Pakistan: Behind bars, music and art free prisoners

by ZOFEEN IBRAHIM

Inmates express themselves through art.” PHOTO/Zofeen Ibrahim

KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov 9, 2010 (IPS) – It’s an odd group of 30 men, all of different ages, crammed together in one room. There’s a man who used to run a computer shop. Another is an ex-car dealer. There’s a tailor and beside him is a truck driver.

Not one of them had ever held a paintbrush before. But it is art that has brought them together today – as well as the fact that they are all inmates in Karachi’s Central Jail.

“I was a little scared of them in the beginning,” admits Sikander Ali Jogi, who teaches them. “But in just 10 days of interaction I realised they were like you and me.”

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