ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday underscored the need for ethical and moral reformation of the prisoners to control crime rate besides, making prisoners an effective part of the society.
During presentation of a report by the Prison Reforms Committee under the auspices of the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad, the president stressed that reforms in the jail system were inevitable in this regard.
He noted that in the modern world, prison reforms had been introduced in the light of Islamic teachings and prisons had been turned into reforms centers.
He said the basic purpose of the punishment was to change their mindset through better treatment and training.
Being a political worker, he himself experienced imprisonment and personally observed conditions of prisoners, the president added.
He further said in jails, prisoners were not only subjected to physical punishment but also their self-respect was hurt.
Such acts leave debilitating impact on their psyche which created feelings of revenge among them against their own enemies and the whole society, he observed.
The president said such punishments were of no use which resulted in the alienation of a certain segment of society from the mainstream and instead of being beneficial, it actually became counter-productive.
He also noted that the modern concept of incarceration and prisons was based upon spiritual and physical health improvement of the prisoners.
He said Zakat could also be used to secure release of prisoners who failed to pay their fines.
He also commended the efforts of the well-off segment of society for ameliorating the condition of prisoners and said that such charity would promote goodwill in society.
Federal Ombudsman Salman Faruqui, Head of the Prison Reforms Committee, Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, former secretary information Syed Anwar Mehmood, Chairperson of NCHD Senator Razina Alam Khan, Chairman Higher Education Commission Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Vice Chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University Dr Shahid Siddiqui, Executive Director of COMSATS Dr S M Junaid Zaidi, prominent industrialist Sardar Yasin Malik, Patron in Chief of Pakistan Sweet Homes Zammurd Khan, Managing Director National Book Foundation Dr Inam ul Haq Javeid and many other prominent social and industrialist personalities attended the event.
