March 5, 2009
A trip to a jail is never exciting. But mine was fun! Before you jump to any conclusions I will break the ice – my trip was to the most dreaded jails known to Indians – Kaala Paani.
Those who reach Port Blair are definitely bound to visit the Cellular Jail or Kaala Paani as it is more commonly known as. Situated atop a hill a little away from the main town of Aberdeen, this prison echoes the silent screams of the freedom fighters of India who laid their lives for the country.
The genesis of the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands can be traced back to the British efforts for suppressing criminals and was later used for deporting political prisoners of India.
I was fortunate to visit the prison twice. Once in the evening for the Light and Sound Show and once in the morning for a tour around the place. As I entered the gates of the prison, both sadness and awe took the better of me. Sadness listening to the tales of prisoners as narrated during the show and awe because of the way the monument is still preserved.
The Architecture
The construction of the Cellular Jail which is infamous throughout the world for the inhuman treatment meted out to the inmates by the jail officials began in 1896 and has a large influence of Colonial architecture, a combination of the British-European style and the Indo-Islamic style. This monument stands and reflects the tenacity of the Indians, who were struggling to attain freedom from the shackles of the British rule.
The original building was a seven pronged, puce-colored brick building with a central bell tower as the fulcrum. The bricks used to build the building were brought from Burma, known today as Myanmar. Each wing was four-storied, with cells on the first three and a watchtower on the fourth. These spanned out in straight lines from the central tower, rather like the spokes of a bicycle.
When completed in 1910, the Cellular Jail had 698 cells each measuring 4.5 meters x 2.7 meters with a solitary ventilator located three meters off the ground. Thus, a prisoner could neither see anything nor communicate with other inmates. And to make it just a little harder for the prisoners, each wing faced the rear of the other. Even now, as one walks around the Jail Complex, the execution room where prisoners were hanged, the shed where they worked at the oil press, the walls with hooks from which the prisoners were tied as punishment, and the eerie silence in the long corridors are enough to send shivers down ones spine.
Life in the prison
The increased tempo of the Indian freedom movement in the last few years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century led the British to confine separately, prominent rebels who were too dangerous to be allowed to interact with ordinary convicts.
The Andamans offered a natural answer and hence political prisoners and journalists convicted of seditious writing were deported to the island and kept in solitary confinement. The most famous among the prisoners was Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was convicted in the Nasik Conspiracy Case.
In the confines of the prison, the inmates were incarcerated, tortured and subjected to most inhuman living conditions by the British officers. Freedom Fighters were made to do hard labour such as peeling coconuts for oil. They were forced to go around like bullocks to extract oil from mustard seeds. They were beaten on refusal and even a full meal a day was too much to ask for.
The food if given was not fit for human consumption with worms in the bread and wild grass boiled and served instead of vegetables. Rainwater infested with insects and worms was used as drinking water. The cells were dark and damp and dingy thickly coated with moss. There were no toilets and thus the prisoners had to relieve themselves in their cells. There were no lights or no reading material.
The revolt by the prisoners
In retaliation to the atrocities meted, the prisoners resorted to a hunger strike in 1933. Freedom fighters like Mahavir Singh, Mohan Kishore Namo Das and Mohit Moitra died during this hunger strike and their bodies were thrown out to sea. Punjab's jail inspector Barker was called to break the hunger strike and issued orders to stop the issuing of drinking water. The freedom fighters were stubborn causing a huge outcry throughout India because of this strike. After 46 days the British Raj had to accept the demands of the prisoners. The hunger strike ended on 26 June 1933.
The result of the revolt
The result proved beneficial for the future. There was light provided in the cells. The prisoners started getting newspapers, books and periodicals. They were allowed to meet and the facility to read individually or on a collective basis was allowed. The opportunity to play sports and organise cultural events was given and the jail work was reduced to minimal. Above all there was respect for the freedom fighters from the prison officials and a marked improvement in their behaviour. A new environment was created as the freedom fighters met to discuss and read. A thirst for books and knowledge began. There were students, doctors, lawyers, peasants, and workers all interacting together. They discussed politics, economics, history and philosophy.
World War II
In 1942 during World War II, the Japanese imperial forces captured the island and freed the Indian prisoners. The Cellular Jail now became home to British prisoners. Two out of the seven wings of the Jail were demolished during the Japanese regime. In 1945, the British reoccupied the islands after World War II ended.
On August 15, 1947, the day India became independent, the penal settlement was closed down. On public demand, the central tower of the Cellular Jail has been declared a protected monument with plaques put up to commemorate the famous occupants of these dreadful cells. Not surprisingly then, to many the Andaman Islands stand haloed by the sacrifices of martyred freedom fighters. For them it is a place of pilgrimage.
The Present Structure
Another two wings of the Jail were demolished after India achieved independence much against the protests of several former prisoners and political leaders as it a way of erasing the tangible evidence of their persecution. The remaining three wings and the central tower were therefore converted into a National Memorial in 1969. It was strongly felt that this symbol of tyranny needed to be preserved as a National Memorial to remind future generations of the tremendous cost that was paid in Indian blood for the freedom of the country.
The Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital with 500 beds was set up in one of the wings of the Cellular Jail in 1963. Nature too had its way and along with other parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Cellular Jail was also heavily damaged by the 2004 Tsunami. The Centenary celebrations of the Jail were held on 10 March 2006 where many erstwhile prisoners were felicitated by the Government of India.
While in Port Blair, The Light and Sound Show is a must-watch show and is an excellent narrative of the life in the prison. The tales of struggles are told as seen by a tree which still stands in the premises. The visual and audio effects bring life to the characters that once lived here. This presentation definitely moves the audience and brings about a sense of patriotism.
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