Prisoners inside Ara Jail in Bhojpur district went on a hunger strike under the leadership of the CPI(ML) for their democratic and just rights. The administration had to bend under pressure from this struggle and after one day the Jail Superintendent met the protesters, spoke to them and promised to fulfill all their demands.
12 prisoners sat on hunger strike in Ara Jail from 9 AM, including Cheena Ram, Sunny Kumar, Ramnath Ram, Uttam Chaudhury, Rajeshwar Singh, Uttam Yadav, Sanjay Paswan, Dhananjay Kumar Singh, Rajkumar Ram and Ashok Rawani. Hundreds of prisoners were in their support. It was decided during the talks that all the demands would be met without delay. The effect was soon seen and fans have already started to be installed in all the wards.
Sub-standard meals were being given to prisoners in Ara Jail. It was the prisoners’ demand that the monitoring committee should be reinstated for monitoring the quality and quantity of meals as per the Jail Manual; doctors should be available 24 hours in the Jail Hospital; blood, urine and stools test facilities and x-ray, ultra-sound and blood bank facilities should be made available at the hospital; ‘chana’, ‘sattu’ and bread which used to be given to prisoners but are no longer available should be re-started without delay; one hand-pump is available for 250 prisoners in the new sector of the Jail which causes clashes among the prisoners; hand-pumps should be made as per necessity and pure drinking water (RO) should be arranged; The Jail Superintendent has promised that all the demands would be met without delay. This struggle by the Ara Jail prisoners is the victory of a democratic movement against the discrimination practiced by the government against prisoners. We congratulate the prisoners for their unity and victory.
