By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Kolkata/Berhampur: Muslim jail inmates of the Berhampur Central jail in Murshidabad called off their strike on the evening of 24 July as their demands for sehir and iftar during Ramadan were accepted by the jail authorities.
Muslim jail inmates of the Berhampur Central jail of Murshidabad, West Bengal were on hunger strike as they are not provided Iftar and Sehri and were not allowed home food either to observe Roza (fasting). More than 1000 Muslim inmates were reported to be on hunger strike from Monday evening. To grab the attention of the local people, they reportedly threw an appeal letter, stuck to an aluminum plate outside the boundary of the jail Monday night.
Jail inmates are generally served two meals inside Berhampur Central jail – lunch at 12 noon and dinner at around 6pm in the evening. Jail authorities, led by DIG (prison) Biplab Dasgupta talked with the inmates and it was agreed that at evening they will be served both the meals so that they can keep one meal for sehri (meal to be had at dawn) as there is no arrangement inside jail to cook food so early.
Distrcit Magistrate of Murshidbad Rajib Kumar infromed media that the stalemate at the Berhampur Central jail has been resloved.
The letter then reached the office of the local MP of Berhampur and Union Minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. He then spoke to the Director General of Police (Prison) Biplab Dasgupta at Monday night itself. Although Dasgupta immediately flung into action and reached the jail, the stalemate still continues.
Although Chowdhury has not made the whole content of the letter public, local sources said the inmates have argued that although in jail, being citizens of a secular country they expect freedom to observe their religious practices.
There are about 1500 Muslim inmates in Berhampur Central jail, and according to unconfirmed reports, most of them are on hunger strike demanding sehri and iftar. According to reports, there is no arrangement by administration for sehri and iftar, and when some inmates tried to make their own, they were tortured. They have hence demanded from the authroties to make arrangements for sehri and iftar.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told TCN over telephone, “some one found a food plate attached with the letter near the boundary of the jail.” He added that he has talked with talked to District Magistrate of Murshidabad and he expects that the matter will be soon resolved.
About 2200 inmates are currently lodged in the Berhampur Central jail, most of them are under trial and more than 80 percent are Muslims.
As the news spread, all political parties jumped in to reslove the matter.
Related:
Over 1000 Muslim jail inmates on hunger strike for Iftar & Sehri in WB