Entire life in jail without apparent reason

It was shocking to read today in the newspaper that a man in Assam needlessly spent 54 years in jail simply because nobody paid attention to his release papers. And when he was released at the age of 78, he died after two years. This sounds like a tragic Russian novel.

Lalung (a tribal) was arrested when he was 23 but somehow was never produced before the magistrate. His family kept on thinking that he had been taken by evil spirits. For 54 years he remained locked up without any hearing. The tragic part is that weeks after his arrest he was sent to a mental hospital and from there the doctors kept on sending letters to the police authorities stating that nothing was wrong with him but nobody responded. He was finally released, as the link above mentions, at the behest of the newspaper, in 2005. A public interest litigation fetched him a compensation of Rs. 300,000 and a monthly pension of Rs.1000.

This is an injustice at its grossest self. I am not saying that it is a rare case, for, many a life has languished in the dark dungeons of prejudice and favoritism since time immemorial and fates have been worse than this. But why should such things happen just because a few people don’t care about some person who holds no position in the society? It could have been anybody: you, I, our grandparents. Just imagine spending entire lifetime in jail because of misunderstanding and because nobody cares what happens to you? Does a prick in the conscience, compensation, a documentary and a place in the newspapers bring this man’s life back? What happens to those people who sat upon his papers and did nothing? Shouldn’t an example be set? Shouldn’t people be taught that every life counts, that every life is precious?

I think in a case like this the true justice can only prevail if people who could have done something but did nothing are punished or in some way made to pay. Of course, nothing can pay, but still it can act as a lesson for future assholes like those policemen. There must be hundreds of thousands of people bearing the consequence of such callous attitude. There are many injustices in our society and there are many injustices that can be eliminated by taking some sincere, timely action. They don’t even require much effort. Even if you provide information to people who don’t have it can prove to be of great help.

Coming back to Lalung I am wondering how he spent those 54 years? What went through his mind? Did he ever know why he was arrested and why he couldn’t be released and why he was sent to a mental hospital? How did he see the world around him and how did he perceive the mankind? These days I am reading (trying to read actually) The Count of Monte Cristo in which the protagonist has to spend 23 years in jail because of no fault of his. The waves of hope, despair and revenge keep him from dying. What kept Lalung alive? Of course these days the jails are not as dismal as they were in the 17th century Europe but still jail is jail. I wonder how a tribal thinks. It will be a very challenging story to write even though it will culminate into a tragedy, a slow, progressing tragedy.

Philosophy says that everything happens for a reason. When we read small snippets of stories in the newspapers we often don’t know the entire thing. Maybe he spent a life totally contrary to the impression that we get from what we know presently.