Comrade BN Singh who is a political prisoner inside Jaiprakash Narain Hazaribagh, has been on an indefinite hunger strike with a dozen other prisoners, highlighting prisoners’ demands for jail reforms. The demands include that prisoners who have been in prison for over ten years be kept in an open jail; meeting of the Sentence Review Board, in keeping with the NHRC recommendations, every three months to consider release of prisoners who have served 14 years in jail, based on the jail administration’s report on their conduct and potential for rehabilitation; DTH television provision inside the jail, as is available in other jails; provision to meet visitors in both shifts and to introduce intercom in the visiting area so that visitors and prisoners can hear each other; and.
Comrade Rajkumar Yadav, the CPI(ML) MLA from Rajdhanwar, raised the issue in zero-hour inside the Jharkhand Assembly. A dharna was held by AIPF at the Firayelal Chowk in Hazarib in support of Comrade BN Singh and the prisoners’ struggle.
After Comrade BN Singh’s condition deteriorated due to the hunger fast, the jail management agreed to several of the demands. The prisoners declared that if the Sentence Review Board did not meet by Republic Day, the prisoners would intensify their struggle. Comrade BN Singh then broke his fast by accepting juice from the 70-year-old Ahmad Qureshi.
