(Published on merinews.com on 5th October 2008)
(Recently, violence erupted in Mangalore; it turned many youths into criminals. They had to spend many days behind bars for no mistake of theirs. They had never seen a prison before. They had merely protested against attacks on churches.)
THE RECENT communal violence certainly brought out another side of the largely peace-loving Mangalorean Catholics. At the same time, the events also made criminals out of many youths who had never even looked at a police station before, let alone remain in prison. They had to spend many days in jail for the first time ever.
A youth from Derebail, who is a degree student in a reputed city college, was one of these unfortunate ones. His mother is a central government employee and his elder sister recently completed her post-graduation. The family had never been to a police station before except to comply with some passport-related formalities. But over the past few days, they had to visit the city sub-jail -- the youth had been arrested on Sunday, September 14. The youngster had just undergone a surgery in Chennai last month as the cornea of his left eye had been displaced. Like the other youths, he had participated in the protest in front of the Milagres Hall on that fateful day. The police got hold of him as he was preparing to leave after the caning incident. He claimed he did not stone the policemen. Twelve cases were booked against him. Fortunately, the police did not thrash him and he did not face any problems inside the prison. The food provided to him came from caterers outside the jail and his parents visited him regularly. Initially, a lot of Catholics were in the prison as many youths from Kulshekar and Vamanjoor had also been brought there after being arrested. However, only 20 remained after Wednesday, September 17 and he was one of them.
He is not happy with the discrimination he came across in the jail. According to him, one of the prominent Bajarang Dal leaders was also arrested and lodged in the same jail. But this man received a royal treatment from the police. He was allowed to use his mobile phone inside the jail and was always chatting with the jail superintendent at his office. Normally, 10 to 12 persons were lodged in one cell, which was then locked. However, there were only two persons in the cell where the Bajarang Dal leader had been imprisoned. Moreover, the prison authorities never locked that cell.
A youth from Derebail, who is a degree student in a reputed city college, was one of these unfortunate ones. His mother is a central government employee and his elder sister recently completed her post-graduation. The family had never been to a police station before except to comply with some passport-related formalities. But over the past few days, they had to visit the city sub-jail -- the youth had been arrested on Sunday, September 14. The youngster had just undergone a surgery in Chennai last month as the cornea of his left eye had been displaced. Like the other youths, he had participated in the protest in front of the Milagres Hall on that fateful day. The police got hold of him as he was preparing to leave after the caning incident. He claimed he did not stone the policemen. Twelve cases were booked against him. Fortunately, the police did not thrash him and he did not face any problems inside the prison. The food provided to him came from caterers outside the jail and his parents visited him regularly. Initially, a lot of Catholics were in the prison as many youths from Kulshekar and Vamanjoor had also been brought there after being arrested. However, only 20 remained after Wednesday, September 17 and he was one of them.
He is not happy with the discrimination he came across in the jail. According to him, one of the prominent Bajarang Dal leaders was also arrested and lodged in the same jail. But this man received a royal treatment from the police. He was allowed to use his mobile phone inside the jail and was always chatting with the jail superintendent at his office. Normally, 10 to 12 persons were lodged in one cell, which was then locked. However, there were only two persons in the cell where the Bajarang Dal leader had been imprisoned. Moreover, the prison authorities never locked that cell.
The youngster said that some of his cellmates were those accused of murder. Though Hindus, they were friendly with the entire batch of those arrested in the Milagres incident. Bajarang Dal activists lodged in the prison for various reasons, were placed in other cells. They teased the Catholics at every available opportunity. They even tried to get the murder-accused to help them in assaulting the Catholics. But the latter refused to co-operate with them and even threatened Bajarang Dal activists of dire consequences if they tried to attack the Catholics, recalled the youth with gratitude.
Another youth from Pezar Varado had a similar experience. But he described prison life as a ten-day camp; it had been a unique experience for him. However, the police had confiscated his cell phone and 15 policemen assaulted him while arresting him near the Netravati Bridge on that eventful Sunday.
He remembered the driver of the police vehicle very well and the registration number of the vehicle was ‘KA19G317.’ He furnished explosive details of what went on inside the prison. Hemp was sold at Rs 70 a pack. Many of the jail inmates used mobile phones and those belonging to the minority community were treated badly. Minorities were not served good food and did not get nice cells. He accused prison authorities of supporting the Bajarang Dal activists in assaulting the minorities.
Readers might recall that a prisoner belonging to the minority community was assaulted badly inside the prison on September 24. According to the youth, the incident occurred at 10am when prison authorities were preparing to produce him in the court. Normally, the cells were closed at the time, but the jail authorities let out the Bajrang Dal activists so they could attack the prisoner. The youth thanked Elizabeth Neeliyar, a noted city lawyer, who helped him fight his case. However, he was said that he had to remain in prison for no fault of his. He queried, “Don’t we have the right to protest?”
Another youth from Pezar Varado had a similar experience. But he described prison life as a ten-day camp; it had been a unique experience for him. However, the police had confiscated his cell phone and 15 policemen assaulted him while arresting him near the Netravati Bridge on that eventful Sunday.
He remembered the driver of the police vehicle very well and the registration number of the vehicle was ‘KA19G317.’ He furnished explosive details of what went on inside the prison. Hemp was sold at Rs 70 a pack. Many of the jail inmates used mobile phones and those belonging to the minority community were treated badly. Minorities were not served good food and did not get nice cells. He accused prison authorities of supporting the Bajarang Dal activists in assaulting the minorities.
Readers might recall that a prisoner belonging to the minority community was assaulted badly inside the prison on September 24. According to the youth, the incident occurred at 10am when prison authorities were preparing to produce him in the court. Normally, the cells were closed at the time, but the jail authorities let out the Bajrang Dal activists so they could attack the prisoner. The youth thanked Elizabeth Neeliyar, a noted city lawyer, who helped him fight his case. However, he was said that he had to remain in prison for no fault of his. He queried, “Don’t we have the right to protest?”
