Arthur Road Jail officials appear for Gandhi Peace Exam

Mumbai, Mar 20 (UNI) Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography continues to inspire not only jail inmates but also guardians of law, as Mr Kingare, Dy Superintendent, five Police sub inspectors and seven constables at Arthur Road Jail along with 32 inmates appeared for the Gandhi Peace Exam today.

The test, comprising 80 objective questions on Mahatma Gandhi, was conducted by the Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal to evoke a sense of regret in minds of under-trials and make them realise the power of truth and non-violence, said T R K Somiya, who is the programme coordinator of the Mandal.

An orientation lecture was organised before the exam to strengthen the sense of responsibility among jail authorities for reforming jail inmates through Gandhiji's philosophy of truth, non-violence and love.

Mr Somiya said Gandhiji spent six years in various jails during his life-time and said imprisonment is a mode to repent for the crime one has committed.

''Jails give a chance to reform and regret. One can start a new life with a clean self and new moral courage obtaining inspiration from Gandhiji's autobiography. Then Jail will be a 'Mandir' or a 'Sudhargraha' (reformatory) in its true sense,'' he said.

''Recently Laxman Gole a gangster and a hardened criminal who was lodged at Arthur Road Jail, had confessed to his crime after reading Gandhiji's autobiography in jail. Besides this, Mohamed Afroz, a trained pilot, who was booked in an MCOCA case for his involvement in suicide bombing, also appeared for the same exam and learnt yoga in the jail,'' he added.

The Gandhi Peace Exam is conducted for the last three years at various jails in Maharashtra and after the exam, the Mandal takes the feedback of the participants on how the exam is beneficial to them.

UNI AAA NM JT DB2049