The blustering bonhomie
on both sides of the Radcliff line notwithstanding the
friendly hand being extended by Ms Huma Parveen, a Pakistani
national, to her Indian jail inmates in learning cutting
and tailoring has never caught the attention of media.
Parveen (35), a resident of Lahore, who had crossed over
to India to see her ailing relative in New Delhi landed
in jail following seizure of narcotics. She was sentenced
to 10 years imprisonment under the NDPS Act. Parveen claims
that some fellow passenger had deliberately kept the narcotics
with her luggage before Custom’s clearance, about
which she was not aware.
The most pitiable case is that of Rubi (29), a resident
of Karachi, who along with her four-year-old son, Aibha,
is lodged in the jail. She was caught at the Attari railway
station while trying to enter India without a valid passport.
She claims that illiteracy had brought miseries in her
life. Both mother and son had come from Karachi and inadvertently
boarded the Samjhauta Express.
However, once inside the jail she got an opportunity to
become a master in cutting and tailoring. “At least
I would be able to earn something for the family after
I return to Karachi”, she adds. There are about
70 Pakistani nationals, including five women, lodged in
the jail. Ishrat, another middle–aged woman from
Landa Bazaar, Lahore, had similar story to narrate. She
was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on the charge of
bringing narcotics through the Samjhauta Express. Ms Usha
Kapur, a child development project officer, said a craft
teacher and “Bal Sevak” of the department
were training inmates in stitching and adult education.
However, Ms Sandhu of the India Vision Project Foundation
said Parveen, a Pakistan national, was the most-experienced
teacher, who volunteered to train her Indian jail inmates.
The Punjab State Social Welfare Board (PSSWB) and the
India Vision Project Foundation (IVF) are running the
stitching centre inside the Central Jail. Capt S. P. Singh,
Jail Superintendent, said he had urged the state government
to give some remuneration to women for sewing clothes
at the centre.
Though women barracks are crowded, the jail authorities
have accommodated all 125 women convicts and undertrials
in “almost homely” atmosphere. The Jail Superintendent
told the visiting PSSWB chairman that new block would
provide spacious accommodation to women inmates. He said
the new building would house a stitching centre, barracks,
study room for children and a crèche
