MEERUT/DEHRADUN: Daulat Kunwar has been imprisoned several times. Once behind bars, it was the same story each time for the Dalit activist. “Caste discrimination starts the moment an inmate steps into a prison, it is real and it has been going on for many years,” Kunwar told TOI in shocking revelations that were echoed by other prisoners, including undertrials, who spent time in the jails of UP and Uttarakhand.
Now, though, Dalits in India’s jails see hope of better treatment following Supreme Court’s landmark order on Oct 3 striking down a series of “colonial-era” rules mentioned in prison manuals across the country which “reinforced caste-based division of labour, particularly targeting marginalised communities”.
Kunwar said, “Officials first enquire about a prisoner’s caste and note it down along with other personal details. The information about one’s caste will then be circulated in the entire jail and based on that an inmate will be assigned ‘work’. Dalits are mostly tasked with cleaning and sweeping. If anyone refuses, he is beaten up by other inmates on the directions of the jail administration.” It was worse for Hapur resident Inder Pal, 43. “I was jailed for 67 days. It felt like 67 years to me. I saw how inmates were forced to do low-grade labour they had never done in their lives. All of us were criminals. But some were considered superior. For two weeks, I was made to sweep. When I fell ill and couldn’t work, I was told to clean toilets. Without a brush. I was asked to use a cloth or my bare hands.”
The inequality went beyond work. Monu Kashyap, 23, who spent seven days in a UP jail for possessing an illegal weapon, said, “Food was limited for prisoners belonging to the so-called lower castes, while others ate freely. Complaints were met with threats or beatings.” Ram Bahadur Singh, 38, also lodged in a UP jail, added that Dalit inmates were often told to form a separate queue for food.
Apex court verdict signals a long-awaited dawn of justice, says UP DGP
It is like feeding us with the leftovers… like animals,” he said.
The recent apex court ruling has sparked optimism within police ranks, too. UP DGP Prashant Kumar, who hailed the decision, told TOI: “It’s a bold stride towards restoring the dignity of labour within Indian prisons. The verdict signals a long-awaited dawn of justice. For centuries, caste and occupation were wrongly fused, reducing entire communities to lives of subjugation and indignity.”
UP’s top cop added, “With this ruling, anchored in Article 21, the court calls for an end to the chains of caste-driven labour in prisons, urging reforms that nurture equality.”
Several social activists praised the ruling. Satish Prakash, a Dalit activist and associate professor at Meerut College, said changing jail manuals is only the beginning. “The real issue is the mindset. In a caste-ridden society, dominance persists both inside and outside the jail. Social engineering is must,” Prakash said. Kishore Kumar, an advocate and NCR-based Dalit activist, added, “For jail wardens, the term ‘Dalit’ is inseparable from what they call ‘hereditary trades’, such as manual scavenging, sweeping and cleaning…”
However, some prison authorities TOI spoke to said “prejudice” wasn’t allowed in their jails. Dadhiram Maurya, DIG (prisons) in Uttarakhand, said, “There is no caste-based job assignment in our jails. It was stopped as per our new jail manual last Nov.”
Additional district judge Shehzad Ali, secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Bulandshahr, meanwhile, said the SC ruling will strengthen the hands of lawyers and activists to ensure compliance. “We’ve visited jails regularly to address complaints. Now, we’ll ensure strict compliance and take immediate action against violations,” Ali added.
