Faking news: Tihar Jail launches blogging website for prisoners

Realising the level of interest the media and common people have in the daily lives of those lodged in Tihar jail, prison authorities have decided to launch a blogging website for its prisoners. Every inmate will get a dedicated page for himself or herself, where he or she can chronicle the daily life of a Tihar prisoner. The website is expected to be a runaway success and bring revenues to the jail as well.

“There was a whole lot speculation in the media on how Kanimozhi and Kalmadi would celebrate Diwali in jail,” BK Gupta, DG, Tihar jail, said. “Many journalists requested us to allow them inside the cells and file exclusive stories on the Diwali celebrations of VIPs inside Tihar, but we denied all such requests.”

This was not the first time when Tihar authorities had received requests on details of personal lives of inmates. With more VIPs expected to land in the prison, authorities decided to simplify the process and launch a website that allows the inmates to share their feelings with the outer world.

Kanimozhi has apparently already written a poem for her blog after getting the news. However, 2G scam petitioner Subramanian Swamy has cautioned that such poems and seemingly innocuous blog posts could contain ‘code words’ that could help shield the real perpetrators of the crime.

But Tihar authorities say that they have taken precautions.

"The blog posts will be written by the inmates but will be reviewed by our experts before putting them in public,” Gupta clarified, “We would make sure that no sensitive information is leaked by the inmates, and only the ‘newsworthy’ details are published.”

Expecting a huge traffic to the blogs of the likes of Kalmadi, Kanimozhi, and Raja among others, Tihar Jail officials have decided to sell advertising spaces on these blogs to earn revenues.

“The Indian GP Formula One organisers have expressed keen interest in buying advertising space on Kalmadi’s blog,” a Tihar jail source revealed. “They want to put banners on the blog that read — no bridge collapsed while organising this event.”

Apart from the F1 organisers, many jokes and humour sites too apparently have expressed interest in buying ad banners on Kalmadi’s blog, while hordes of mobile companies are rooting for a space on A Raja’s blog.

“DMK chief M Karunanidhi has been supportive of the idea and he wants
to see Airtel’s banner with the tagline ‘Har ek friend zaruri hota hai’ on A Raja’s blog,” the source said. “Perhaps Karunanidhi is expecting a lot of Congress leaders to visit A Raja’s blog and get the message.”

“We are hopeful of attracting Bollywood and entertainment sector advertisements too once Amar Singh recuperates and comes back to Tihar,” the source added.