JOIN USSociety has great responsibility towards jailbirds: DCP
“Art is in every individual and convicts are not an exception to this. It is the responsibility of the society to nurture thier talent and provide them with a stage,” said Mangalore Deputy Commissioner of Police Dharmayya in Mangalore on Thursday.
He was speaking in the validictory function of ‘Jailininda Jailige’ theatre fest, held in Town Hall. “Being far from thier family, the convicts develop a feeling of loneliness and submissiveness. It is not an easy task to form a drama team amongst them and stage the plays. A lot of effort has been put by Director of ‘Sankalpa,’ Hulagappa Kattimani, to train the convicts and it has paid dividends,“ the DCP said.
In his keynote address, ‘Sankalpa’ Director Hulagappa Kattimani said that there has been a positive transformation in the behaviour of convicts through theatre activitives. Even the women convicts who were very reserved, have developed open mindedness after they started partcipating in theatre activities with men. ”Next time the theatre fest will be organised in Mysore, “ he said.
DCP (Law and Order) Muthuraya said that this theatre fest has created a revolution and felt that the fest has won the people’s hearts. He opined that the convicts who are participating in these theatre activities should encourage and inspire other convicts thereby transforming their minds.Mandd Sobhann President Stany Alvares told that the people of Mangalore too have considered and treated the performers as actors and not as convicts.
Convicts S V Ramesh and Ganesh Naik Ujire, inmates of Bangalore and Mysore Central jails respectively, shared thier theatre experiences before the audience and told that they were awaiting thier liberation from a long time. “There has been no liberation of the convicts by the Government since 2006,” they pointed out.
S V Ramesh who is undergoing a life imprisonment, is married and is having a child aged six months, said that he want to become a good father to his son. “After coming out of jail, I will lead an ideal life and work hard,” he said. Ramesh has played the roles of Basavanna and Gandhiji in the plays.