long Advance Gunnery Course at Fort Sill, USA. About a month after the start of the course, Piloo reached the USA and a month later they entered into a court marriage, solemnized at the Indian Embassy, Washington! When Kay returned, he was promoted a Brigadier, appointed the first Indian Commandant of the School of Artillery, Deolali. Henceforth, they would move from one to the next Flag Staff, with a string of noisy and sleek, black and tan Dachshunds, ending their Army journey at the Army House, New Delhi in June, 1966.

They chose to spend their last two days in Army service at the Defence Services Staff Collage, Wellington. As may be imagined, they rode after hounds on the Ooty Downs and spent the evening at the Ooty Gymkhana Races. Kay jockeyed in the last race!

OPED-Governance

For prisoner, prisons need correction
Once we accept the concept that the purpose of incarcerating a criminal is to reform him, there should be no problem accepting that our prisons are anything but correctional homes. For that, living conditions to entire administrative approach have to change
Ranjit Singh

THERE have been deaths, riots and hunger strikes in our jails, pointing to an urgent need for prison reform. The prison system — which involves managing 1,328 jails across the country, housing over 3.5 lakh prisoners against a capacity of 2.5 lakh — cannot be free of problems. No wonder, prison administration has been the subject of criticism in all forums, whether judiciary, general public or the legislature.

Inmates in a women’s cell at Ludhiana jail applying henna on their palms ahead of the Karvachauth festival. File photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Overcrowding in prisons, prolonged detention of under-trial prisoners, unsatisfactory living conditions, lack of treatment programmes, and indifferent and inhuman approach of the prison staff towards inmates are the major problem areas, which call for immediate attention of the Central and state governments. The 115-year-old Prison Act is yet to be updated to meet the modern-day ideas of imprisonment.

To begin with, a “Prison Discipline Committee” under the British had recommended increased rigorous treatment for prisoners while rejecting the humanistic concerns for them. The notion of prison has undergone a sea change since then. The present humanistic approach is also not a very recent phenomenon. It can be traced back to the Indian Jail Committee Report of 1919-20, in which reformation and rehabilitation of offenders were identified as the objectives of prison administration. This report could not be implemented perhaps due to its ‘radical approach’ or unfavourable political atmosphere then prevailing.

A landmark initiative came after Independence, when the government invited Dr W.C. Reckless, a UN expert on correctional work, to undertake a study on prison administration and suggest policy reforms. His report, “Jail Reforms in India”, made a plea for transforming jails into ‘reformation centres’ besides recommending revision of outdated jail manuals. Subsequent developments in the policy of reformation continued and, thus, it would not be a matter of debate now so far as the theory of sentencing and correction is concerned.

Fundamental principle

This should then form the basic notion of prison administration and reforms. Sentences, as observed by Justice Krishna Iyer, are in large part concerned with avoiding future crime by helping the offender learn to live productively in the community, which he has committed the offence against. As per the Judge, other things being equal, odds are that offenders will learn to live successfully in the general community if they are dealt within the community, rather than being shipped off to artificial and typical environments of an institute of confinement.

A relative speaks to a prisoner in Patiala jail. A file photo

As is observed, banishment from society is not the way to integrate someone into society, and yet imprisonment involves just such banishment, albeit a temporary one. The goings-on in prisons are fairly well known — sex starvation, brutalisation, criminal companionship, multiple vices through bio-environmental pollution in dehumanised cells. Upon release, what emerges is an embittered enemy of society with the stigma of conviction stamped on him. Primarily, it is due to penal illiteracy of our prison system that we restore to society a potentially good person processed into a delinquent. The need is to restore a useful man to society, which would call for drastic changes in prison administration. The problem being acute and multi-dimensional, the progress would be slow, which is a cause of serious concern.

The unsatisfactory conditions existing in jails had spurred the Central government to constitute a committee for jail reforms, known as the “Mulla Committee”. The terms of reference of this committee led to wide-ranging recommendations regarding prison buildings, living conditions in prisons, medical and psychiatric services, security and discipline, system of classification, treatment programme, work programme, vocational training of under-trials, women and children in prison, young offenders, etc.

Prison populations have been continually on the rise. The majority of inmates belong to the under-privilege sections of society, and most of them are first-time offenders (around 90 per cent) involved in technical or minor violations of the law. As per the “National Crime Records Bureau Report, 2005”, 66.2 per cent of the total inmates are under-trial. The conditions in jails, sub-jails and police lock-ups are rather deplorable. The organisational structure of the Department of Prisons is inadequate and ineffective, as the administration is governed by outdated laws, which do not meet the present-day requirements of correctional thinking. Lack of coordination among the police, prosecution, judiciary, prison and probation officers have further compounded the problem. There is no system available for adopting a scientific approach for treatment of offenders by the prison administration itself.

Minimum rules

Fire in Faridkot prison afer inmates went berserk following the death of a prisoner in April 2013.

Once we have understood the basic principles and purpose of punishment, which is not to torture a person but to reform him and ultimately to make him a good citizen, as per the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the need for prison reform can be well appreciated and understood. The UN Standard declares that there shall be no discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. A need for respecting the religious beliefs and moral precepts of the group to which the prisoner belongs is also among them. Keeping under-trial prisoners separate from those convicted, separating prisoners detained under civil law and criminal offences and providing separate residences for young and child prisoners are some of the other rules laid down by the UN. Punishments like reduction in diet, placing prisoners in a dark cell, or other inhuman and degrading punishments are also prohibited.

The UN rules recognise the need for proper selection and training of prison personnel as a pre-condition for proper implementation of the prison law. A comprehensive mechanism for selection of the right people for every job in a prison and their proper training is, thus, prescribed. These aspects can help in improving our prison administration.

Humanising justice

It was in the background of such UN initiatives that the movement for humanisation of criminal justice in India started. Prison administration is an important part of the criminal justice system. The judicial and administrative trends in the field of prison reforms are now based on the fundamental principles of the Indian Constitution and judicial decisions of the Supreme Court as well as various high courts.

Though there may not be any specific provisions regulating the rights of prisoners or prison reforms, certain fundamental rights have been invoked to protect the prisoners’ rights while undergoing incarceration. There have been several landmark and thought-provoking judgments establishing the rights of prisoners, which have made available the basic rights to all inmates. Because of these precedents, the right of access to law and legal facilities assigning a competent counsel to defend the prisoner, right to meet friends and relatives, right to freedom of speech and expression, exclusive right to read, and the right to publish books, articles and journals, have been recognised. Fair treatment with dignity, equality, basic human needs, and natural justice would be some of the other rights that have been guaranteed the prisoners. There has, thus, been a substantial contribution by courts in the administration of prison reform. The administrative side has also made progress in prison reforms, though the movement has been slow and has not kept pace with the need.

Policy in making

The draft national policy (2007) on prison reforms and correctional administration was a step in this direction. Once it is settled that reformation and rehabilitation of an offender is the purpose of punishment, certain amendments in the penal provisions governing society or procedural provisions may need to be carried out.

One of the recommendations made by the Mulla Committee was for the release of under-trial prisoners unconditionally once they complete a period of detention equal to half of the maximum sentence awardable. The recommendation in regard to amendments suggested in Section 433-A of the Cr.PC may also need a look.

Another suggestion concerning demolition of prison buildings that have outlived their utility or need remodelling and renovation cannot be ignored. No efforts seem to have been made to segregate the under-trials from prisoners undergoing sentences. A recommendation made in this regard for housing under-trial prisoners in old prison buildings after remodelling those may, thus, merit early consideration. Diet, sanitation and hygiene, clothing, bedding and equipment, and permission for free and frequent communication with relatives and friends so that the bond with the outside world is maintained, are other aspects of recommendations of the Mulla Committee that should be implemented.

Invariably, there is lack of medical and psychiatric services in prisons. The ad hoc arrangements that are generally seen should make way for permanent arrangements. There is also a lack of treatment programmes in jails. The prison administrations are taken up mostly with day-to-day needs of prisoners, and there is hardly any meaningful reformation programme available. This needs to be made an integral part of prison administration. Work and vocational training are an essential need for prisoners. While designing these programmes, employment and production needs of the industry and market also have to be taken into consideration.

Provisions for probation, parole and remission need to be liberalised and so also the granting of bail, whether for an under-trial or prisoner under appeal. This would also help address overcrowding in prisons to an extent. Unless action is taken in this regard with a sense of urgency, incidents of mass violence, as seen in prisons in Punjab over the past few years, will continue.

Barring reform

* Our prison system restores to society a potentially good person processed into a delinquent.

* Wide-ranging recommendations of the “Mulla Committee” on prison reform have not been implemented.

* Lack of coordination among the police, prosecution, judiciary, prison and probation officers compounds the problem.

* While there are no specific provisions on prisoners’ rights, certain fundamental rights have been invoked to protect prisoners.

* The draft national policy (2007) on prison reforms and correctional administration was a step in this direction.

The writer is a retired Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.