LAMAKAAN LECTURE SERIES

invites you to

A Lecture on

"Stories from Behind the Walls of Prisons: A sorry state of Indian prison system" by

Arun Ferreira

About the topic:

The life on the other side of the wall is very different. The prisoners are made to feel like slaves and each one is at the mercy of the authorities. The Indian prison system perpetuates many of the injustices of the penal system set up by the British. For example, inmates of foreign origin or of high caste and social status are routinely imprisoned under relatively better conditions and segregated from those inmates who are poorer and of lower social position. Tribal and Dalit inmates are subject to various forms of abuse, ranging from the denial of visitors and refusal to provide medical care, to prolonged labor, sexual harassment, rape and “concealed” physical and mental torture. Many of India’s prisons date back to the era of British colonial rule, with thousands of prisoners kept in crumbling facilities largely unchanged since the beginning of the last century. The only major all-Indian prison reform ever implemented dates back to the Indian Jails Committee of 1919-1920. This lecture dispels myths, misconceptions and many claims of reforms by the authorities and gives a personal account of the speaker on the gory, plight and merciful conditions of the Indian prisons.

Brief note about Arun Ferreira:

Arun Ferreira is an Indian political activist and cartoonist based in Mumbai. In 2007, he was branded as the leader of the propaganda and communications wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). He was acquitted of all charges in 2014. Arun Ferreira was a free man. He reveals the horrors he faced in prison and describes how several others are facing similar situations all around India. He is the author of several articles and books. His recent book “Colors of the Cage: A Prison Memoir” is an eye-witness account of life in an Indian prison.

Entry - Free.