LAHORE, Aug 28: Behind the high walls of the Kot Lakhpat Jail, most Christian inmates are going through a 'bitter ordeal of discrimination'. Fear for life ranks the highest in their list of accusations hurled against the jail authorities.

Since the death of Samuel Masih, a blasphemy accused killed in judicial custody on May 28, 2004, their fears have heightened. The prison authorities' 'unbridled highhandedness and discriminatory behaviour' has become a major personal safety concern for them, making them realize how their end might not be too different from that met by Samuel.

The recent occurrence of a confrontation between a jail warder and a few Christian prisoners confirms their fears. For the sake of their personal security, they were forced to contact Pervez Aslam Chaudhry, an advocate and chairman of the Legal Aid for Destitute and Settlement.

Eventually, the consequence of that confrontation led to a petition filed on their behalf against four prison officials. In the petition, filed under Sections 22-A and -B CPC (Criminal Procedure Code), it was asserted that the jail authorities had "undermined the religious feelings of Christians by desecrating the Bible."

It all started on May 6 this year when one of the petitioners had gone to attend a court hearing. A few minutes after the return of the petitioner to the prison, a warder accompanied by three guards entered their barracks and started a routine search of the place. During the search, as claimed by the petitioners, they ripped open a plastic bag containing the Bible and threw it on the floor.

Calling it a case of "blasphemy in reversal", petitioners counsel Chaudhry termed it a clear case of blasphemy.

"The jail authorities have committed an offence which falls within Section 295-A of the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code) and should be prosecuted according to the law. Since Samuel's death, I have received many letters from Christians in prison who fear they too will be killed in judicial custody and nobody will be able to do anything about it," stated Mr Chaudhry.

In compliance with the jail rules, the petitioners approached the jail superintendent to redress their grievance. Instead of taking any action, the superintendent allegedly threatened the prisoners to keep mum about the whole affair or else would face serious consequences. Those serious consequences in the jail lingo are best left undescribed.

"In the interest of justice we wanted disciplinary action to be taken against the respondents. But none was taken, which is not surprising considering the reputation of the Kot Lakhpat Jail," complained Mr Chaudhry.

The reputation of the Kot Lakhpat Jail is a difficult subject not readily discussed by either the prisons IG or the superintendent. While IG Khwaja Khalid Farooq was entirely dismissive of discrimination at any level, the newly-appointed Kot Lakhpat Jail superintendent, Tariq Babar, was equally acerbic about the allegation.

"There's no discrimination here. I admit that most of the blasphemy accused are innocent people, but that does not mean the rest are innocent too. The Kot Lakhpat Jail is overpopulated and has nearly 5,000 inmates. You have no idea how we deal with these prisoners. Life for an average person would become unbearable if they were allowed to live outside these walls," said Mr Babar.

But enough prima facie evidence exists to establish that discrimination against minorities is not an out-of-ordinary occurrence at the Kot Lakhpat Jail. Since 1992, six under-trial Christians have been killed in the jail.

The first one to fall victim to the jail authorities' prejudice was Tahir Iqbal, a 33-year-old Christian paraplegic, accused of blasphemy. On July 20, 1992, he was murdered by unidentified assailants while being held in judicial lock-up awaiting trial.

The second was Naimat Ahmar, followed by the judicial killing of the 71-year-old Bantu Masih, who was stabbed by his accuser while the two were in the police station for questioning. In April, 1994, the killing of Manzoor Masih behind the Lahore High Court left many wondering about the complicity of the police and their lack of action in cases of blasphemy.

The fifth to die was Javed Anjum with the full knowledge of police. And the most recent case is that of Samuel. "How can the minorities expect a fair treatment when the jail authorities are brutal with other prisoners and there is no one to question their authority?" asked Salim Sylvester, president of the Christian Organization for Human Rights. The answer is as difficult as the reformation of the infamous jail.

The bigoted side of the Kot Lakhpat Jail is not just reserved to a show of an isolated incident. Discriminatory treatment of Christians and other minorities has become a regular feature there. "I don't understand why janitorial work should be assigned to the Christians only. Is that not discrimination? There's no preacher for them and neither are they given the maximum remission of six months for learning their holy book by heart, which is granted to Muslims for doing the same," wondered Mr Chaudhry.