Debate on prisoners’ conditions causes fracas in Sindh Assembly

Govt says province’s jails far better than claimed by MQM-P;
opposition says no basic facilities for inmates

During the Sindh Assembly’s session on Thursday, the treasury and opposition benches held a heated debate as they disagreed over the conditions of prisons across the province and the facilities its inmates were being provided.

The government claimed that the jails in Sindh had improved a great deal when compared to their previous status, but the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) MPAs claimed that three party workers had died at the Central Jail Karachi due to lack of any health facilities, saying that even aspirin was unavailable at the prison hospital.

On the second day of the assembly’s current session that started with Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza in chair, senior minister Nisar Khuhro answered questions regarding the Sindh Prison Department and told the House that the provincial administration was trying to convert jails into correctional centres with all the possible facilities.

“The government had earmarked Rs684 million for jails in 2012-13 but it spent Rs738 million, which shows how seriously we take the issue of prisoners’ well-being,” said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader.

He said prisoners were fed eggs and tea for breakfast, thrice a week chicken, thrice a week vegetables, twice a week beef and six times a week lentils, as well as evening tea, adding that the quality of meals was routinely monitored and if found to be deteriorating, the contractor’s tender was cancelled.

“During the struggle for restoration of democracy, I spent time in jails and I know the issues of the prisoners. They are human beings like others and have similar human rights. We are trying to convert jails into correctional centres and we impart technical and vocational training to prisoners so that they could be useful citizens after completion of their sentences.”

According to Khuhro, compared to Rs2 per prisoner a day in the past, the government was now providing Rs140 a day for each prisoner in Sindh. He claimed that the inmates were provided TV, fans and water coolers, while in the past 40 to 50 prisoners used to be kept in a barrack with one washroom and they had to sleep on the floor.

MQM MPA Saifuddin Khalid, however, claimed that the central jail’s hospital was without any doctors or medicines, and three of their party’s workers had died without medical treatment.

Another MQM MPA, Zafar Kamali, said “Muttahida and jails are inseparable” as hundreds of their party’s workers were incarcerated in jails across the province, adding that nobody knew jails better than those affiliated with the MQM.

He claimed that the central jail’s condition was the worst and it was akin to hell for prisoners.MPA Saleem Bandhani, also from the MQM, asked if there was any hospital at the Central Jail Sukkur, on which Khuhro said there was a 50-bed hospital there.

To another query, the PPP minister said transportation of prisoners to and from the court and jail was not the responsibility of the prison department, adding that no vehicle was purchased by the department for this purpose.

Karachi’s roads

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Khurrum Sher Zaman drew everyone’s attention towards the dilapidated condition of Karachi’s roads, especially the MA Jinnah Road, as well as the roads in the vicinities of Nishtar Park, Korangi, Baldia Town, Orangi Town, Clifton and other areas. He said the people were undergoing the worst mental and physical torture due to damaged roads and civic infrastructure.

Sindh Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro refuted the claim by saying that half of those roads had already been reconstructed while the remaining roads, including University Road, Rashid Minhas Road and Hub River Road, were under construction.

MQM MPA Moin Pirzada said there were no consumer courts in Karachi and those cheating consumers could not be prosecuted in Sindh, on which Khuhro said the provincial legislature had passed the Consumer Rights Bill in 2015.

Winter holidays

Sindh Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar said that starting this year, dates for winter holidays would not be fixed in advance so that the vacations could be announced according to the weather.

He, however, refused to grant more holidays after Leader of the Opposition Khawaja Izharul Hasan asked that the winter vacations be extended in Karachi due to low temperatures.

Dahar argued that despite snow and sub-zero temperatures in other temperatures, children were still in school there, but in Karachi the temperature normally never goes below 12 degrees.