My name is Prem Singh Punjabi, I am the son of Gurcharan Singh of Sunam. I am writing this from my cell in central Jail Tihar: 2 Ward 18B. New Delhi.

I have been kept here illegally in solitary confinement since Nov. 25,1986. This place is a jail for criminal prisoners. No one has laid charges against me, nor is there a court order against me, therefore technically I am a detainee, not a prisoner. I am being tortured and given inhumane treatment by jail staff. I am caged like a bird in a small dirty cell. I have nothing to do but meditate on Almighty God. I think that they probably want me to lose my mental balance and become a zombie. I wish to present a true picture of this jail, and the excesses that I am made to suffer.

My jail cell is approximately 6 feet by 2 and % feet. I have been ° locked in here, to sit, sleep, and go to the toilet. The toilet is inside my cell. There is always a foul smell. There is no ventilation. For weeks at a time the toilet gutter remains blocked. The dirty water overflows and comes under my bed, It is very hard to breathe. There is no electricity here. At night I am in complete darkness. I must feel my way like a blind person. Because of this I have fallen many times, sometimes hurting myself. 1 have developed eye infections. A doctor who came in January 1990 prescribed that I should be exposed to light. So far, no action has been taken. According to Punjab Jail Manual Para 576, D2 (1) 516 D2 (B) 576 D9 I should be given light.

I have been kept inside a cell, locked for 24 hours, for almost an entire year. Then they started to open the door (gate) for 30 minutes every day. These 30 minutes, I was not let out under the open sky, but rather under a grilled (iron bar) ceiling just outside my cell. After four months of this, the inner door (gate) to my cell started to remain open from 8 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the evening. I could come out of my cell under the iron bar ceiling from 8 to 5. After S to 6 months of this I was led into a small yard about 20 feet by 10 feet. I was under the open sky for two hours a day. At this point in time I had not seen the sky for almost 2 years. According the jail manual Para 577 both gates to my cell should have remained open throughout the day and should have been given fresh air and sunshine. After S months had passed, my time outside was increased to 3 hours. I could see the sky, but nothing else, not even a fresh breeze, because of the very high walls on all sides.

I am being guarded by a special Police Force from Tamilnadu in Ward no.18B. The police are armed with Sten guns, rifles and revolvers. The jail manual does not allow such weapons inside the jail. Many times these police have threatened to kill me, and continue to threaten on a daily basis. These guards smoke 24 hours a day. They make loud noises banging against the cell’s outer gate. They throw match sticks and cigarette butts into my cell. I have pleaded with them not to put them into my beard. (Editor’s e. The first year I ‘was here my hands were handcuffed in the back. Then they handcuffed me in the front. Today, they handcuff one hand with both cuffs note because of his religious beliefs, cigarettes are I have repeatedly pleaded to not be handcuffed. No one listens.

In this place I cannot further my owner.) I am not allowed studies. There is no light. I cannot read my holy book.

I have seen many prisoners brought in here. They are let under the open sky. When in their cell they have light. The inner door of their cell is left open 24 hours a day and more than one person is allowed in a cell. Yet, to get out of the Ward they cut themselves with blade or left to rot in solitary confinement in the Nation’s Capital, you can well imagine what kind of mistreatment must be given Sikh youths in Punjab and other parts of the country.

Prepared by Alice Basarke

Sept.11, 1990.

Article extracted from this publication >> September 21, 1990