Punjab: In search for light, prisoners turn poets, artists for jail magazine ‘Ujala’

This moving poem — ‘Jaandi vaari mere baapu nu…’ — expressing pain of losing a father has been penned by 46-year-old Sukhchain Singh Gill. And it has been written while Gill spends his days behind bars after being convicted in a robbery case and sentenced to six years imprisonment.

And Gill is not the only one. Undergoing a 10-year jail term in an NDPS case, Bhupinder Singh (37) uses a pen name Geetkaar Laadi Sekhon as he writes about humans killing fellow humans in his poem titled ‘Banda kahton bandey nu hi maari jaanda hai’.

“Buddhey maa baap di koi sewa kare na, fayda ki hai mandaran ch mattha tekey da, etthey hi hisaab dena paina lekhey da, banda kahton bandey nu hi maara jaanda hai…(What’s the use of going to temples if you can’t serve your old parents, we have to answer for our misdeeds on this planet. Why are humans killing other humans?)”

Booked in a theft and cheating case, Angrez Singh Mann (44), who has been lodged inside the Patiala jail for three years now, expresses plight of farmers in his poem ‘Ajj da kisaan’,

He writes: “Nikkey nikkey bachheyan ne, jadon pyo kolon kuch mangeya.. jeb vich koi paisa hai nahi, sapp ne seena dangeya… jatt bhukkey pet hi so geya, mandi vich bohal kanak da la ke (When his small children asked for something from him, he had no money in his pocket. He felt stung by a snake. The farmer slept hungry, while keeping his wheat sack in the mandi).”

From murder accused to those booked in rape, drugs and terrorism cases, “hardcore criminals” lodged in Patiala Central Jail are among those contributing their writings for Ujala –Sochan di Udaan, a quarterly in-house magazine started by the administration of Patiala Central Jail, with an aim to give wings to the thoughts and feelings of the inmates.

Poems, short stories, cartoons and illustrations all make it to the magazine that gives an open platform to Patiala jail inmates to contribute in whichever way they want to and bring out their hidden feelings on paper in form of words or art.

25-year-old Amandeep Kumar who was convicted for raping a minor and 36-year-old Ratan Dhanjal, booked by the CBI under the Explosives Act in the infamous Jalandhar tiffin bombing case of 2015 linked to Namdhari sect, have both turned illustrators and while in jail, they are now drawing illustrations and cartoons to express themselves.

Patiala Jail Superintendent Shivraj Singh said that the initiative has invoked an excellent response from inmates who are now volunteering for contributing to the magazine without any repeated reminders.

“We have already published three editions of the magazine and after discussing the idea with them initially. We are never required to give them repeated reminders. They have started writing and drawing themselves to contribute for the magazine. There’s never a better way to express ones feelings than writing.”

The officer added that effort seems to be paying off well as most inmates are contributing poems and writings on social issues.

An inmate in his poem ‘Dhee de kaatlan nu haloona’ wrote: ‘Dhee kukkh vich qatal karaun valeyon, ehna nu vi pyar karo.. kadey Chawla, kadey Teresa kadey Jhansi banke aayi, iss di jaan mukaun khaatir, doctor bane kasaai… (Killers of daughters who kill them in womb, learn to love them too. She has come on this planet as Kalpana Chawla, Mother Teresa and Rani Jhansi. To kill daughters, doctors have also become butchers).”

About the initiative, the jail superintendent added: “Not just inmates, our jail staff is also contributing for the magazine. It is the first such initiative by any jail in Punjab.”