CELLULAR JAIL-TERRIBLE WORD FROM ANDAMAN DURING BRITISH

A Short history of the Andaman Islands

The Andamans are a chain of 184 odd islands in the Andaman sea at approx 1100 Kms to the south of Kolkata. The largest among them, The Andaman Island is 355 Kms long and 60 Kms wide. There was a time when ancient tribes lived here. Some of the natives it is said bore a remarkable resemblance to the aboriginal tribes of Australia. Today some tribes have receded into the deep forest while others have been resettled. Port Blair, it's principal port, is a picturesque and bustling town, full of greenery. It is well connected to the main land by regular passage of ships and scheduled flights from KolKata and Madras. Different communities are living in harmony and use hindi as their language.

Port Blair was named after the East India Companies' Lt. Archibald Blair who occupied the Andamans in 1789 to keep his ships safe and protected in the rains as a safe harbour and as a penal settlement for prisoners. But because of the unhygienic climate and outbreak of diseases and the expenses in maintaining the harbour he had to abandon the Andamans in 1796. Early in the first decade of the 19th century the roots of the East India Co. were firmly entrenched in India. The British were subjecting Indians to a lot of abject atrocities, snatching away land from peasants, destroying the livelihood of craftsmen, increasing taxes, usurping the states from the Nawabs and native kings. Ordinary people, soldiers, nawabs and kings were all being terrified and harassed. Generally everywhere there was resentment and revolt. People were determined to do away with the East India Co.

Recapture of Andaman Islands to keep Political Prisoners:



The Andamans reminds us of those freedom fighters who on 10th May 1857, gave the clarion call to rise against the British rule. This was our First War of Independence, what the British in their history books refer to as the Sepoy Mutiny. To totally stomp out the uprising the British sent thousands to the gallows and even hung them up from trees, tied them to cannons and blew them up, destroyed them with guns and swords as if they had gone mad and were out to get revenge.

The revolutionaries, who survived, were exiled for life to the Andamans so that their connection with their families and their country would be severed and their countrymen would forget them forever. For this reason, in January 1858, the British reoccupied Port Blair, Andamans. For the first time on 10th March 1858, Supdt. J.B. Walker arrived with a batch of 200 freedom fighters. The second batch of 733 freedom fighter prisoners arrived in April 1868 from Karachi. They had been sentenced for life imprisonment. After this however it is not known how many thousands of freedom fighters were sent to the Andamans from the harbours of Bombay, Kolkata and Madras. Their numbers, names and addresses are not known.

It is said that all records were burnt when the Japanese occupied the Andamans. Some preliminary research was done by our organisation in the India Office Library, London, but no light could be shed. This worried us because whatever else the British might have been they were excellent record keepers. The truth is still not known and it needs to be. It is the responsibility of our present Indian Government to have a thorough research done to fill these gaps and to put forward in front of our countrymen, the true history of our freedom struggle and the different streams and revolts involved. The Cellular Jail was inalienably linked to the long and glorious struggle of our revolutionary freedom movement fought on the mainland and it had deep political significance. Leading figures from revolutionary upsurges on the mainland were invariably banished to languish and suffer in the Andamans.

In almost perennial rainy weather, with heavy bar fetters and shackles on their feet, surrounded by snakes, leeches and scorpions the freedom fighters were expected, in deep primeval forests to clear a path for roads through marshy land. They were punished and faced hard labour if they slowed down. In March 1868, 238 prisoners tried to escape. By April they were all caught. One committed suicide and of the remainder Supdt. Walker ordered 87 to be hanged.


Lord Mayo murder case


Lord Mayo


Shere Ali in shackles after his attack on Lord Mayo

(photograph reproduced from Satadru Sen, Disciplining Punishment - Colonialism and Convict Society in the Andaman Islands, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000; original in the India Office Library, British Library, London, no. 125/5-46)



murdered site at andaman

Lord Mayo (1822-1872) was the Viceroy and Governor General of India from 1869 to 1872. Son of the Fifth Earl of Mayo, he was born on 21 February 1822, christened Richard Southwell Bourke and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. He had held the office of chief secretary for Ireland before Disraeli appointed him to succeed Lord Lawrence.

lord mayo went andaman for suryeying possibilities for sanitarium

Lord Mayo walked about briskly and carefully surveyed the possibilities of erecting a large sanitarium. "Plenty of room here," he cried looking about on all sides, "to settle two million men." Having completed his official programme he sat down facing the west and looked across the sea at the setting sun. As he gazed ardently for some time at the beautiful picture before him, perhaps his thoughts carried him back in spirit beyond the sunset to his dear home, Ireland. He seemed fascinated by the beauties of nature and finally said quietly "How beautiful!"Again he said, "Ah, how beautiful!" After a few moments he turned around to take a drink of water and again his eyes eagerly sought the sun which was now sinking down rapidly in the west. Lord Mayo, not satisfied with enjoying the glorious sight himself summoned his Private Secretary and said, "It is the loveliest thing I think I ever saw."

The sun had set and the party came down. The eyes of the Viceroy had beheld their last sunset.

Some torch-bearers who had been sent from Hope Town Jetty met the party a short distance from the foot of the hill. They walked quickly and came to the jetty. The "Glasgow" was moving gently to and fro, a little away from the jetty, in the midwater, with her long line of lights. Lady Mayo had been standing on the deck for some time watching for her beloved husband. As darkness set in, her anxiety increased. At a short distance from the "Glasgow" the other two steamers "Dacca" and "Scotia" were anchored and the guests on board were also eagerly awaiting the Viceroy's return. It was now quite dark, the clock had just struck seven. Lady Mayo was feeling terribly anxious for the safety of her husband: peering intently through the darkness she saw the party nearing the shore. Now! only a minute's walk to the jetty &emdash; he will get into the boat that will take him to his beloved wife and the guests waiting on board the steamer. Lo! her keen eyes perceived him through the dim torch-lights walking briskly ahead. She ran in and asked the bandsmen to strike up "Rule Brittannia" . The launch was gently whizzing on the shore and the sweet music was humming in his ears. Lord Mayo stepped quickly forward to descend the jetty stairs and board the launch. The next moment a noise as of the rush of an animal was heard behind the loose stones. He turned round, and lo! a man was seen "fastened like a tiger" on the back of the Viceroy.

In a second, twelve men were on the assailant: an English officer was pulling them off, and with his sword hilt kept back the guards, who would have killed the ma on the spot. The torches had gone out, but the Viceroy, who had staggered over the pier side, could be dimly seen rising up in the knee-deep water, and clearing the hair off his brow with his hand as if to recover himself. His Private Secretary was instantly at his side helping him up the bank. "Byrne ", he said quietly, "they've hit me." Then in a louder voice, which was heard on the pier, "It's all right, I don't think I am much hurt." In another minute he was sitting under the smoky glare of the re-lit torches, in a rude native cart at the side of the jetty, his legs hanging loosely down. As they-lifted him bodily on to the cart they saw a great dark patch on the back of his coat. The blood came streaming out, and men tried to staunch it with their handkerchiefs. For a moment or two he sat up in the cart, then fell heavily backwards. "Lift up my head," he said finally. Those were his last words.

The Constuction of the Cellular Jail:

History

Though the actual prison was started only in 1896, the history of using the Andaman island as a prison dates back to the Indian rebellion of 1857.

Shortly after the rebellion was crushed, the British sent thousands to the gallows, hung them up from trees, or tied them to cannons and blew them up. Those who survived were exiled for life to the Andamans to sever their connections with their families and their country. 200 Sepoy Mutineers were transported to the islands under the custody of Major James Pattison Walker, a military doctor who had been warden of the prison at Agra. Another 733 from Karachi arrived in April, 1868.[2] More prisoners arrived from India and Burma as the settlement grew.[3]



Port Blair - Viper New Jails under construction

The remote islands were considered to be a suitable place to punish the mutineers. Not only were they isolated from the mainland, they could also be used in chain gangs to construct prisons, buildings and harbor facilities. Many died in this enterprise. They served to colonise the island for the British.

By the late 19th century the independence movement had picked up momentum. As a result, the number of prisoners being sent to the Andamans started growing and the need for a high-security prison was felt.


Architecture


fully constructed

The construction of the prison started in 1896 and was completed in 1906. The original building was a puce-colored brick building. The bricks used to build the building were brought from Burma, known today as Myanmar.


A wing of the Cellular Jail. Also shown is the central tower with conical roof.

The building had seven wings, at the centre of which a central tower served as the fulcrum and was used by guards to keep watch on the inmates. The wings forked out of the tower in straight lines, much like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. A large bell was kept in the tower to raise an alarm in any eventuality.

Each of the seven wings had three stories upon completion. There were no dormitories and a total of 698 cells. Each cell was 4.5 metres x 2.7 metres in size with a ventilator located at a height of three metres. The name, cellular jail, was derived due to this solitary formation of the cells that prevented any prisoner from communicating with any other.


Freedom Fighters of the National Revolutionary Movements:

National movements were flaring up against the British rule all over India and the freedom fighters related to these movements were sent to Andamans or the "Kala Pani" with long sentences. Prominent among these were those from The Wahabi Movement (1830 - 1869), Mopla Rebellion (1792 - 1947), First Rampa Rebellion (1878 - 1879), Second Rampa Rebellion (1922 - 1924), Tharawadi Peasant Rebellion, Burma (1930). Etc.

The National Revolutionary Movement had prominent among them in Punjab, the Heroes of The Gadar party, The Hinduthan Republican Association in U.P. formed by Sachin Sanyal, in Maharashtra with the Savarkar brothers and of course with the partition of Bengal in 1905, secret societies and lots of underground groups were beginning to form. Lots of conspiracy cases started in the courts and the number of revolutionary freedom fighters in the jails began to swell. Most of the leaders of these movements if not hanged outright were deported to the Andaman Cellular Jail. Several died due to inhuman treatment and torture.

Alipore Conspiracy Case

The bombing


Khudiram_Bose


Sri_aurobindo

When Bengal was partitioned, it sparked an outburst of public anger against the British. The anger led to civil unrest and a nationalist campaign was carried out by groups of revolutionaries, led by Aurobindo Ghosh, Rasbihari Bose and Bagha Jatin and organized into groups like Jugantar. The British cracked down hard on the activists and the conflict came to a head on April 30, 1908 when Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki attempted to kill Magistrate Kingsford, a judge known for handing down particularly harsh sentences against nationalists. However, the bomb thrown at his horse carriage missed its target and instead landed in a carriage carrying two British women, killing them.


Nasik Conspiracy Case


Vinayak deshpande


collector jackson


kanhere

For the assassination of Collector Jackson of Nasik District in the Nasik Conspiracy Case Veer Vinayak deshpande was convicted and sent to the Cellular jail on 7th April, 1911. According to deshpande Freedom Fighters were made to do hard labour. They had to peel coconuts and take out oil from them. They were forced to go around like bullocks to take out oil from mustard seeds. Outside they were forced to clear the jungles and trees on hillside levelling marshy land. They were flogged on refusal. On top of this they did not even get a full meal every day.

Gadar Party Revolutionaries in Cellular Jail (1914):



The Gadar Party whose president was Baba Sohan Singh and the secretary was Lala Har Dayal was formed in America to get our country free from the British. In 1914, with arms and ammunition, Gadar Party members, travelling by the ship KamoGata Maru travelled to cnada there at port canada people not allowed to land there again they send back to culcutta the ship consists of 200 sikhs,24 muslims,and some hindus arrived in Calcutta. They were arrested by the British.


Bomb in the Assembly(1929

In the face of actions by the revolutionaries, the British government enacted the Defence of India Act to give more power to the police. The purpose of the Act was to combat revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. The Act was defeated in the council by one vote. However, the Act was then passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. In response to this act, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association planned to explode a bomb in the assembly where the ordinance was going to be passed.


at age of 11

Originally, Azad attempted to stop Bhagat Singh from carrying out the bombing, however, the remainder of the party forced him to succumb to Singh's wishes. It was decided that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, another revolutionary, would throw the bombs in the assembly.


at 20s

On April 8, 1929, Singh and Dutt threw bombs onto the corridors of the assembly and shouted "Inquilab Zindabad!" ("Long Live the Revolution!"). This was followed by a shower of leaflets stating that it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear.



at age 21 punjab ka sher bhagat singh

The bomb neither killed nor injured anyone; Singh and Dutt claimed that this was deliberate on their part, a claim substantiated both by British forensics investigators who found that the bomb was not powerful enough to cause injury, and by the fact that the bomb was thrown away from people. Singh and Dutt gave themselves up for arrest after the bomb. He and Dutt were sentenced to 'Transportation for Life' for the bombing on June 12, 1929.

http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?linkid=3

The Second Lahore Conspiracy Case

The British government filed the second Lahore Conspiracy Case against Bhagat Singh and 16 of his colleagues. In 1930, Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Rajguru were hanged. Shri Yatendra Nath died because of hunger strike. Bhagat Singh's other friends Batukeshwar Dutt, Bejoy Kumar Sinha, Shiv Verma, Jaidev kapoor, Dr. Gaya Prasad, Kamal Nath Tiwari, Mahabir Singh were given life imprisonment and were sent to Andaman Cellular Jail.


The Chittagong Revolt (1930)

On the night of 18th April 1930 revolutionaries occupied Chittagong Armoury. For many days they battled with British army on the hills of Jalalabad. Many died a heroic death and many were arrested on 1st March 1932., 12 out of 32 people were given life imprisonment. Revolutionary leader (Master Da Surya Sen) was arrested and hanged on 12th Jan 1934. Ambika Chakraborty, Ganesh Ghosh, Anant Singh, Lok Nath Bal, Anand Gupta, Randhir Dass Gupta, Fakir Sen and other compatriots were sent to Cellular Jail.


The Reopening of the Andaman Cellular Jail (1932)

All around the country there were revolts against the British. In Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab a chain of revolutionary conspiracies started. On a large scale there were arrests and long sentences were given. National revolutionary movement leaders and active participants started being sent to the Cellular Jail in Andamans.


Inhuman treatment in Jail (1932)



The food that was given was not fit for human consumption. There were worms when you opened the bread and wild grass was boiled and served in lieu of vegetables. Rain drinking water was full of insects and worms. The 13' X 6' cells were dark and damp and dingy thickly coated with moss.




There were no toilets. There were no lights, no reading material. Prisoners were not allowed to meet with each other. The guards carried out physical torture and flogging. Their behaviour was insulting. Things had become unbearable.




The first mass hunger strike:

12 May 1933 The only alternative before the freedom fighters was to resort to a hunger strike against these atrocities. On 12 May 1933 they started a fast undo death. Mahavir Singh, Mohan Kishore Namo Das and Mohit Moitra died during this hunger strike. Their bodies were quietly ferreted away and thrown out to sea. Punjab's jail inspector Barker was called to break the hunger strike. He issued orders to stop the issuing of drinking water. The freedom fighters were resolute. There was a huge outcry throughout India because of this hunger strike. After 46 days the British Raj had to bow and the demands of the freedom fighters had to be accepted. The hunger strike ended on 26 June 1933.


Facilities obtained after the hunger strike

After the death of three colleagues the facilities won from jail authorities proved beneficial for the future. There was light in the cells. The prisoners started getting newspapers, books and periodicals. They were allowed to meet. The facility to read individually or on a collective basis was allowed. The opportunity to play sports and organise cultural events was given. 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 together. They discussed politics, economics, history and philosophy.

There were classes in biology and physiology given by the doctors amongst them. Others gave classes in historical and dialectical materialism. Knowledge, experience and books were hungrily shared. A jail library was started. A veritable university of freedom fighters had begun where revolutionaries were learning about Marxist and socialist ideas and how to disseminate these amongst the people whose freedom they were fighting for. A Communist consolidation was formed of 39 prisoners on 26 April 1935. This number later swelled to 200. The freedom fighters started feeling that the atmosphere for a world war was gathering and that before the war starts we should get back to our country to be with our people and take active part in the upheaval that was imminent. A petition was sent to the Viceroy on 9 July 1937 by the freedom fighters that all political prisoners should be repatriated to the mainland and released An ultimatum was given that if these demands were not met a hunger strike would begin.

The second hunger strike for the repatriation of freedom fighters began on 25 July 1937

A country wide movement on the mainland in support of the demands of the Andaman freedom fighters began as other political prisoners in other jails on the mainland also started hunger strikes in support. There was a mass demonstration of working people, intellectuals and students. This upsurge clearly showed that their people on the mainland did not forget them. After four weeks telegrams from Bengal's chief minister, leaders of the nation Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sharad Chandra Bose, Rabindra Nath Tagore etc poured in imploring the freedom fighters to end their hunger strike.

On 28 August 1937, Gandhiji, poet Rabindra Nath Tagore and the Congress Working Committee sent a telegram…"the whole nation appeals to you to end the hunger strike… and assures you to take up your demands and to see them fulfilled…" After a lot of deliberation and discussion this historic 36-day hunger strike of 200 revolutionary freedom fighters ended. The process of repatriation started in September 1937. There were a total of 385 freedom fighters in jail at the time. 339 from Bengal, 19 from Bihar, 11 from Uttar Pradesh, 5 from Assam, 3 from Punjab, 2 from Delhi and 2 from Madras.

netaji in jail

The Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind




Netaji inspecting the Cellular Jail in early February 1944

On December 29, 1943, political control of the islands was theoretically passed to the Azad Hind government of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose visited Port Blair to raise the tricolour flag of the Indian National Army. During this, his only visit to the Andamans, he was kept carefully screened from the local population by the Japanese authorities. Various attempts were made to inform him of the sufferings of the people of the Andamans, and the fact that many local Indian Nationalists were at that time being tortured in the Cellular Jail. Bose does not seem to have been aware of this, and the judgment of some is that he "failed his people" . After Bose's departure the Japanese remained in effective control of the Andamans, and the sovereignty of the Arzi Hukumat-e Hind was largely fictional . The islands themselves were renamed "Shaheed" and "Swaraj", meaning "martyr" and "self-rule" respectively. Bose placed the islands under the governorship of one General Loganathan, and had limited involvement with the administration of the territory. During his interrogation after the war Loganathan admitted that he had only had full control over the islands' vestigial education department, as the Japanese had retained control over the police force, and in protest he had refused to accept responsibility for any other areas of Government. He was powerless to prevent the worst Japanese atrocity of the occupation, the Homfreyganj massacre of the 30th January 1944, where forty-four Indian civilians were shot by the Japanese on suspicion of spying. Many of them were members of the Indian Independence League . Notionally this government continued to administer the islands, which were almost the only territory it ever acquired, until the British retook them in 1945, but in practice little had changed.


The Demolition of the Cellular Jail

We do not know on whose initiative the demolition of the Cellular Jail was begun. We revolutionaries who were incarcerated in the Cellular Jail intervened. We felt strongly that this symbol of tyranny needed to be preserved as a National Memorial to remind our future generations of the tremendous cost that was paid in Indian blood for the freedom of our country.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail

LIST OF EX-ANDAMAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS
As On 5th August 2001
http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ContactUs.htm

http://www.andamancellularjail.org/A1.htm

Freedom Fighters Deported to Andamans

http://www.andamancellularjail.org/ListOfRevolutionaries.htm

andaman tour guides





http://www.exploreindiatours.com/andaman-nicobar.htm

http://tourism.andaman.nic.in/history_british.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands