Prison Sports - the answer to the social problems of reformed criminals?

Awarded capital punishment, to be hanged until death.

Sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment.

To undergo ten years solitary confinement.

Awarded five years simple imprisonment and a fine of thousand rupees.

Sentenced to undergo two months community work in a Gurdwara.

Order. Order. Order.

Judgments are delivered and the wronged ones are sent behind bars for crimes committed in a pre-planned manner, on the spur of the moment, or out of anger, hunger or poverty. That is how prisoners are made. Some of them get reformed after serving their sentences and others return to jails as hardened criminals. And those who come out of the prison with the stigma of a prisoner die a thousand deaths every day as social outcasts before literal death finally swallows them.

Sentenced to go behind bars, inside the jail the prisoners are kept occupied in menial jobs or hard physical labour. They do carpentry, cooking, cutting wood, breaking stones, cleaning toilets or teaching other inmates. One thing they are never taught is how to regain the social respectability and acceptability which they believe they have lost forever. Within the jail, many of them learn new vices from other inmates or look for drugs or are subjected to sexual abuse. Thanks to the system, their transformation as social outcasts is complete.

Sports could make a difference here. Prisoners, especially juvenile delinquents, are the right subjects for sports training. While in prison, placed in a regimented life pattern, prisoners learn to obey orders, become disciplined and get committed to complete the given tasks, even if it is out of compulsion. And through all of this, they crave to regain their lost social acceptability.

Inside the jail enforcing discipline for training becomes easier; periods of physical work outs and rest can be chalked out, a regular diet chart and medical/health support systems are in place. All these positive virtues and facilities along with their inborn aggressive traits, which unfortunately made them criminals, make them the right raw material to be moulded into champion sportspersons, assuming, of course, a hidden talent for sports within them.

Considering the infrastructure available inside the prisons and their age, prisoners could be given training in selected and less equipment-oriented sports like chess, carom, billiards, table tennis, selected events in athletics like distance running, long jump, triple jump, high jump, kabaddi, Kho kho, basketball, volleyball, badminton, wrestling, boxing, judo, karate, weight lifting, body building and arm wrestling. Such sports training is more important in the case of juvenile homes where the children are at the right age for spotting and nurturing their talent for sports.

In this modern age, where the concept of open jails has been well-received and implemented, the security concerns of prisoners being inducted into organized sports could be adequately addressed.

Introducing serious sports training beyond recreation in prisons as in the case of schools and colleges around the country will open up additional employment opportunities for sports coaches. Coaches once posted to prisons could identify the talent for sports amongst the prisoners and chalk out a scientific training programme based on the availability of infrastructure and equipment. Diet supplements, if any required, would be provided by the prison administration and the medical and health check up of the selected sports talent could be carried out by the jail hospital.

After training, once the prisoner-athletes are ready to compete, first the completion could be arranged within the jail, and then it could be between the jails within the same state, leading subsequently to inter-state jail competitions. Those who excel in their respective sports could be allowed bail/parole/probation to participate in the state, national and international competitions and win medals. Such medal winners could be given remission in their sentences and also given awards and rewards by the state and by the country. The remissions in sentences on grounds of ‘good conduct’ existing now could be extended to good performance in the sports field.

Sports could thus be used as a vehicle to fly the unfortunate prisoners, many of whom are victims of destiny or circumstances, out of their cages and into the open airs of the society with honour and acceptability, making it a block buster “Escape to Victory”.

Judges would feel happy to digress from their routine monotonous orders of “rigorous imprisonment” and sentence many of the wrongdoers, especially the youngsters, to “Vigorous sports/physical activity” within the confines of the prisons. Such judgements will change the face of the wretched juvenile homes into sports cradles of the society. Every prison in the country will then be a sports academy.

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi Government, which are eager to bring in a new order in our society, may take a lead in this. Keeping politics out of sports, Smt. Kiran Bedi, the super cop, Magsaysay award-winning jail reformer and former Asian tennis champion, could be the ideal ‘cheer leader’ for this programme.