Leading from the front issuu

PAT SPEAKS AT
TIHAR PRISON
At ICOPA in Lagos in 2002 Pat met the Catholic prison
chaplain from Tihar Prison in New Delhi, India’s largest
and second most notorious at the time, and the two men
stayed in touch. Heading back to India in 2007 with Helen
this time, they contacted their ICOPA foot soldier and
asked if they could visit the prison. Random visitors from
Aotearoa wouldn’t normally be allowed in but Pat has
special powers, plus he and Helen had recently read Dr
Kiran Bedi’s books I Dare and It’s Always Possible — One
Woman’s Transformation of Tihar Prison and were really
keen to see how the facility operated.
Bedi had been posted to the Delhi Prisons as Inspector
General In May 1993 and by using a using a new focus
on prevention and education, she transformed Tihar
into a centre of learning and mediation. The combination
of her management philosophy and social activist heart
gave her global acclaim and respect.
“We held up Kiran’s book in front of about 100 inmates
who were all sitting crossed legged on the grass,” says
Pat. “I talked to them for about three minutes, assisted
by an interpreter, and praised Kiran Bedi’s humanity
and their own efforts at rehabilitation. At the end they
cheered because we had come to respect them and
their prison model. This was an amazing experience. The
prison was clean, orderly and had a presence of calm.
There were murals adorning the walls, music therapy
groups and ponds with geese and ducks. The inmates
ran their own radio station and were responsible for
cooking their own food. This is an inspirational model
that Aotearoa desperately needs.”
Awards, travel, parties – fun, fun, fun! 261