FAISALABAD – A delegation of Child Rights Committee (CRC) visited the district jail to have a firsthand knowledge of the minor children being brought up in prison cells under the care of their mothers.
The CRC is a social welfare organisation working in coordination with Society for the Protection of Rights of Children (SPORC). The visit aimed at focusing on the wellbeing of the children who are living in jails just to stay in the loving laps of their mothers. The programme was arranged by the Social Welfare Department under their ongoing project titled “Scoio Economic Rehabilitation Centre for Female Prisoners” and was coordinated by Social Welfare Officer Ayesha Jameel who welcomed the CRC delegation.
The members of the volunteer organisation included CRC Deputy Coordinator Mujahid Jilani Advocate, non-official visitor (NOV) of jails, local political and literary figures and senior members of CRC Kaneez Ishaq, Farzana Chaudhry, Nazia Sardar, Ms Asma Inayt, Naureena Cheema, Aqeela Chaudhry advocate and Nadia Chaudhry advocate.
Deputy Superintendent Prisons Fareeha Arshad briefed the delegation about the living conditions of women and children. “There are a total of 62 women prisoners of whom 29 are convicts while 33 are under trial in various courts,” she said. Fareeha said they had seven minor children living with their mothers.
CRC Deputy Coordinator Mujahid Jilani advocate said their mission was to eradicate the child abuse from the society. “We strongly feel that the children who are living in jails for no fault of their own were the innocent victims of the jail tragedy and “we are fighting for the release of the women so that their small kids can walk outside prison and lead their normal free life,” he said.
“This is for the first time that we have visited a jail to address the problems of jailed mothers and children, but in future we will have periodic schedule of such visits to pursue our agenda of fighting the child abuse,” he added. On the occasion, non-official visitor of jails, and senior CRC member Kaneez Ishaq highlighted the importance of welfare work in prisons. “It is not relevant at all that a person is guilty or not; our focus is to give him a certain degree of emotional and spiritual support and work for his rehabilitation,” she said.
“This will help them become a healthy member of our society again when they are released and go back to the society and live a normal life,” she added. The veteran social worker, who is also running a free legal aid facility for women in distress titled “Women Crisis Centre”, met the jail superintendent and expressed her willingness to hold a medical camp in the jail.
The jail authorities asked for some time to survey the prisoners and specify the nature of their medical help required. She said CRC would arrange medical specialists, including a dentist, a doctor of medicine, an ENT specialist, an ophthalmologist and an orthopaedic doctor. The social stigma of imprisonment and the miseries of confinement are the most painful chapter of human anthropology in every society.
The historic comments of President Asif Ali Zardari are the most graphic depiction of he jail life that illustrate the depth of sorrow and helplessness of the life behind bars. “Putting someone in a prison is like burying him alive,” he said in an interview soon after his release. The point is that if a powerful prisoner like him has such a state of mind about his jail flashback, where do the voiceless, weak and wretched people stand when they are thrown behind bars?
Deputy Superintendent Prisons Fareeha Arshad briefed referred bailable cases of two women prisoners, but nobody is pursuing them for their release on bail. One case is of an elderly woman, Rabia who has poor mental and physical health. In the other case, 23-year-old married Kausar is facing charges under Hudood Ordinance. Mujahid Jilani advocate promised to pursue their release on bail.
