Adiala Jail Prisoners Complain of Food Restrictions

Male and female prisoners brought daily from Central Jail Adiala to the Judicial Complex and District Courts in Rawalpindi for hearings have complained about Adiala jail food restrictions, saying home food items are now banned and canteen prices are three times market rates. They said restrictions have now been placed on bringing food items from home, and relatives have demanded that conditions for inmates be improved.

The complaints were made by prisoners speaking to reporters during court appearances, the route through which jail grievances in Rawalpindi most often reach the public. The prisoners were not speaking through a formal petition. They were speaking in person, on their way to and from hearings, about daily conditions inside one of Punjab’s largest jails.

Which items prisoners say are now banned

According to the prisoners, restrictions have now been imposed on bringing tomatoes, spices, rice, lentils, packaged milk and juices from home. Those items had previously been allowed, they said, and families used them to make jail food edible.

The prisoners described the curry served in jail as consisting almost entirely of watery gravy, with two small potatoes and a bowl of bland broth. They used to bring tomatoes and spices from home to improve its taste, they said, but those items have also been banned. The complaint is therefore not only about quantity. It is about the loss of the one supplement that made the standard meal palatable.

Packaged milk and juices are available inside the jail, the prisoners said, but at three times their market price. They also claimed that no change was returned after payments. That detail matters because it turns a price complaint into a second complaint, about how payments inside the jail are handled. The prisoners said they had previously obtained packaged milk, juices and tomatoes from their homes, but that facility has now been discontinued.

The complaint about children

The prisoners raised a separate complaint about women prisoners who are accompanied by one or two young children. No food is provided for the children, they said. Only one piece of bread is given to the mother.

That leaves the mother with a choice no parent should have to make in custody. She must either remain hungry herself or ask other, better-off female prisoners for some of their bread. The complaint does not name the children or give their ages. It describes a daily situation for mothers held with young children, and it is the part of the account most likely to draw attention from welfare and legal observers.

What relatives are asking for

Relatives of the prisoners, including Riaz Ali, Faisal Khan and Azhar Ali, demanded that facilities be improved for inmates. Their demand was general rather than itemised. They did not set out a list of reforms, and the report did not quote a response from jail authorities.

That absence should be stated plainly. The versions of this account read for this draft carried no response from Adiala Jail authorities, no confirmation or denial of the restrictions, and no explanation for why home food items were stopped. Readers should treat every specific claim in this article as a complaint made by prisoners and their relatives, not as an established fact about jail policy, until the jail administration responds.

Prisoners in Rawalpindi have raised food and overcrowding complaints through court appearances before. The pattern is familiar: detainees speak while in the temporary holding cells at the Judicial Complex, relatives repeat the demand outside, and the jail administration is then expected to answer. In this case, that answer had not been carried in the reports read at the time of writing.

Frequently asked questions

What have Adiala prisoners complained about?

Restrictions on bringing tomatoes, spices, rice, lentils, packaged milk and juices from home, poor-quality jail curry, high canteen prices, and no food for children held with their mothers.

How did the complaints become public?

Prisoners brought daily from Central Jail Adiala to the Judicial Complex and District Courts in Rawalpindi for hearings spoke about conditions during court appearances.

What do prisoners say about canteen prices?

They claimed packaged milk and juices are sold inside the jail at three times their market price, and that no change is returned after payments.

What did they say about mothers with children?

Women prisoners accompanied by one or two young children receive only one piece of bread for the mother, with no food provided for the children, according to the prisoners.

Has the jail administration responded?

No response from jail authorities was carried in the versions of this account read for this draft.