Finally entered my prison and 1st day, Part-8
Regardless of the pain in my heart, I was already very curious to see the prison. What do the prisons look like inside, how do the sentenced convicts spend their days and nights? How do these prisoners who are sentenced to self-labor in the High Court spend their days in prison with labor? Accused inside the cell of the ward are very crowded there. Can I live with them? I can also adapt myself to the accused? While thinking these things, the prison bus came to stand in front of the prison gate.
Chittagong Central Jail means Chittagong Central Jail is only 5 to 7 minutes walk from the court. It was evening. We the new convicts came out of the prison. The court police uncuffed us and took us inside the jail. After entering the jail gate, we were taken to a room on the left side. There, the police of the court counted all the accused one by one. Then the court police went outside the jail gate from there. Then one by one started calling names. I saw the court police leaving and said to myself, if I could easily go out of jail like him, then I would not have to be imprisoned anymore!
- Opriyo! Opriyo! Who is Opriyo lhere?
Suddenly, I was shocked to hear my name, and said, - Yes, I am Opriyo.
Inside the room, the man in charge of prison authorities said, -why are you silent? Since when have I been calling your name. If you are in prison here, always keep your eyes and ears erect like a rabbit. If not, the problem will be yours.
i am silent.
Then after some time another gentleman from the prison authority came to take us inside the main jail. Before taking away, the gentleman counted and saw how many of us there were. We will now enter the main jail with this gentleman. Before entering the jail, Mool checks the convicts at the gate. The person checking is an old man. He checked me in such a way that he touched all over the body. The way the old police officer in charge (he must have been 55 years old) patted my back and checked me, I was very uncomfortable. He was disgusted. I said to myself, this man is not gay again?
Stepping inside the jail, we saw flower gardens lined up on both sides of the path we were taking. How many buildings of four or five floors are lined up around. The electric light from those buildings is falling on us. Everything around is clean, neat and tidy. Then we were taken to an empty field where we were asked to sit in the dim light. We sat in line. He counted us again there. The one who counts is the Jamadar. Then out of nowhere a boy of my age came and took me with him to their ward on the 3rd floor. Go there and see, the wards look very nice, and tiled. The bathrooms are very clean. Tiling the bathroom too. The boy put the food bag and the cloth bag aside from my hand and gave me a soap and said, -What is your name?
I said, "Opriyo."
Then the boy said, Opriyo brother go to the wash room and take a bath.
After I came from the wash room, the boy said, dear brother, will you eat something now?
I said, yes, I will eat, I am hungry.
Then from that place he brought me muri chanachur and biscuits. After eating them and drinking water, feeling very tired, I fell asleep there.
Opriyo, this is Opriyo! Get up, get up! will eat rice I woke up and sat down. I think it's morning, that's why it's calling. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9 o'clock at night. Quiet environment around. I went to the washroom and shed tears, came out and saw that everyone in the ward was ready to eat dinner. I also sat down to eat by one of them. Today's menu is dal, potato filling and fish. After eating rice, I cleaned my face and sat leaning against the wall.
After a while the boy (the boy who brought me to this cell) came and sat beside me. And he said, -what do you Opriyo?
I said, - Gold business.
The boy said, - Dear brother, these wards are medical wards. You have to pay to stay here. You can't stay in these wards without money.
I said, "-Brother, I don't have money."
He said, - No, dear brother, you don't have to pay the money now. You have to pay when your man comes to see you tomorrow.
I thought that maybe two, four or five hundred rupees should be paid, I asked him, - Brother, how much should I pay?
The boy said, -the price of a seat here is 10,000 Rupee, and for food we take 3-4 thousand a month.
I was shocked to hear the boy! I asked him, -here in the prison, all expenses are paid by the government. So why should I go to jail with money?
The boy said, -those who come here, who have money, pay money in each medical ward.
I said, brother, I can't pay that much. If you come to see me tomorrow, I can get you thousands of rupees from them.
The boy said, -ok you fell asleep and left.
Before the boy left, I said to him, -will you have a cigarette?
The boy said, I have star cigarette, eat it.
I said to myself, It is better than no cigarettes at all. I said, ok give one.
The boy took out a cigarette from his pack and gave it to me. I finished the cigarette and fell asleep again.
It was four or half past four in the morning. It was not dawn yet. Siren sounded. Everyone in the ward woke up. I also went up with them. I thought something happened somewhere. Before we could understand anything, a jail policeman came and started counting us. He finished counting and left again. Later I realized that nothing happened, Jamadar came to count us. I fell asleep again.
- Opriyo, this Opriyo! get up get up
I woke up and saw the boy calling me.
The boy said, - Come wash your hands and face. Breakfast is coming.
I went to the washroom, took a bath, got clean and sat again leaning against the wall. The boy gave me tea and bread. After eating them, the boy said, -Take your clothes and breakfast packet, come with me.
I said, - where will I go again?
The boy said, - New accused who come here, their names, addresses have to be entered. You also need to enter.
I said, -Well, let's go then.
The boy took me to a huge room. There will be over a hundred new defendants. With whom I entered the jail yesterday. They are there too. Someone from yesterday came forward after seeing me. And said, - Where was the brother yesterday?
I pointed to the ward boy and said, with them.
Then the boy left me here without saying anything and I didn't realize when he left. I felt very bad for the boy. The boy became somewhat familiar with me.
In one corner of the huge room everyone lined up, a strange face, I don't know him. Never seen him. It is beckoning me. I went to him. He asked, - New or not?
I said, - Yes.
He said, "-Stand in line, brother."
I said, - Well.
The accused standing in the line are saying their names and addresses one by one. A 30-year-old man with glasses and a prisoner's clothes is writing it down in the notebook. Again, if there is any mark on the body of the accused, they are looking. They are also recording the names of the accused on which side of the body there are scars.
After the name entry, we were taken from the big room to another same big room. There are over a hundred of us there. All are lined up. Again everyone is counted. Then a prisoner gave a speech for about half an hour. How to live in the jail, how the new convicts will follow the rules and regulations of the jail. Everyone is listening attentively to his words. Then I saw that the prison police were kicking a prisoner very hard next to us. I got scared. I said, - Do you understand that we will be beaten with sticks here?
Someone next to me said, -no brother, they are prisoners. And we are the accused. No one will beat us with a stick. After some time the speech ended. Now everyone is talking to each other as they like. Who came to jail for what crime and how, these are the talks. One of them asked me, -how did my brother come here?
I said, -brother, I don't know yet.
If I were to tell the truth, I called Muhammad Womanizer in a post on Facebook. So the police arrested me and jailed me here. Then those who are sitting here will also be angry with me. Religious matters. So I said, brother, I don't know yet.
After some time a prison policeman came and called us all back to that big room. Everyone is taking a plate and a glass to eat there. Along with them I also took the plate and glass. After washing these, I went to the place where food was served and took rice and curry. Then I sat together with the people I talked to and had lunch. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. I ate and talked again. After a while I smoked a cigarette and listened to their crime stories. Time seems to stand still. I was worried about when the time would run out. We were talking sitting 6 people. In the meantime, three people came one by one and took them to the ward. It was afternoon. From where a boy of my age of 23 to 24 years came and said to me, - Is your name Opriyo?
I looked at him and said, -Yes.
The boy said, - Come with me.
I bid farewell to these two and accompanied the boy. The boy took me to the second floor of a building. Four wards on one floor. The ward to which the boy took me was Padma Ward No. 5. Here the wards inside the jail are named after the rivers of Bangladesh. Named after many rivers including Padma, Meghna, Yamuna, Surma, Sangu, Karnaphuli, etc.
The boy took me inside the ward and first took me into the bathroom and told me to take a bath.
I told him, - I took a bath in the morning. I won't do it again.
The boy said, - The rule of our ward is that whoever comes, he should be bathed first. You need to take a bath bro.Otherwise Med means the prisoner will abuse me.
I said, "Who is Med again?"
The boy said, - When you come, watch for a few days, everything will be understood.
I took a bath, I was given a bed sheet and a pillow. I sat on the bed. It was twilight. The sun has not completely set in the western sky. I was looking at the western sky through the window. The golden rays of the sun fell on the white clouds in the western sky. The golden sun and the sky with white clouds looked very beautiful. A little golden light of the sun from the western sky fell on my face. After a while the boy brought me tea. When I was giving tea to my mouth, a young man of my age came and said, "Brother, will you play chess?"
I said to him, - Is there? Do you have chess boats and balls?
The young man said, - I mean, there are several.
I said, "Then bring it, let's play."
He brought the chess board, started playing with it. That was lost within 5 minutes. He said, "Brother, you are a good player."
Then another middle-aged man came and said to the young man, "You go away, I will play with Opriyo."
Then the middle-aged man looked at the young man and said, "I will give the Opriyo one the game right away." see you.
Listening to the middle-aged man, I paid more attention to the game. Now I started playing with new rules. The game is on. It's been half an hour. Among them he lost two horses, a ration, a minister and four soldiers. I lost a soldier and a platoon. He said, what will happen if the boy is small, but there is breath in the game.
i am silent
Suddenly a siren sounded. Everyone is running around. Wherever he was, he entered the ward. This siren is, wherever you are, enter the ward. The middle-aged man who had been sitting and playing chess with me suddenly disappeared somewhere. He is no longer seen inside our Padma 5 ward. After some time a policeman in uniform came and counted us. Then he locked himself out of our ward and left. Like a bird's nest, the prisoners and accused entered the ward. And the first day of my life in prison was completed.
(continued)