Prison mayhem and drug pushers

The mayhem at the Magazine Prison, which cost the country very dearly, and the unrest at the Galle Prisons have, very understandably, stunned the public and we hope it would not be simply a case of the authorities picking- up the pieces and moving on. Clearly, there is more than a handful of issues to resolve and the state agencies involved cannot adopt a business-as-usual attitude towards these matters.

Apparently, the violence at the Magazine Prison was triggered by the opposition on the part of some prisoners to moves by the prison authorities to curb drug pushing within the prisons. It is suspected that drug barons were ultimately behind the conflagration which injured scores of persons and resulted in highly costly destruction to public property.

No doubt, the necessary investigations need to be conducted and the offenders in the disturbances taken to task but the larger issues in this crisis need to be confronted head-on and resolved systematically in an effort to eliminate the possibility of similar law and order break-downs occurring in the future. One such problem is the smuggling in to the prisons of hard drugs and its apparent stubborn persistence within the prison system. If we may draw on the jargon of the social scientist, this is a 'systemic' issue which is calling out for resolution.

It is no secret that drug pushing takes place within some of our prisons and the principal challenge is to find out how such a state of affairs has come to be. Once the relevant probes are carried out and the truth bared, the next important chore will be to put in place the necessary arrangements and mechanisms or 'structures' to contain the malaise. The use of force or threats to exercise force by any quarter should not deter the state from these tasks. For instance, it is now evident that some visitors to the prisons bringing meal packs for remand prisoners are a chief means through which drugs infiltrate the prisons. Something needs to be done about the possibility of this practice of permitting visitors to the prisons, being abused by the unscrupulous. Perhaps, regulations need to be tighter in regard to prison visits.

It must be also ensured that prison officials do not in any way collaborate with wrong-doers. All state officials who are party to these matters need to be scrupulously honest and the prison system should ensure that its officials are not exposed to the risk of being corrupted. Nevertheless, the corrupt must be dealt with firmly and the honest amply rewarded. We are glad to note that there were prison officers who were courageous enough to deal forthrightly and impartially with criminal elements during the recent mayhem at the Magazine Prison. To these brave officers we say, 'Keep up the good work.'

There is also the consideration that drug addicts among prisoners should be medically treated so as to weaning them away from their fatal attraction. This does not seem to be happening to the desired degree and we hope this issue too would be addressed. On and off this question of hard drug abusers being a bad influence in prisons crops up but it is not clear whether adequate remedial measures have been taken to stem the rot. Ideally, drug abusers must be isolated from the rest of the prison population and put through the relevant treatment and rehabilitation procedures. Finally, it is the issue of corruption coupled with hard drug abuse that needs to be dealt with. If progress is made in the direction of weeding these evils out of the larger society, institutions such as prisons could be saved from these blights. There is no getting away from these difficult but surmountable challenges.