Of jails and reforms: Juvenile inmates in Sukkur jail might get an education

SUKKUR: Seventeen-year-old Mohammad Ramzan Ujjan had never been to school. But he is happy that he has the opportunity to study at jail. “My elders were busy in tribal feuds,” he explained. “Nobody had the time to bother.”

He has been in jail for the last eight months for alleged murder. He was a resident of Ghulam village near Tando Masti in Khairpur district.

Two groups of the Ujjan tribe were at loggerheads with each other over a piece of land. One day, they clashed and a Ghulam Nabi Ujjan was killed in firing, Ramzan told The Express Tribune.

“I was nominated in the FIR and was arrested and sent to jail,” he said. “But believe me I am innocent.”

According to Ramzan, someone else committed the crime but he pled guilty because his family elders asked him to. “My father told me that children get shorter sentences.”

It has been a month-and-a-half since the Youthful Offense Industrial School (YOIS) was set up in Central Jail I Sukkur for juvenile prisoners by the Sindh government with the help of Sindh Education Foundation.

The juvenile prisoners section houses 32 boys in total, between 12 to 19 years old. They are divided into two age groups - those between 12 to 15 years old live together in one cell while the other cell houses boys who are from 16 to 19 years old.

The jail has provided them with a television set and basic facilities of indoor and outdoor games. The star pupil of the school, 12-year-old Mehtab Ali Ghunio, hails from Rohri and has been in Central Jail-I Sukkur for last three months for allegedly murdering his friend.

Mehtab shared with The Express Tribune how he ended up in jail. He was sitting at the bank of Indus River with his friends. One of them, Shoaib, was washing his feet in the water when he drowned in the river. Everyone ran away but Mehtab stayed there and called for help. “I requested people to help me,” he said. “But nobody helped.

“I went to Shoaib’s home and informed his parents about the tragedy.” Shoaib’s parents, Mehtab said, registered a case against him at the Rohri police station. “The police arrested me and I was challaned in the court.”

Another student, Kamran Bhayo, 13, has been in jail for the last three months for possessing 125 grams of cannabis. He belongs to Chak village in Shikarpur. “My parents never sent me to school so I used to spend my time sitting with friends at roadside hotels and agricultural fields,” he said. “My grandfather is a drug addict and smokes cannabis and I used to take a couple of puffs from him.” Soon Kamran was addicted and used to bring the cannabis for his grandfather and his friends. “One day the police caught me,” he said.

According to the jail superintendent, Qazi Nazir, the syllabus being taught to the boys at YOIS has been designed to enable them to pass primary exams within 18 months. He said that most of the children fall commit crimes because they are neglected.

Nazir wants to make the jail a place for reform for its juvenile prisoners. “These children can become respectable citizens if they are given appropriate attention,” said Nazir. “Education does make a difference. This is why we set up this school so we can at least provide the children with basic education.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2012.