Abstract
This paper examines the attitude of the British government towards the prisoners of Assam. Moreover, it investigates the policies adopted by the government about prison labour.
 Prisons in Colonial India were known as the ‘house of industries’ rather than the house of rehabilitation and the disciplinary system that existed inside the prison walls emphasised more on attaining profit by instrumenting various types of punitive labour and rigorous methods of punishment. Throughout the Colonial period, the rules for prison administration was shaped and reshaped according to the needs of the colonial state and prisoners were squeezed in the name of discipline through prison labour. In India, the idea of reformation was boastfully propagated but never fully implemented inside the prisons. Prison and prison labour in colonial India has been discussed over a period of time in various academic platforms; however, no such discussions were made on the context of prisons of Assam. Therefore, through this study, an attempt has been made to offer an overview of the recommendations of the Prison Reform Committees and its implementation about prison labour and manufactures.
Highlights
The prison was the final destination of the criminals if not sentenced to execution
Justice and humanity was entirely unknown in the jails, and the prisoners were subjected to every form of humiliating and brutal treatment during the colonial period (Bose, 1940)
This study examines the conditions of prison labour in Assam during colonial times
Summary
The prison was the final destination of the criminals if not sentenced to execution. According to the Prison Act 1894, the term ‘Prison’ means any jail or place used temporarily or permanently under the general or special orders of a Local Government for the detention of prisoners (“A memorandum dietaries of labouring prisoners in Indian jails”, 1878-79). Other vital studies on prison labour like Rabin Roychowdury’s (2010) Black Days in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Benudhar Kalita’s (1994) Phulgurir Dhewa have discussed about transportation of convicts to the Andaman Islands They analysed the brutal treatment of the prison authorities towards the political prisoners and mentioned a few instances of resistance by the prisoners. The current study, while connecting the punitive labour with the colonial punishment system, tends to offer an overall outlook of the Reports of various Jail Reform Committees and Conferences. Against these backdrops, this research describes the prisons of Assam and prisoners as economic labour
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