Naini Central Prison or Naini Jail at Naini,

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

, is one of the most important

correctional Institution A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

s in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, built during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

Independence movement

The prison played a large role in the pre-independence era, when many freedom fighters, including Motilal Nehru (1930), Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru (the first

prime minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

), Govind Ballabh Pant,

Narendra Dev Acharya Narendra Deva (; also Dev; 30 October 1889 – 19 February 1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the ''saty ...

, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai,

Hasrat Mohani Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan (1 January 1875 – 13 May 1951), known by his pen-name Hasrat Mohani, was an Indian activist, freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement and a noted poet of the Urdu language. He coined the notable slogan ''Inquil ...

were imprisoned there during

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. During his stay, Nehru wrote a series of letters to his young daughter

Indira __NOTOC__ Indira may refer to: People * Indira (name) Films and books * ''Indira'', an 1873 novella by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee * Indira (film), ''Indira'' (film), directed by Suhasini Manirathnam * Indira (1989 film), ''Indira'' (1989 film), a ...

from the prison, starting on her thirteenth birthday until 9 August 1933. These were later published as ''Glimpses of World History.'' On 1 March 1941,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

visited the prison, to see imprisoned freedom fighters

Vijayalakshmi Pandit Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit ('' née'' Swarup Nehru; 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician who was the 6th Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964 and 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 19 ...

and Abul Kalam Azad. Indira Gandhi herself (later

) was arrested along with her husband Feroze Gandhi and spent her prison term in Naini, from 11 September 1942 until 13 May 1943.

Issues

The prison has witnessed security concerns as it houses not just a few members of parliament, but sharpshooters and gang lords from

Purvanchal Purvanchal () is a subregion of the Bhojpuri region of India which comprises eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal region gained independence from the Avadh and Mughal rule under Zamindar Balwant Singh, a Bhumihar zamindar from Benaras State. I ...

, including Sujeet Belwa and Rajesh Yadav, and rumours that gang wars were being raged from inside the prison. Many militants belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammad and

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

are also imprisoned here. In 2008, 97 prisoners who had already completed their sentences wrote to the

president of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

asking to be

euthanised Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

. That same year, 17 inmates died over a period of five months, and as many as 239 inmates were found to be suffering from ailments like tuberculosis, scabies and water-borne diseases, forcing the government to implement improved health services available to the incarcerated.IG Prison inspects Naini jail

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

, 17 Mar 2009.

References

External links

Uttar Pradesh Police, Official website

Naini Central Jail Location
{{coord missing, Uttar Pradesh Prisons in Uttar Pradeh Buildings and structures in Prayagraj Indian independence movement in Uttar Pradesh