- lA monthly literary magazine, brought out entirely by and for prisoners, was launched in Tamil Nadu
- It will reach 16,000 prisoners in TN's 137 prison complexes
- LTTE's Santhan, facing a death sentence for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, has designed the magazine
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| Pozhilan with a copy of Ul Oli |
Ul Oli's editorial board includes Santhan, an LTTE member in Vellore jail, who faces a death sentence for the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi; Kannangudi R. Mohammed Haniffa, an undertrial in the Puzhal jail for the last 12 years who is accused of instigating bomb blasts on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition; and poet Pozhilan, son of famous Tamil scholar Perunchithiranar, who has appealed his 10-year sentence for planting a bomb at the Kodaikanal TV station in 1988 when he was a member of the Ulaga Tamil Ina Munnetra Kazhagam, which aimed for a separate Tamil nation.
A colleague, who had interviewed Haniffa back in 1997 soon after the bomb blasts in three trains which killed 10 persons and injured 64, remembers him as a rabid fundamentalist with a "fierce" persona. Today, he is mellow, even avuncular, and has contributed to the magazine by translating quotes from Hindu, Christian and Islamic texts. Pozhilan, who runs a literary and recreation club for fellow inmates, has written a stirring poem on the need for a prison-less society. Santhan has designed the magazine.
The magazine's only English-language piece (the rest are in Tamil) is by Piotr Gimik from Poland, who has been charged with trying to smuggle in $90,000 into the country. "I've been here for four months and ten days," says Piotr. His article describes his astonished discovery of the remarkable "concern and willingness to help each other" among inmates here, which is at drastic odds with the prison violence usually depicted in movies and novels. The first issue also has a short story about a monkey and a crane, a general knowledge quiz, and a fawning poem in praise of DGP Nataraj by a remand prisoner, signalling that editorial freedom is not exactly unfettered.
For future issues, there are plans to expand editorial content to include prisoner's views on social issues, a platform to share their experiences, and a column for questions and answers—a popular feature of Tamil magazines. Furthermore, to inject some qualitative heft, workshops and lectures to improve prisoners' writing and design skills are also on the anvil.
