A two-part study titled Inside Karnataka Prisons, published by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, paints a sobering picture of inequality, segregation, and systemic neglect faced by Muslim inmates in the state’s prisons. Spread across two volumes, the reports – Vol. 1: Administrative Realities and Vol. 2: Human Experiences – reveal that Muslim prisoners are disproportionately represented in jails, often endure linguistic and legal disadvantages, and remain trapped in cycles of marginalisation and poverty.
Disproportionate Representation of Muslims Behind Bars
According to Inside Karnataka Prisons, Vol. 1 (p. 42), Muslims constitute a higher proportion of the prison population than their share in Karnataka’s general population. While Muslims make up roughly 13% of the state’s population, they account for a considerably larger segment of both undertrial and convicted prisoners. The report observes, “Hindus are underrepresented compared to their population share, while Muslims and Christians are overrepresented, reflecting a troubling imbalance.”
Legal experts who contributed to the study suggest that this disparity stems from deep-rooted socio-economic exclusion. Poverty, low levels of formal education, and limited access to quality legal representation have created what the report calls a “pipeline from deprivation to detention.”
The data echoes similar national patterns where Muslim overrepresentation in prisons raises concerns about structural discrimination in law enforcement and judicial processes. “The figures cannot be understood merely as statistics; they point toward the need for systemic reform,” the report concludes.
Communal Segregation and Tensions Inside Prisons
Inside Karnataka Prisons, Vol. 2 (pp. 118-121) documents the internal social dynamics of the state’s jails, especially in Mangalore District Prison. Investigators found that inmates were often segregated along religious lines, with separate barracks for Muslims and Hindus. This separation, the report notes, both reflects and reinforces social prejudices.
One section describes how “communal animosity and rivalries were visible among inmates, leading to an informal segregation within the prison.” However, the report adds that some prisons have begun mixing inmates of different faiths for work and rehabilitation activities, marking a slow, cautious move toward integration.
The authors caution that segregation not only prevents social rehabilitation but also deepens alienation among minority inmates. “Such divisions create psychological isolation and hinder the very purpose of correctional reform,” states the report.
Human rights advocates argue that religious segregation inside prisons mirrors the wider communal fault lines outside. “The prison is a mirror of society,” said a KSLSA official cited in Vol. 2, p. 122. “When prejudice enters an institution of justice, it corrodes the constitutional promise of equality.”
Language and Legal Disadvantages for Muslim Inmates
Another recurring theme in the reports is the language barrier faced by Muslim prisoners, especially those from northern states or from within Karnataka’s Urdu-speaking communities. Inside Karnataka Prisons, Vol. 1 (p. 56) notes that court proceedings, legal documents, and prison administration are primarily conducted in Kannada, a language many Muslim inmates do not speak fluently.
This disadvantage is compounded by the lack of interpreters or bilingual legal aid. “Several prisoners interviewed said they could not understand the charges against them or the content of their legal documents,” the report states. “Many signed papers without knowing their meaning.”
Legal aid lawyers interviewed for the study described this as a “silent injustice.” Without linguistic accessibility, the right to a fair trial remains compromised. The report recommends that the state recruit multilingual legal volunteers and provide translation facilities in prisons and courts.
The findings highlight how linguistic exclusion becomes a barrier to justice. “For many prisoners, illiteracy and language gaps combine to create an environment where they are spectators in their own trials,” the report observes.
Socioeconomic Roots of Incarceration
Both volumes point to a deeper pattern linking incarceration to poverty and marginalisation. Inside Karnataka Prisons, Vol. 1 (pp. 61-63) identifies the majority of inmates as “unskilled workers, daily wage earners, and migrants from economically weaker backgrounds.” The Muslim community, already facing educational and economic disadvantage in Karnataka, is particularly vulnerable.
The report connects this vulnerability to broader systemic neglect. Limited access to education, lack of awareness of legal rights, and discrimination in employment push marginalised communities into precarious living conditions. This, in turn, makes them more likely to be caught in petty criminal cases or communal violence-related arrests.
In Vol. 2 (p. 134), an inmate’s testimony underscores this cycle: “I was arrested for a fight in my neighbourhood. I did not know what the FIR said. I was in jail for eight months before anyone from my family found out where I was.”
The report calls for a shift from punitive justice to rehabilitative and restorative justice, focusing on education, vocational training, and social reintegration. “Prisons must become places of reformation, not reproduction of social inequality,” the authors write.
A Call for Justice and Reform
Taken together, Inside Karnataka Prisons offers a rare glimpse into the intersection of justice, identity, and inequality within the state’s prison system. For the Muslim community, the findings are particularly alarming: they suggest that structural disadvantage outside prison walls is mirrored, and magnified, inside them.
Civil rights activists have urged the Karnataka government to review its prison administration and establish a Minority Rights Oversight Mechanism for correctional institutions. They also call for disaggregated data on religion and caste within prison populations to ensure transparency and accountability.
“Reform must begin with recognition,” said a senior advocate quoted in Vol. 2, p. 137. “We need to acknowledge that prisons are not isolated institutions. They are a reflection of the social hierarchies and biases we tolerate outside. Unless that changes, the promise of justice for all will remain unfulfilled.”
The reports recommend urgent steps: improving access to legal aid in minority languages, promoting interfaith coexistence in prisons, training prison staff in diversity sensitivity, and conducting annual independent audits of inmate demographics.
Inside Karnataka Prisons thus exposes a hard truth – the path to justice in India is not equal for all. For the state’s Muslim prisoners, equality before the law remains more aspiration than reality.