The Kailali incident clearly shows the need for massive intervention in prison operations and management. For that, first of all, those responsible at all levels who were weak in the Kailali incident should be held accountable. Likewise, the mentality that keeping in prison means torture should be abandoned and mechanisms and infrastructure should be developed to provide a basic humane environment and expect improvement.
What you should know
One person was killed and 48 were injured in the clash at Kailali Jail on Friday night. After the clash, the prisoners were in control of the prison for hours, until then the specific situation inside the prison did not come to public knowledge. The home administration was found to be incompetent to assess the risk of violence inside the prisons, to take the necessary vigilance, to intervene immediately after the violence started, and to gather and mobilize the necessary forces.
The tension has been rising for the past three weeks, not only the background of violence, but also the 'rehearsal' of it, the prison chief was on sick leave and Nasu, whom he replaced, was also on leave. Why and how did the carelessness of the prison and home administration to keep about 700 prisoners in a prison with a capacity of 150 and give the administration to the buyer? Until the answer to this question is found, the efforts to punish the culprits, learn lessons and try to improve cannot be meaningful.
After Naveen Rawal and Jayandra Shah's associates who were involved in criminal activities were arrested in Kailali Jail, 'Gang War' also entered. Although other groups have been oppressed because of the power of Rawal group, they have been irritated recently when the transfer of members of this group has been intensified, while the courage of other groups has increased. It increased the tension.
On June 26, a raid was conducted and materials including mobile phones were seized from the prisoners. On June 28, when a fight broke out between the prisoners, there was also a beating. The inmates then raised slogans against Jail Chief Vasant Khatri. Khatri had been on leave since June 31 in the background of fluid situation. After that Naib Subba Gyanendra Ojha was given the responsibility of acting, he was also on leave after a few days and the responsibility was given to the buyer Ramkumar Chaudhary. In this situation, what could have been a disaster happened on Friday night.
It is a serious mistake of the prison and home administration to ignore the possibility of a major clash in Kailali prison at any time. Moreover, in the discussion conducted by the chief of the security agency along with Chief District Officer Gogan Bahadur Hamal on Friday, the prisoners of 'B' Block said that they are not safe. Although there was an agreement not to interfere with the discussion, the vigilance and sensitivity of the administration towards the concerns raised by the prisoners of 'B' block was not seen. On the one hand, the environment has been deteriorating for a few weeks, on the other hand, the lack of security arrangements is a lack of accountability.
Due to such negligence, incidents of violence have been repeated in prisons. Shiv Paudel, president of Tarun Dal Chitwan, who was attacked by prison inmates, died on 20 November 2068. In February 2068, 30 people were injured in a clash at Birgunj Jail. Many of the injured were hit on the head and hands by sharp weapons. In Baisakh 2073, a dozen prisoners were injured in a clash in Bhimfedi Jail.
In November 2073, eight people were seriously injured and four were slightly injured when two groups clashed with wood and iron rods in Jaleshwar Jail of Mahottari. In Chait 2078, 25 people were injured in a clash at Jhumka Jail in Sunsari. On 4 July 2082, 13 people were injured in a clash between inmates at Siraha Jail. These are just a few references. Such skirmishes are usually connected with the attempt of who will take control of the prison.
There are three main purposes of imprisoning any person. First, punishment for being involved in a crime. Second, the offender can atone for his crime and improve his chances of reformation. Thirdly, if the offender is left open in the society, the possibility of further crime will increase and the person will be isolated from the society. The common goal of all these options is to improve the individual. Although the court will decide the punishment, the government is responsible for the rest of the purposes. But the government has not been able to convert our prisons into correctional facilities.
More inmates are kept in one place than the capacity and no effort has been made to improve the infrastructure due to the mentality of considering the prison as a torture chamber. For example, Kailali Jail has a capacity of 150 people but has 695 inmates. They are also deprived of housing status and other basic facilities. For example, Jaleshwar Jail has only 15 toilets for 559 prisoners.
Such a situation makes a person's attitude negative instead of improving. Instead, taking advantage of such a sick situation, some people are organizing people even inside the prison, inciting them to do illegal things and even getting into clashes.
The Kailali incident makes it clear that there is a need for massive intervention in prison operations and management. For that, first of all, those responsible at all levels who were weak in the Kailali incident should be held accountable. Likewise, the mentality that keeping in prison means torture should be abandoned and mechanisms and infrastructure should be developed to provide a basic humane environment and expect improvement.
The grouping environment within the prison must be assessed and control measures adopted. Similarly, if there is a clash somewhere, the security personnel should be alert and ready to intervene immediately. For this, there should be a comprehensive reform of the prison system.
