Promo of Episode 59:
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jQAVhhlOrQc
Fifty-Ninth Episode of Kissa Khaki Ka: Released on 26 February 2023:
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX35VsAzyS8
Journalism, Jails & Tinka Model of Prison Reforms: Vartika Nanda
Feb 27, 2023
Delhi Police: Podcasts: Kissa Khaki Ka: Episode 58
Promo of Episode 58:
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DhoHV9iJTYU
Fifty-Eighth Episode of Kissa Khaki Ka: Released on 19 February 2023:
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TwOjo3Zg1U
Journey of Success: Ambala Jail Radio: Tinka Tinka Jail Radio in Ambala celebrates two years
February 26, 2023
Tinka Tinka Jail Radio in Ambala celebrates two years
- This is the oldest prison in Haryana
- This prison has witnessed the execution of Nathu Ram Godse
- Prison Radio is the brainchild of prison reformer Vartika Nanda
In a momentous occasion on Sunday, Central Jail, Ambala, celebrated two years of the establishment of jail radio in its premises. Central Jail in Ambala, being Haryana's oldest prison, was amongst the first three prisons chosen by Tinka Tinka Foundation to have its own jail radio station in 2021. Dr. Vartika Nanda, prison reformer and Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation, has conceptualised and executed prison radios in Haryana. She has done Auditions and selection of inmates and has turned a large number of inmates into radio jockeys.
History of Ambala Jail Radio
Counted amongst India's significant historical prisons, Central Jail, Ambala, has been witness to many significant events from India's pre- and post-independence past. Notably, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, was also imprisoned and later executed in this prison in 1949.
The jail radio and the progress
Catering to the communication needs of a population of over 1100 inmates, Ambala Jail Radio had trained 10 inmates into talented radio jockeys in 2021, in its initial stage.. Later on, new inmates kept joining the bandwagon. Inmates have received new wings of freedom within their restricted prison compounds through this prison radio.. The prison now reverberates with different radio programmes, ranging from news broadcasts, cultural shows, songs-on-request, among others, following a predetermined daily schedule. It also offers inmates their very own platform to channel their emotional and creative underpinnings through the medium of auditory expression. The jail receives nearly 50 letters every day, many of them addressed to the inmate-turned-RJs working here in the special prison radio station. The jail today holds a very special identity of having a unique jail radio based on the acclaimed TINKA MODEL OF PRISON REFORMS. According to Vartika Nanda,” Two special letter boxes have been placed near the jail radio room. Inmates receive 30 to 40 letters every day. Most of them demand to listen to more patriotic songs. We would like to especially acknowledge the Support of Sanjaav Pattar, Superintendent and Neelam, Deputy Superintendent. Satish, Rishi, Amit, Kishan, Devender, Sheru - all these inmates had created several songs pertaining to the jail radio. Today, on the completion of two years, these songs were again played on the jail radio.”
Success stories of Ambala Jail Radio
Earlier in 2021, the prison facility made it to news for a distinct song penned and voiced by an inmate, RJ Sheru at the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. His song alerting common citizens on the importance of COVID appropriate behaviour and vigilance was also appreciated by the then Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. This was amongst the first musical compositions released from Tinka Tinka's long jail radio campaign across Haryana which has established jail radio stations in 9 out of 20 jails in the state so far. The jail is also amongst the first to empower women inmates by offering them a special platform to emerge as radio jockeys, singers, song-writers, musicians and technicians for the in-house jail radio station.
Story of Haryana Jail Radio and the role of Tinka Tinka Foundation
Haryana jail radio was conceived in the year 2020. Jails of Haryana were divided into 3 different phases. The first phase had three jails- District Jail, Panipat, District Jail, Faridabad and Central Jail, Ambala. Second phase had four jails- District Jails of Karnal, Rohtak, Gurugram and Central Jail (I) Hisar. Third phase has five jails- District Jails of Sonipat, Sirsa, Jind, Jhajjar and Yamunanagar.
First jail radio of Haryana was inaugurated in District Jail, Panipat by Shri Ranjit Singh (Jail Minister), Shri Rajiv Arora IAS, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Jail) and Shri K. Selvaraj, (IPS), DG Prisons, Haryana in January 2021.
Background of Tinka Tinka Foundation
Dr. Vartika Nanda heads the Department of Journalism at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She has initiated a movement on prison reforms in India under the banner, Tinka Tinka. President of India conferred the Stree Shakti Puraskar on her in 2014. Her work on prisons was taken cognizance by the Supreme Court of India in 2018. Her name has also been included in the Limca Book of Records twice for her unique work on prison reforms. She launched Tinka Tinka Prison Radio in 2020, the only podcast series in India that brings out voices from jails. These exclusive podcasts have completed nearly 60 episodes.
Links:
Tinka Jail Radio: Episode 58: Ambala jail radio and the voices behind bars: https://youtu.be/O_X1910xDg0
Tinka Jail Radio: Episode 36: Ambala jail radio and the women inmates: https://youtu.be/W7FHVgeS5E4
Tinka Jail Radio: Episode 16: RJ singer Sheru on COVID-19: https://youtu.be/aObMkGTcNQc
Haryana: जिस जेल में नाथूराम गोडसे को दी गई फांसी, वहां तिनका-तिनका फाउंडेशन दिखा रहा जिंदगी की नई राह: Haryana:जिस जेल में नाथूराम गोडसे को दी गई फांसी, वहां तिनका-तिनका फाउंडेशन दिखा रहा जिंदगी की नई राह - Haryana Central Jail Radio Programme By Vertika Nanda Tinka Tinka Foundation - Amar Ujala Hindi News Live
(This article is part of Tinka Tinka Prison Research Cell established in 2021)
Feb 21, 2023
Medium is the Message
Marshall McLuhan is best remembered for his now famous quote “the medium is the message”. It is undoubtedly one of those statements that has blazed a trail in the history of 20th century thinking, and whose understanding is, even today, just short of spurious. Indeed, McLuhan’s propositions were not taken all too seriously by contemporary parties, who regarded him more as a pop culture star than as a thinker worthy of serious consideration. His provoking theorizations on mass media and his tough and intricate writing style have made of his figure a sort of ambivalent sign, crossing between the slight and the dense, between the rigorous and the light. However, it is as though all those entangled terms that McLuhan had coined in the fifties and sixties became objective in the eighties, and, what at first seemed to be an intellectual delirium, turned into a go to glossary to understand our times.
The article starts with a general reflection on media theories and the emergence of media ecology as a discipline. This first section also deals with the role of Marshall McLuhan in media ecology and the revival of his contributions in the last 20 years. The second part addresses McLuhan’s perspective on history, and tries to track down the way in which technology redefines human perception. It is from this vantage point that the fundamental axis of our proposal for reading McLuhan stems, namely the impossibility to segregate technique and culture in his works. It is impossible, mainly, because there is a need to think about the extension of his idea of medium.
This is an idea that brings about the ways in which humans enter in a relationship with the world, and it should be set against works foreign to McLuhan’s own, such as those by Don Ihde and Martin Heidegger. The idea is to separate the notion of the classic readings immediately associated with the notion of “mass media” and start a new search that allows for a deeper and wider understanding of media within McLuhan’s work, closer to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the philosophy of technology. This article ends with a discussion around the meaning itself of medium embedded in the relationships between humans and their techniques, and the way in which McLuhan couples’ technological pursuits with sensorial and thought organization.
Marshall’s Concept of ‘Media’
McLuhan uses the words medium, media, and technology.
For McLuhan a medium is "any extension of ourselves" or, more broadly, "any new technology." In addition to forms such as newspapers, television, and radio, McLuhan includes the light bulb, cars, speech, and language in his definition of media: all of these, as technologies, mediate our communication. Their forms or structures affect how we perceive and understand the world around us.
McLuhan says that conventional pronouncements fail in studying media because they focus on content, which blinds them to the psychic and social effects that define the medium's true significance. McLuhan observes that any medium "amplifies or accelerates existing processes," introducing a "change of scale or pace or shape or pattern into human association, affairs, and action," which results in "psychic and social consequences." This is the real "meaning or message" brought by a medium, a social and psychic message, and it depends solely on the medium itself, regardless of the 'content' emitted by it. This is basically the meaning of "the medium is the message."
In a further explanation of the common unawareness of the real meaning of media, McLuhan says that people "describe the scratch but not the itch."] As an example of "media experts" who follow this fundamentally flawed approach, McLuhan quotes a statement from "General" David Sarnoff (head of RCA), calling it the "voice of the current somnambulism." Each medium "adds itself on to what we already are", realizing "amputations and extensions" to our senses and bodies, shaping them in a new technical form. As appealing as this remaking of ourselves may seem, it really puts us in a "narcissistic hypnosis" that prevents us from seeing the real nature of the media. McLuhan also says that a characteristic of every medium is that its content is always another medium. For an example in the new millennium, the Internet is a medium whose content is various mediums which came before the printing press, radio and the moving image.
An overlooked, constantly repeated understanding McLuhan has is that moral judgement (for better or worse) of an individual using media is very difficult, because of the psychic effect’s media have on society and their users. Moreover, media and technology, for McLuhan, are not necessarily inherently "good" or "bad" but bring about great change in a society's way of life. Awareness of the changes are what McLuhan seemed to consider most important, so that, in his estimation, the only sure disaster would be a society not perceiving a technology's effects on their world, especially the chasms and tensions between generations.
McLuhan argues that media are languages, with their own structures and systems of grammar, and that they can be studied as such. He believed that media have effects in that they continually shape and re-shape the ways in which individuals, societies, and cultures perceive and understand the world. In his view, the purpose of media studies is to make visible what is invisible. The effects of media technologies themselves, rather than simply the messages they convey. Media studies therefore, ideally, seeks to identify patterns within a medium and in its interactions with other media. Based on his studies in New Criticism, McLuhan argued that technologies are to words as the surrounding culture is to a poem. The former derives their meaning from the context formed by the latter. Like Harold Innis, McLuhan looked to the broader culture and society within which a medium conveys its messages to identify patterns of the medium's effects.
Compiled by: Priyanka, Priyanshi and Sakshi
Radio in India: Class notes
Disclaimer: The note/s given
below is/ are a compilation of information taken from various sources. The
references to the sources are provided at the end. The views expressed in the
note/s are those of the concerned student/s/ intern/s. The blogger or the
compiler will not be responsible in any manner whatsoever regarding the
authenticity of the information provided in the note/s.
These notes are
being compiled to help the students for educational purposes during Covid-19
pandemic.
"In India's
remote villages there are many who, after the day's work is done, find time
hanging heavily...and there must be many officials whose duties carry them into
out-of-way places, where they crave the company of friends and solace of human
companionship. To all these and many more broadcasting will be a blessing and
boon of real value."
- Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India
● In India, the broadcasting media marked its beginning in the 1920s. Precisely, in June 1923, under the British Raj, the Radio Club of Bombay made the first-ever broadcast in the country.
●
In July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting
Company Ltd led to the establishment of the first radio station - the Bombay
Station which began on July 23, 1927, followed by the second on 26 August 1927
i.e. the Calcutta Station.
●
However, the company witnessed liquidation in
1930 and the government took over the broadcasting facilities. Indian State
Broadcasting Service began (ISBS) on April 1, 1930.
●
While it was established on an experimental
basis, it went on to become All India Radio on 8 June 1936.
“All India Radio
was worldwide.”
-Ajay Naidu, American Actor
❖
June 8, 1930, is a golden mark for broadcasting
in India. On this day, the ISBS was renamed All India Radio.
❖
This very term was coined by Sir Lionel Fielden.
He was the first broadcasting controller of India. A senior producer in BBC, he
spent five years in India and is one of the main people of established All
India Radio.
AKASHVANI
MYSORE
❖
The first private radio station was set up in
Mysore - Akashvani Mysore.
THE
‘KICKSTART’ MILESTONE
❖
The real breakthrough was achieved in 1936, when
the first news bulletin from the Delhi Station went on-air on 19 January. The
bulletin was both in English and Hindustani and also talked about the current
affairs from the station.
THE
ICONIC TUNE
❖
The legendary tune of All India Radio was
composed by Walter Kaufmann. A Czech national, Walter came to India at the age
of 27 as a refugee.
❖
From 1936 to 1946, Walter worked at AIR as the
music director and composed the iconic signature tune with the renowned Indian
orchestra conductor Mehli Mehta, who played violin for it.
Stream
All India Radio Signature Tune by tajmahalfoxtrot1 | Listen online for free on
SoundCloud
‘While millions
are familiar with the tune, few are aware that it was created by the most
improbable source - a Czech Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis in Europe!’
THE
FIRST NATIONAL MUSIC PROGRAMME
❖
The first national music program by All India
Radio was broadcasted on July 20, 1952.
VIVIDH
BHARTI - INDIA’S ALL-TIME FAVORITE
“It is a telling
statement that in the era of the unstoppable onslaught of satellite television,
radio rules in a vast part of India. No other single programme has beamed
itself across the country, for more than 30 uninterrupted years, as had Vividh
Bharati. The entertainment programme, presenting a mix of film music, skits,
short plays, and other features, broadcasts 24 hours countrywide. This is much
greater than the present reach of FM radio, restricted to metros. Not just,
longevity, Vividh Bharati is about bringing connectivity and entertainment to
India’s masses that need only to fork out less than Rs. 200/- for a tiny
receiver to feel like they belong in the greater scheme of things, that there’s
some joy in life in India’s vast rural beyond.”
-
India Today
❖
One of the most popular services provided by the
All India Radio - Vividh Bharti was inaugurated on 3rd October 1957.
❖ Vividh Bharti of All India Radio is the largest
entertainment network in the country since its very establishment in 1957.
❖ ‘Jaimala’, ‘Hawamahal’, ‘Inse Miliye’, ‘Sangeet
Sarita’, ‘Bhoole Bisre Geet’, ‘Chitralok’, ‘Chhayageet’ are a few of the
many popular programmes which were and are part of the listener’s daily life,
generation after generation.
❖
On 5th October 2008, Vividh Bharti Programmes
were made available on DTH, making it a 24-hour popular music channel.
❖
Vividh Bharti’s wide network consists of 37
centers and some Local Radio Stations and reaches more than 97% population of
the country.
❖
Even in the neighboring countries, Vividh Bharti
Programmes are highly popular. Listeners listen to it through short-wave
networks and regularly send appreciation letters to All India Radio.
❖
The one-of-its-kind music countdown show Binaca
Geetmala was earlier broadcasted on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and was
later shifted to the Vividh Bharati network in 1989. It ran until 1994.
❖
The well-known radio presenter Ameen Sayani
gained immense popularity through this programme.
Ameen Sayani... Memories of Binaca Geetmala
CHE GUEVERA - ON AIR WITH
K.P. BHANUMATHY
❖ Che Guevera, an Argentine Marxist Revolutionary visited India in 1959 and had an exclusive interview on All India Radio with K.P. Bhanumathy.
WHAT LED TO ‘AKASHVANI’
❖
Akashvani is a Sanskrit word that means ‘voice
from the heaven’ or ‘celestial announcement’.
❖
Akashvani was first used by M.P. Gopalaswamy when
he set up the country’s first private radio station in his residence - ‘Vittal
Vihar’ in 1936.
❖
Moreover, Akashvani was used in the context of
radio.
❖
The term ‘Akashvani’ was suggested by the very
famous poet Rabindranath Tagore through a poem penned in 1938 for the
inauguration of Calcutta’s shortwave service.
❖
However, the name gathered wide acceptance only
after 1956 when India’s Public Radio Broadcaster - All India Radio adopted
Akashvani as its on-air name.
THE FIRST-EVER FM SERVICE
❖
The first-ever FM Service marked its beginning on
July 23rd, 1977 in Madras, now known as Chennai.
❖
Time Slots on FM Channel to Private Parties
started in 1993 in Delhi and Mumbai. This marked the revolution in FM Radio
Stations in India.
BIG B
ON AIR
❖
It may not be known to many, but India’s greatest
superstar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan interviewed for All India Radio as a radio
announcer.
❖
Known for his deep baritone, it is quite
surprising that Mr. Bachchan was rejected by an AIR employee Mr. Ameen Sayani.
“I was rejected
for the job in All India Radio because of my heavy voice.”
-
Amitabh Bachchan,
actor
❖
While Sayani went on to become a popular radio
announcer, Amitabh Bachchan switched to the movie industry.
❖
Indirectly, All India Radio gave India its all-time
superstar.
➔
The FM Broadcasting in India began in 1977 but
boomed only after the 2000s, with the privatization of the Broadcasting
Industry.
➔
Private Participation wasn’t authenticated by the
government until 1993. The government started an experimental initiative with a
daily 2-hour slot in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
➔
The first phase of private sector participation
came in 2001when India’s radio sector began to expand. The government conducted
open auctions for radio licenses.
➔
108 licenses were issued in total, out of which
only 22 became operational in 12 cities of the country.
➔
On paper, Radio City Banglore is the first
private radio station in India established on July 3, 2001.
➔
The major private radio stations in India are
Entertainment Network India Limited which hosts Radio Mirchi, BIG FM 92.7,
Jagran Prakashan Group's, Music Broadcast Limited which hosts Radio City
(Indian radio station)|Radio City, D B Corp Ltd. which hosts My FM & Sun
Network which hosts Red FM. Currently, 371 private FM stations are operating
across 107 cities in India. Out of these, 31 are operated by micro, small &
medium enterprises (MSMEs).
➢
Community radio is a type of radio service that
caters to the interests of a specific area, broadcasting material that has
relevance to a local audience.
➢
In the UK, it originated in the illegal pirate
radio stations whereas in America, as well as in India, community radio is more
commonly non-profit and non-commercial, often using licensed class-D FM band
transmitters.
➢
Community Radio was not legal in India till 2002.
There had been a campaign by free speech advocates, academics, and community
members across the country to get community radio legalized.
TURNING POINT FOR COMMUNITY RADIO
●
The turning point was a 1995 ruling of the Supreme
Court in which the honorable court said that the “airwaves are public property
and must be used for the public good”.
●
This 1995 ruling was the foundation stone of
community radio in India. Immediately after the ruling came out, the civil
society groups formulated and adopted a Bangalore Declaration, in which the
need for a third tier of broadcasting, i.e. community radio was articulated.
●
This was followed up by a Pastapur Declaration in
2000 which reiterated the need for community radio and also asserted that it
ought to be non-profit making, localized, and community-owned. These two
declarations played important role in the development of the Community Radio
movement in India.
●
In December 2002, the Government of India
approved policy for the grant of licenses for setting up of Community Radio
Stations to well-established educational institutions including IITs/IIMs.On 1
February 2004, Anna FM was launched as India's first campus “community” radio
station by the students of Anna University.
●
In 2006, the Government of India amended the
community radio policy which allowed the agricultural universities, educational
institutions, and civil society institutions such as NGOs to apply for a
community radio broadcasting license under the FM band 88–108 MHz.
●
The first NGO-operated community Radio in India
was Sangham Radio licensed to Deccan Development Society which started
broadcasting in 2008 in Pastapur village, Medak district, Andhra Pradesh.
●
The government of India announced in November
2019 that 118 new community radio stations are in the process of setting up.
●
Currently, India has 262 Community radio stations
serving Farmer, Tribal, Coastal communities, ethnic minorities, and special
interests.
COMMUNITY RADIO
STATIONS FIGHT COVID 19
Source: Times of India
At a time when misinformation had taken over the social media
messaging, six community radio stations in Uttarakhand have come together under
the banner of Umeed Network or Hope to provide relevant locally produced that
provides valuable insights to the listens and fights fake news. These range
from information related to new quarantine rules, locally available nutritious
food, stress-busting techniques, educational programs, and entertainment.
●
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
●
Prasar Bharti
●
Vividh Bharti
●
Community Radio in India
●
Times of India
●
India Toda
●
Indian Express
● “Community Radio
in India.”
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/community-radio-india.
● “Facts about
Indian Radio.”
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-facts-history-indian-radio-aniruddha-pawade.
● “Indian Express.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/riding-the-waves-a-shared-history/.
● “India Today.”
https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/80-years-of-air-remembering-the-golden-days-of-all-india-radio-12987-2016-06-08.
● “Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting.”
https://www.mib.gov.in/broadcasting/community-radio-stations-0.
● “Prasar Bharti.”
https://prasarbharati.gov.in/all-india-radio-2/#1588508332867-217ff0f1-f4fe.
● “Vividh Bharti.”
https://prasarbharati.gov.in/vividh-bharati-2/.
Compiled and
Edited by
Tanya Pratap
Batch of 2023
B.A. (Hons.) Journalism
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi
How the blog has helped students
Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.
― Colleen Wilcox
The greatest goal of teaching is to assist students to make their own discoveries. Dr. Vartika Nanda’s blog has proven to be no less than a reservoir of valuable information for the students of Department of Journalism, Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
The blog has shaped and enhanced the department’s proficiency in multiple ways. As the mode of learning has shifted to online spaces, the blog has become the central portal through which students have continued to progress in their academics.
From containing notes of all important topics and necessary study material links, it has been extremely helpful to provide complete knowledge and thorough information about all the topics in and beyond the academic syllabus. Students can easily find what they need help with in the form of numerous compiled links, articles and notes. Instead of searching for material to study, everything is available at one single place which becomes extremely efficient while studying.
The blog also welcomes ‘Student Contribution’ - students can actively share research, scholarly articles and study material about the topic they are studying in their class, either individually or in a group. This has helped to encourage team spirit, presentation skills and increase communication between students.
The blog features insightful reports on the activities taking place in the department, including all events and speaker sessions during Juxtapose – the annual academic inter-collegiate meet of the Journalism department, LSR. There are also useful reports about the practical work that takes place within the classes such as newsletter, magazine and newspaper-making group activities. The various reports and newsletters available on the blog motivate and create enthusiasm within students to participate more in such activities. These have helped students to always be aware of the major happenings in the department, in case they’re unable to be part of them in real time.
This process of teaching vis-à-vis learning has not only enriched the way students research, document and present, but it has also created a safe environment for effective and healthy interaction which is truly a blessing for the students especially in this online setup.
2023: Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh: Where Imprisoned Birds Sing of Freedom।। देश की हृदय जेलों का सफर ।। तिनका तिनका मध्यप्रदेश
Location: Madhya Pradesh
Year: 2023
तिनका तिनका मध्यप्रदेश: लेखक: वर्तिका नन्दा
कॉलेज से घर आते समय रास्ते में मैने एक पिंजड़ा देखा, जो था तो बेहद ही खूबसूरत उसके अंदर काफी खूबसूरत चिड़ियां थी, कुछ देर बिल्कुल शांत होकर में टकटकी बांधकर उस पिंजड़े को देखती रही परंतु कुछ समय बाद मेरी नज़र उन चिड़ियों पर गई। जो बस पिंजड़े से बाहर आने की कोशिश में लगी हुई थी क्यूंकि वह खुले नीले आसमान को नापना चाहती थी।उसमें ऊंची उड़ान भरना चाहती थी, जैसे आसमान की कोई सीमा नहीं होती वैसे ही वह भी अपनी उड़ान को किसी सीमा में नहीं रखना चाहती थी।वह तो बस खुले गगन को छूना चाहती थी।
उस पिंजड़े को देखकर मेरा ध्यान जेल की ओर चला गया और में सोचने लगी कि जेलें भी इसी पिंजड़े के समान होती है। जहां पर सूरज की किरणे और चांद की चांदनी भी बिना इजाज़त के दाखिल नहीं हो सकती है। जहां दीवारें सुखडी होती हैं और सालखें मज़बूत होती हैं। जिसके अंदर बन्दी उन्ही खूबसूरत चिड़ियों केसमान होते हैं जो आसमान को छूना चाहते हैं।अपने अंदर पंख लगाकर आसमान में ऊंची उड़ान भरना चाहते हैं। लेकिन अफसोस है कि जेलों की इतनी ऊंची दीवारों ओर सालखों के अंदर से वो आसमान को देख भी नहीं सकते हैं परंतु हमे एक सवाल अपने आपसे अवश्य पूछना चाहिए कि हमें ' जेल ' शब्द सुनते ही भह का आभास क्यों होता है। क्यूं हम वहां रहने वाले अपराधियों से दूर रहना चाहते हैं। क्या वह अपराधी हम जैसे आम लोग नही हैं? हम यह क्यों नहीं सोचते के जेल में गया हुआ हर इंसान घोषित अपराधी नहीं होता है।
जेलें इतिहास लिखती हैं। हमारे देश को आजाद कराने वाले बहादुरों की आधी से ज़्यादा ज़िंदगी जेलों में ही गुजरी थी। इसी के साथ साथ हमारा ध्यान उन मासूम फूल से बच्चो की तरफ क्यों नहीं जाता है जिनका जन्म जेल में होता है और ना चाहते हुए भी उनके घर का पता जेल बन जाता है। जेल के बिना सामाज संभव नहीं है, जैले समाज का वो हिस्सा हैं जो समाज से कटा हुआ है। यहां अनगिनत सवाल जन्म लेते हैं और सलाखों के अंदर से झांकते है और अपने सवाल का जवाब मिलने का इंतजार करते हैं। यहां इंसान के सपनों से, खुवाईशों से , खुशियों से बड़ा इंतज़ार होता है।
जेलें अक्सर इतिहास लिखती हैं, परंतु इसका मतलब यह नहीं है कि जेल के अंदर आया हुआ हर व्यक्ति एक अपराधी ही हो, जेल हमेशा न्याय ही नहीं करती, जेल में बहुत से लोग निर्दोष भी होते हैं तब भी सजा काट रहे होते हैं और ऐसा भी नहीं है कि जेलों के होने से समाज के अंदर से अपराध का खात्मा हो गया हो। इंसान कभी अपनी इच्छा से जेल नहीं जाना चाहता है, परंतु जेल इंसान को अपने आगोश में भर ही लेती हैं।
ऐसे ही मध्य प्रदेश की जेलें हैं जहां बंदियों ने सब कुछ खो दिया लेकिन साथ - ही - साथ बहुत कुछ पा भी लिया। जेलें समाज का वो आइना है जो इंसान को उसकी ज़िंदगी का वो सबक सिखाती है जो शायद समाज में रहकर वो कभी नहीं सीख पाता। मध्य प्रदेश की जेलें वो हीरा हैं जिन्होंने बंदियों की अंधेरी ज़िंदगी में रोशनी की लौ को जलाए रखा है और यह रोशनी की लौ एक दिन पूरा अंधेरा मिटा देगी और उस दिन बंदियों की ज़िंदगी में एक नई सुबह होगी। हमारे देश के हिर्दय प्रदेश की जेलों ने समाज की सोच में सकारात्मक बदलाव लाने का एक अनूठा प्रयास किया है और यकीनन यह हकीकत में तब्दील हुआ।
मध्य प्रदेश की जेलें आम आन्य जेलों की तरह नहीं हैं। इसके अंदर सांस ले रही तमाम ज़िंदगियां एक नए कदम को बढ़ाने का प्रयत्न कर रही हैं। यहां जो कुछ भी है सिर्फ सच है और उसके सिवा कुछ नहीं। यहां एक पीला-सा रजिस्टर है। जिसमें अपराधियों के आने का समय तो दर्ज होता है लेकिन जाने वाले समय का कॉलम खाली रहता है। जेल के अंदर बने हुए कानूनों का सख्ती से पालन किया जाता है। यहां की जेलों के अंदर हर चीज उसके अंदर रहने वाले बंदियों के हाथों से बनी हुई है, फिर चाहे वो खाना हो , खाने वाली थालियां , कुर्सी ,टेबल , मूर्तियां , लेदर के पर्स , खाने का कुछ और समान , यहां तक कि अपराधियों के आने का समय दर्ज करने वाला वो पीला रजिस्टर ही क्यूं हो । सब कुछ यहां रहने वाले अपराधियों ने ही बनाया है। जेल में घंटे की आवाज़ पर सब खाना खाने आते है , उसी की आवाज़ से अपने अपने काम करते हैं , जो जिस काम में दिलचस्पी है वो वहीं काम करता है और इस काम को करने पर अपराधियों को पैसे भी मिलते हैं। वो जेल में रहते हुए भी पैसे कमाते हैं और अपने घर में उन्हें भिजवाते हैं। इनके हाथों से बने हुए सामान को आम लोगों में भी बेच जाता है। यहां विश्राम करने का भी समय अपराधियों को दिया जाता है।
मध्य प्रदेश की जेलों में अपराधी सिर्फ काम ही नहीं करते हैं बल्कि उन्हें पढ़ाई भी कराई जाती है, कंप्यूटर ट्रेनिंग भी दी जाती है और योग के समय पर योगा भी कराई जाती है। जेलों के अंदर जो खाना बनता है वो सब्जियां भी खुद अपराधी उगाते हैं और इन सब्जियों को उगाने में को खाद की आवश्यकता होती है वो भी स्वयं अपराधी बनाते हैं। जेल के अंदर अपराधियों का मनोरंजन करने के लिए एक रेडियो भी है जिसपर रोज़ अपराधी अपने कार्यक्रम बनाते हैं और उसे सुनते हैं। जेल के अंदर जो नन्हे से फूल हैं यानि वो बच्चे ,जो कि अघोषित अपराधी हैं, उनके लिए स्कूल भी हैं।जेलों की दीवारें बहुत ऊंची और सख्त होती हैं जिनके अंदर अपराधी के सपने , ख्वाहिशें हार जाती हैं परंतु मध्य प्रदेश की जेलों ने वहां रहने वाले अपराधियों को जेल की बाहरी ज़िंदगी की ओर कदम को बढ़ाने का प्रयास किया है।
हमारे देश के
दिल मध्यप्रदेश की जेलों
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में तब्दील भी हुआ है। मध्य
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- मेहविश राशिद
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