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The Rediff Special/ Ramesh Menon

'Now I can see life as a prisoner'

A jail term can sometimes cleanse. Or open your eyes to the world. Beur Jail in Patna city was relatively unknown till recently. But thanks to former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, it has hit the headlines.

There is nothing distinctive about the jail; it is as over-crowded as any other jail in India. Though its capacity is only around 2,000, there are over 10,000 prisoners behind bars. As many as 90 per cent of them are undertrials, the most famous among them being Laloo. The jail term was for a disproportionate assets case. The Central Bureau of Investigation had charged that he had assets worth over Rs 50 lakh. He took his incarceration cheerfully and was his usual boisterous self when in prison. He spent most of his time mingling with the prisoners.

The jail authorities were surprised at Laloo Yadav's conduct. Stepping out of his special cell, he spent hours every day with the other prisoners, working in the garden with them, tending to the plants, cooking, supervising the preparation of lunch or dinner and generally amusing them with his typical style of conversation using idioms and sarcasm for effect. The prisoners were thrilled. He was a great companion. He spoke their language. He behaved like them. He ate with them. There were no special food packets from his wife, Rabri Devi who, as chief minister of Bihar, is also facing charges of misappropriation. In her income tax returns, she has claimed she had earned Rs 200, 000 by selling milk. (She has around 13 milch cattle). A claim that is being contested by the income tax authorities.

The prison staff, in their private conversations, used to refer to Laloo as the CM despite the fact that he is no longer in power. They were on their toes all the time as they spruced up the prison as never before. They had to for Laloo's visitors included the likes of ministers, members of the legislature, bureaucrats, police officials and of course, Chief Minister Rabri Devi. Among the happiest in the jail were the prisoners who saw the quality of their food improve overnight. Confessed a jail official: "We have to ensure that the food is excellent. The 'CM' insists on eating the same food that is served to the other prisoners."

Often, these VIPs came to the prison at Laloo's behest. He used to summon them to clarify various issues, many of which related to complaints of injustice which the prisoners shared with him. Laloo would ask individual prisoners why they were in jail and when they told him their side of the story, he would instruct the jail officials to summon those responsible. He would then ask them for an explanation. Laloo may not be the chief minister of India's poorest state, but officials nevertheless continue to follow his orders. After all, in their perception, he still "runs" the government. And as uncertainties in Indian politics go, he can replace his wife as CM any day.

But it must be said that he denied himself any kind of special privileges even though he could have got anything he wanted. He deliberately hit a low profile, charmed everyone in the prison with his earthy mannerisms and matter of fact conversation. Talking to prisoners, he would tell them that he had no regrets being in jail as he had seen the other side of life. Said he to a group of prisoners: "Sab nazaria ka sawal hain. (It is all a question of perception.) When you are on a bicycle, you curse the automobile driver. But when you start driving a car, you hate the cyclist. It all depends which side you are on. Now, I can see life as a prisoner. I can understand how one feels here and how easily one can get slapped with a false case." As he says this, there are glassy eyes in the audience.

He often spoke of how he had now realised that if someone with his clout and power could not get basic human rights, how the man on the street would be treated. He challenged that nothing would come of this case that has been slapped on him as it had no bearing and it was just an attempt by the BJP government to malign him. The prisoners identified with him so much that they believed him. And anyway, most of them too are under the impression that they have been falsely implicated or have been denied human rights.

Sitting with a group of prisoners on the lawn, Laloo asks them if they believe the media reports which stated that he won the election by resorting to booth capturing. "How did I then lose the last election?" Before anyone could react, he explains: "I ignored my constituency and my voters gave me a fitting reply. I have learnt my lesson." There were predictable sighs of pity in the audience. None of them felt that he was playing to the gallery or was lying to them.

Laloo ends the session saying that had he won from Madhepura, the media would, in their analysis, have said that he had rigged the election. The media was often the target of his jokes or sarcastic remarks though when journalists visited him in prison, he never refused to speak to them. But he would jocularly upbraid them saying that they should look elsewhere for sound bytes to make their newspaper or television bulletins livelier.

At one of his many informal sessions with the other prisoners, one of them asked him why the media often said that his party had well-known mafia dons in it. Laloo retorted saying that mafia dons in his party number much less than those in other parties and that if a headcount was done, his party would be in the last rung. If that was really true and he had actually misruled Bihar in the last ten years, how come his party still won the maximum number of seats, he asked. No one had an answer.

Laloo used every bit of his time during his stay in the jail to get in touch with himself. And he had enough time. During his earlier term in prison, Rabri Devi used to spend long hours with him every day. But not this time. She came in for very brief visits though his nine sons and daughters used to come in and spend time with him.

He used his time to read books on law. In the last three hearings, he had chosen to argue himself. He proclaimed that no lawyer could defend him as well as he could do for himself. He projected himself as a man who the BJP wanted to destroy and how he would come out unscathed.

When the court order granting him bail came in, there was a significant heave of relief among the jail officials. And tears in the eyes of the inmates as they bid their favourite prisoner a tearful goodbye.

Laloo did not promise them that he would visit again.

The Rediff Specials

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