— ✍️Ipsa Shatakshi

The concept of human rights has evolved through a long process, often traced back to the Magna Carta of 1215, but its modern foundation was laid on December 10, 1948, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights Day is celebrated internationally every year on December 10, commemorating the day in 1948 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The formal observance of Human Rights Day began in 1950, when the General Assembly passed Resolution 423 (V), inviting all states and interested organizations to adopt December 10 each year as Human Rights Day. When the General Assembly adopted the Declaration, it was proclaimed as "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations," towards which individuals and societies should "strive by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance."

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines a comprehensive range of fundamental rights and freedoms to which every human being is entitled. It guarantees the rights of every individual without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

In India, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was set up on October 12, 1993, under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. It is an independent statutory body with the mandate to protect and promote human rights.

Human Rights Day has a unique theme each year, and this year's theme is – "Our Everyday Needs." That is, daily essentials including food, water, and other necessities.

Yet, day after day, we witness images from Palestine where people, including small children, are deprived of food, water, shelter, and all basic daily needs. The reason is Israel's attacks. Across the world, such scenes are visible either due to wars or economic hardships.

If we view this in the current context, there are many places where these needs are being curtailed or violated. However, there are also some places where neither war nor economic scarcity exists—yet human rights violations occur due to deep-rooted corruption and a loss of moral compass.

Foremost among these is the prison system, where human rights are blatantly violated.

We can understand this through conversations with some political prisoners and ordinary inmates in jails.

Rupesh Kumar Singh, a journalist known for human rights and pro-people reporting, who has been held in various jails in Jharkhand and Bihar for the past three and a half years and is currently an undertrial prisoner in Patna's Beur Central Jail, Bihar, shares:

"Human rights are openly violated in Beur Central Jail. Prisoners here do not receive food as per the jail manual, nor do they get soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, or other daily essentials." He further explains that he was kept in Golghar (high-security cell), where three people were crammed into tiny cubicles (rooms). The food provided was utterly inedible. However, on November 17, when 73-year-old Pramod Mishra, imprisoned as a Maoist, submitted an application to the jail administration with 12 demands related to food and health, warning of a fast unto death if improvements were not made, and other prisoners including Rupesh Kumar Singh supported these demands, there has been some slight improvement in the food since then. Prisoners are now being kept in separate cubicles. He also mentioned that the jail administration does not provide proper health arrangements. Additionally, there is only one tap for bathing for every 100 prisoners, forcing most to bathe using the toilet's water pipe while sitting on the latrine seat. He added that Golghar has ventilators from the beginning, but currently, all ventilators are being plastered shut. It is worth noting that these rooms have no windows, only a gate in front. It is concerning that in this suffocating space, the only small ventilator for air circulation besides the gate is being sealed, which will exacerbate health issues due to the inability of toilet odors and other gases to escape. Isn't this a mockery of human rights?

And the biggest hallmark of this jail administration is that they refuse to comply with court orders unless contempt proceedings are initiated against them—whether it's orders related to physical production in court or health-related directives for prisoners.

For family members to speak with inmates, there are only three STD booths for about 5,000 prisoners, one of which is non-functional. Addressing these issues, a total of six prisoners from the high-security cell of Beur Central Jail will observe a one-day hunger strike on December 10 this year, on the occasion of Human Rights Day. These include Pramod Mishra, Rupesh Kumar Singh, Sudhir Bhagat, Abhyas Bhuiya, Anil Yadav, and Rajesh Gupta. A written application regarding this was submitted to the jail administration on December 8.

It should also be noted that if any prisoner raises their voice against these irregularities, they are charged with disrupting jail discipline and transferred to another jail, where new forms of exploitation emerge.

It is known that in many jails in Bihar, administrative prisoners (those transferred between jails) face beatings. Hardly any prisoner escapes this.

Vijay Arya, approximately 65 years old, known to people as a simple and affable person and imprisoned as a Maoist, was beaten with batons upon arrival when transferred from Beur Central Jail to Buxar Central Jail. In his own words, which he wrote and sent to the media:

“On August 30, 2024, around 7 AM, I entered Buxar Central Jail. There, I was presented before Assistant Jailer Shiv Sagar in the entry branch office. As soon as he saw me, he started hurling filthy abuses at my mother and sister. I was stunned, wondering why the jailer was behaving so badly. He told the jail constable to call two BMP constables from outside with sticks. When they arrived, they asked me what I had done in Beur Jail? I said I hadn't done anything wrong there. Yes, we had announced a hunger strike because we weren't getting food as per the jail manual. At this, they flew into a rage and told the BMP constable, ‘Give this one a good thrashing.’

Then, in one corner of the jailer's office, one constable grabbed me by both hands and bent me forward, while the other rained hundreds of blows on my buttocks and thighs with his stick. When that constable got tired, I was stood up in front of the jailer again.

When the constable started panting, I was brought back before the jailer. With bloodshot eyes, the jailer cursed the constables, ‘How do you beat that he's still standing so straight? Beat him so much that he limps to his cell.’ I was taken to that corner again. This time, the constable holding me started beating with the stick, and the other sat on my back after laying me on my stomach. My legs were lifted and held, and countless blows were rained on the soles of my feet. When he got tired, I was stood before that torturous jailer, though I could barely stand.

Shiv Sagar Jailer, abusing me, said, ‘Hold your ears and do 20 squats, saying I won't protest or go on hunger strike against officials in any jail again.’ When I refused, he ordered the constables to shower blows from both sides until I fell unconscious. Helplessly, I did the squats until I collapsed. After that, the jailer ordered me to be sent to the Anda cell.

As I left the office and reached the gate, during the re-search, I started gathering my scattered belongings. Suddenly, a gate warden rained 15-20 indiscriminate blows from behind. He might have continued, but his fellow constable grabbed his stick and said, ‘Let it go, he's an old man.’ My age is 64. I limped to the barrack and cell.

After reaching the Anda cell, in the evening, I wanted to go to the doctor for painkillers, but I wasn't allowed to the hospital. I asked for hot water, but that too was denied. Instead, the constable abused me. I writhed in fear for 24 hours. At night, I couldn't sleep on my back or sit quietly. Defecating while sitting was agonizing for three days. The next evening, I was taken to the jail hospital for a check-up, but no medicine was given. In the cell, I was given one pot, one plate, and one blanket. I asked for a bowl and glass, but they weren't provided. No prisoner there is given a bowl or glass. If you've brought one from another jail, it's confiscated at the gate or barrack.”

(Published in JanChowk on June 21, 2025).

73-year-old Pramod Mishra was also beaten with batons when transferred from Beur Jail to Bhagalpur Camp Jail. In protest, he went on a fast unto death, stating that as long as even one prisoner is beaten, he would continue the fast. As a result, beatings of prisoners were halted there at that time.

When Rupesh Kumar Singh was in Bhagalpur's Shaheed Jubba Sahni Central Jail, batons were used on his fellow inmates as well, including poor and weak people, and even those who had previously served in the army and were in jail for some reason. Rupesh demanded a halt to this, but when it yielded no results, on May 7, 2024, he sent an application to the Bhagalpur District Magistrate regarding these atrocities inside the jail. Copies were sent to the Bihar Chief Minister, Home Secretary, Jail IG, State Human Rights Commission, Chief Justice of Patna High Court, and National Human Rights Commission. As a result, pressure mounted on the jail administration, and the beatings stopped thereafter. This was also reported in local media.

In the same Shaheed Jubba Sahni Central Jail, Santosh Rai, who had previously been in the army and now runs a YouTube channel, clarified the jail conditions during a conversation by asking, "How many days can you eat radish as a vegetable continuously? We were given it morning and evening as our vegetable until it stopped growing in the jail's fields."

A resident of Patna who spent six months in Beur Jail due to a family dispute shares, "Jail is hell for us poor people."

Caste discrimination in jails is deeply entrenched, just as in society—people from communities identified as backward are made to clean the filth.

Inmates in jails are not only isolated from society but completely severed from their families—be it wife, mother, children, or any loved one. What I myself have endured in Bihar-Jharkhand jails while visiting Rupesh is that whenever I went to meet him, a cellmate was always standing with him. With two or three grilles or glasses between us, the distance becomes 5-7 feet; meetings are limited to just 15 minutes, requiring us to shout to converse, and on top of that, someone is always present to listen to our talks. Meaning, there's no privacy even in husband-wife conversations. Once you're accused and sent to jail, all your human rights can be trampled. Prisoners are not even allowed to write letters to their family, friends, lawyers, or case partners in other jails—and this isn't possible in every jail. I remember on February 14, 2023, when Rupesh was imprisoned in Ranchi's Birsa Munda Central Jail, I wrote something for him on Valentine's Day, but despite many efforts, the jail administration refused to accept my letter. Their excuse was, if you can meet, what's the need for letters? Even on his birthday, postcards sent by family and friends were not delivered to Rupesh in any jail.

Except in Bhagalpur's Shaheed Jubba Sahni Central Jail.

However, even there, in the initial days, I had to write a complaint to the NHRC to provide copies, books, pens, and even IGNOU books.

According to a news report published in March 2025, retired Supreme Court Justice A.K. Patnaik, while addressing a national conference on democratic rights and secularism organized by the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS), highlighted issues like custodial deaths, fake encounters, and torture in jails, stating that the very institutions responsible for protecting democratic rights are the ones violating them the most. He said, "The institutions responsible for protecting democratic rights are the ones violating them the most. Incidents of custodial deaths, fake encounters, and torture in jails are on the rise."

We know that Human Rights Day will be celebrated in every jail on December 10, but the reality is the complete opposite. There is a need to work on these issues, to protect human rights everywhere, and for every deserving person to take the right initiative. Otherwise, what is the point of merely observing Human Rights Day on paper?

-The author, Ipsa Shatakshi, is the wife of journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, and this article is based on the painful experiences of her husband's three-year imprisonment.