Traditional Panta Bhat (rice soaked in water) and fried Hilsa were on Monday’s breakfast menu of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee and former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar lodged Kashimpur Jail.
The traditional delicacies were served to all inmates of the jail on the first morning of the Bangla New Year.
A prison official said that Nizami had inquired on Sunday night whether the dishes would be served at breakfast on Pahela Baishakh.
On Monday, the inmates of Dhaka Central Jail-1, Dhaka Central Jail-2, Kashimpur High Security Central Jail and Central Women’s Prison got a break from routine diet with delicacies being served on this special day.
War crimes convict Sayedee, war crimes accused Nizami, and former state minister Babar, Lutfozzaman Babar, a condemned convict in the sensational Chittagong arms haul cases, are languishing in the high-security prison.
Jailor Jannatul Fardin told bdnews24.com that there were as many as 1,544 inmates, who were served similar dishes for breakfast.
They ate traditional “panta bhat” with fried Hilsa fish, lentil, green chilli and onion.
“Though he (Nizami) usually remains depressed, he cheered up after eating “panta bhat” and fried Hilsa fish. He enjoyed the dishes,” the jailer said.
The lunch menu included rice, dal, “alu bhorta” (spiced mashed potatoes) and “begun bhorta” (spiced mashed brinjals).
The dinner menu includes chicken pulao, eggs, and betel leaf-betel nut.
Fardin said cultural programmes by the jail inmates had been cancelled because of security reasons.
But a Baishakhi Mela (fair) was organised for the prison employees outside the jail compound.
Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail-2 Jahangir Kabir said that a cultural function of the inmates was held in a hall inside the jail in the morning.
Bangla national daily Amar Desh’s Acting Editor Mahmudur Rahman, Jamaat leaders Mir Kashem Ali and ATM Azhar are also in the jail.
Jailor of Dhaka Central Jail-2 Amjad Hossain and Women Prison Ward Superintendent Jahanara Begum said that there were similar functions in their jails, too.
The Women Prison Ward has 336 inmates, including Oishi Rahman, arrested on the charge of killing her parents.
Of them, 12 are death row convicts.
Source: Bd news24