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Anurag Dikshit, a co-founder of PartyGaming, pled guilty last week to illegal Internet gambling and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department in an investigation of Party Gaming, even though he was never charged with a crime. As part of the agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, Dikshit could also serve up to two years prison time.
But for the 35 year old billionaire, life behind bars in a U.S. prison should be a cake walk. Dikshit is the guy who will be helping other inmates work towards their college degrees.
Compared to the prisons in his native India, even if Dikshit were to serve his time in Alcatraz, it would still be like staying at a Club Med.
"Over-crowded prisons, prolonged detention of undertrial prisoners, unsatisfactory living conditions, lack of treatment programs and allegations of an indifferent and even in human approach of prison staff have repeatedly attracted the attention of critics over the year".
Colin Gonsalves described the plight of India's prisons at CounterCurrents.org:
"The level of barbarism in respect of a nation's treatment of its prisoners is perhaps more uniform than we Indians expect. Developed and developing countries alike treat their convicts with a kind of depravity, which speaks volumes for the nature of contemporary civilisation and their attitudes towards the human person.
"Applying even the most retrogressive standards, Indian prisoners are the pits - a level of perversity matched only by our pious, moralistic and sanctimonious preachings abroad. In the land of Gandhi and non-violence, prisons remain depraved and brutish. Internally the prisoners rot.
"Rape, buggery, torture, custody without legal sanction, bars and fetters, detention far in excess of the sentence, solitary confinement, lunacy, the brutalising of children, women and casuals, drug trafficking and prostitution rackets run by the superintendents are but the daily routine of prison life. Pulling out eyes as in the Bhagalpur blinding case or the pushing of batons up the anus of prisoners as in Batra's case is perhaps Sunday's schedule."
Of course, one can "buy justice" in India. Dikshit with all his money could certainly afford to "buy justice". At least he could avoid having his eyes pulled out.
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
