Loud Thinking August 27, 2013 at 12:47PM

What is happening in Pakistan..!

Prisoner’s barracks are auctioned for the prison wardens..!

A letter published today by the daily “The Nation” titled “Eating at our own roots”

Hearing information about jail auctions surprised me. On a local TV talk show the host informed that in jails the prisoner’s barracks are auctioned and prison wardens take part in this auction, the price for a barrack may go into hundreds of thousands. One may ask what happens after this auction, is it for the safety and welfare of the prisoners? No, the prisoners are sold to the highest bidder and the prisoners in that barrack are put completely at the mercy of the winning warden; they can eat or sleep or even breathe only by his permission. If a prisoner cannot pay, his life is made one perpetual hell. If he pays well he can have luxuries; such as cell phone, drugs and even arms. So where does security come into all this and who is responsible for security while all the prison staff is collecting money and coming up with plans on how to line their pockets.
In this scenario the two jail breaks are easy to accept, when the fiber of a society is riddled with corruption such acts become common. The rot started immediately after partition, when loot and lust for evacuee property started, but mercifully many departments remained clean of graft. The rot was boosted by Z A Bhutto when he ‘nationalized’ all industry and put his inept cronies in charge who destroyed them. The disintegration has since then been gathering speed and everyone in a department happily eating away at the roots of our country, so who will catch the thieves?

DR ZAHEER ASGAHR KHAN,
Lahore, August 12.

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