Is COVID An Excuse to Mistreat Political Prisoners?

Human rights abuses against imprisoned activists have been easy to cover up under the guise of ‘quarantine’ and ‘isolation.’

By Allan Shuaib

To be jailed for political activity is an abomination. According to Luis Jiménez de Asúa, a Spanish jurist, “Political prisoners are people who have been incarcerated for working for revolutionary change and for the betterment of society.” Countless people have been imprisoned for criticising and working against governments. Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Bhagat Singh and M.K. Gandhi were all political prisoners. Human rights activists arrested in the Elgar Parishad case and all those imprisoned during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) movement were and are political prisoners. These are people who worked for the betterment of society.

However, governments have always called political prisoners “terrorists”. Both the colonial British government in India and the Indian governments that followed imprisoned those they considered unacceptable. For example, during the freedom struggle, the British called Bhagat Singh a terrorist.

Under the Indian Prison Act enacted by the British in 1894, all the Indian states must make rules according to their circumstances and administer prisons based upon these rules. In Kerala, for example, prisons are governed by the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Act, 2014.

These prison rulebooks describe a prisoner’s rights, dos and don’ts, food, clothing and other basics. And any material and non-material advances in prison rules are due to the efforts of political prisoners, not the benevolence of the state. During India’s freedom struggle, the British Empire had to finally accept the demands of prisoners like Jatindranath Das, Bhagat Singh and their comrades, who went on a 63-day hunger strike for the rights of political prisoners. Former communist leaders like E.M.S. Namboodiripad and A.K. Gopalan fought in prisons and later made various prison reforms when they came to power.

In addition to prison struggles, there have been a number of reforms and interventions in favour of prisoners because of consistent work done through lobbying in and out of courts. On April 26, 2000, in the case titled State of Andhra Pradesh vs Challa Ramakrishna Reddy and Others, the Supreme Court made it very clear that a prisoner, whether a convict, under-trial or a detainee, does not cease to be a human being. The individual is therefore entitled to all the fundamental rights promised by the constitution.

On September 9, 2021, in the case titled Nirmala Kumari Uppunganti vs State of Maharashtra, the court while stating that Maoist leader Nirmala should be given medical treatment, said, “Just because the person is a prisoner they do not cease to be a human being.”

It was in this context of human rights that the Supreme Court voluntarily filed a case to reduce overcrowding of prisons during the pandemic and took steps to release prisoners on interim bail or parole and release convicts who had completed two-thirds of punishment.

Prisons in the pandemic

With the advent of the pandemic, there were restrictions on rallies and protests not just in India but around the world. This seriously affected the anti-CAA and anti-National Register of Citizens (NRC) movement in India. The protest in Shaheen Bagh was dismissed and people were forcibly quarantined in the name of the lockdown. Taking advantage of this situation, the police arrested anti-CAA/NRC activists and imprisoned them. Under the garb of the virus, various organisations and politicians were persecuted. Many of the things that the government had previously done in secrecy were now done openly inside and outside of prisons. People were further pushed into poverty. There were job losses, starvation and mass exoduses. Afflicted with the virus and denied adequate medical treatment, people dropped dead like flies. The government did not even pretend to see. Fundamental rights were presented as benevolence. The police were given all the power and the pandemic became a law and order issue.

Given the situation outside, what would be the situation in prisons? Protests and defiance by the incarcerated, especially political prisoners, took place in many prisons in India. In addition to those already incarcerated at the time, activists and students who took part in the anti-CAA movement were increasingly imprisoned. We are all well aware of Safoora Zargar, a student activist who was imprisoned while pregnant.

Most of the political prisoners who were arrested without prior notice were not allowed to contact their lawyers or arrange for necessary clothing and supplies in their prisons. Their relatives were not allowed to phone them. The jail authorities tried to make th