``If an Indian is jailed in any foreign country, will he get Indian food?'' says, Ajay Aggrawal, Director General, Tihar jail. He decided to stop the segregation, began during the tenure of former Director General Kiran Bedi. ``They are criminals,'' says Aggarwal, and ``their freedom should be curtailed.''

Though the plan to scrap special treatment for the foreign prisoners was on the anvil for quite some time, a fight among them expedited the decision. On March 26, three Nigerians were arrested and sent to judicial custody. They were booked under the Cofeposa Act and they reportedly started bullying other inmates.

The foreign prisoners protested and went on a flash hunger strike. Several prisoners were taken ill. Tired of theproblem, Aggarwal decided to abolish the system of having separate jails for the foreigners.

``Rules and regulations say that the inmates should be lodged according to the first alphabet of their names. This was not practised earlier with foreign inmates. But now it will be,'' Aggarwal told The Indian Express. A separate jail for foreigners was opened in 1994, when Kiran Bedi was posted as the Director General of Tihar jail.

Bedi felt the need for segregating as there were cultural problems, personality clashes and problems regarding food, faced by these foreign inmates. ``Some of them could not eat Indian chapatis and some could afford better food as they were supported by the embassies. Therefore we thought it was best for them to have a separate jail,'' says Bedi.

Aggarwal faced much initial resentment when he stopped the `special treatment'. The prisoners complained to their respective embassies, who approached the jail authorities. Aggarwal, however, refused to budge. ``I told themthis is the rule. Talking about human rights does not mean extending special treatment, he says.

Are the foreign inmates safe with Indians? ``Yes, they are,'' says Aggarwal. ``Why would anyone cause harm without provocation? No such untoward incident has taken place, to my knowledge, after the change.''

Bedi differs here. ``Indian inmates used to beat the foreign inmates. This is recorded in my book also. I have myself recorded several incidents in which the foreign inmates were beaten by their fellow Indian inmates.''

Yehi hai wrong choice

Kiran Bedi's experiment of introducing Pepsi in the jail in 1994 too did not succeed. The company was asked to withdraw in 1997 by the then director general. When Aggarwal took over this year, he received a proposal by the multinational again but he refused to allow Pepsi Limited to install Fountain Pepsi in the five jails.

``Eighty per cent of the prisoners are undertrials and if luxuries are provided, the purpose of imprisoning them is lost,''Aggarwal defends his decision. Hasn't the absence of Pepsi and pizzas hardened the life of foreign prisoners? Aggarwal says: ``There were problems initially as they are not used to the water. Now most have got used to it and those who have not, buy water from the canteen.''