Indian Law and Prison Reforms: Vipassana Meditation in Jail

A role model for many Indians, Dr. Kiran Bedi is one of India’s gutsiest, most admired women. She was the first Indian woman to become an IPS officer. From day one, she has proved her mettle and is respected across the world for her honesty, integrity and efficiency. Kiran Bedi joined the Indian police force in 1972. She has contributed immensely to improving every domain that she has worked in. She is most renowned for her unique and innovative reforms such as Vipassana meditation that she introduced in Tihar jail. Since then, she has worked in several fields and introduced various reforms in prisons, under the Indian laws, such as narcotics control, prison management, participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations, meditation and literacy programs in jail.

Indian Law and Prison Reforms: Vipassana Meditation Appeals to All Prisoners
 
Indian law and prison reforms received a new lease of life when Kiran Bedi introduced Vipassana meditation when she became the Inspector General of the Tihar Jail in 1993. She used Vipassana meditation programs to establish a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere in the prison. She wanted the prisoners to feel the need to be transformed into good individuals from within and be mentally strong to return to normal life.
 
This form of meditation is considered to be an ancient technique of mediation that was taught to individuals to bring forth internal transformation and combat various illnesses. When Kiran Bedi introduced the Vipassana mediation program, she believed that it would bring harmony in thought, word and action of prisoners, without giving any opportunity for religious differences.
 
In an interview to a popular magazine, Soul Curry, Kiran Bedi stated that Vipassana meditation appealed to her because it was all about understanding yourself without any form of religious constraint.
 
She stated, “Vipassana emphasized on understanding the meaning behind all of them (other religions). In fact not only understanding, but imbibing and living those values. That is why Vipassana worked very well as it was not about limiting but expanding.”
 
For over a decade, considerable data was gathered about the effectiveness of the Vipassana meditation technique. There is a film titled, ‘Doing Time Doing Vipassana,’ that was produced by Israeli filmmakers. The film showcased the changes observed at Tihar jail, after the hard core criminals underwent 10 days of Vipassana meditation program. It is now an established fact that this form of meditation benefits prisoners. Today,  there is a permanent meditation center in Tihar jail and this is established across several other prisons in India. As a result, many prisoners are encouraged to practice Vipassana meditation in these centers.