02-03-2008, 04:24 AM
One of the murkiest chapters in the history of the colonial rule in India is the kaala paani. The Andamans were then known as the Devil's Islands of the British Raj. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal are over 1200 km south of Kolkata and east of Chennai. The British chose them in order to isolate political prisoners physically, socially and politically. Conditions in these islands were most unhealthy and led to high rate of mortality. The prisoners were put to the hardest labour possible such as clearing jungles, cutting wood, preparing bricks and lime.
They were treated worse than criminals. Boden Kloss, an English observer has recorded with intense feeling of sadness, "Prisoners were set free on nearby Viper Island - to make friends, one supposes, with poisonous snakes. Who knows how many lived?" To be sent there was considered to be a living death and hence it came to be known as Kaala Paani (lit: black waters).
During the First War of Independence of 1857, the British resolved to ship out freedom fighters, whom they called 'mutineers' from the soil of the mainland to distant islands and isolate them. A noting in Home Judicial, OC No. 21 dated 15 January 1858 states, "It has been determined by the Right Hon'ble the Governor-General in Council to establish a penal settlement on the Andaman Islands, for reception of the first instance of convicts sentenced to imprisonment, and to transportation for the crimes of mutiny and rebellion and for other offences connected therewith."
The first batch of freedom-fighters reached Port Blair on 10 March 1858 from Calcutta. Their number was 200. About the first batch, it is reported that four Punjab mutineers died on the way before reaching Andamans and within three months of their arrival 64 of them died in hospital. Some of them were executed. The second batch of 171 convicts from Karachi came by the ships, the 'Roman empire' and 'Edward' in April 1858. By May 1864, the number of convicts grew to 3294. As the number of prisoners deported from the mainland started increasing to the staggering figure of 9603 by 1874, it became difficult to check their 'patriotic indiscipline' . An Order No. 423 dated 30 September 1893 was issued by the British administration for the construction of a bigger and well secured jail as a 'matter of great urgency' to dehumanize these freedom-fighters. The Jail was sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 517352 (1893 prices!). Some half-starved 600 prisoners were used as forced labour for the construction of the Jail that was meant to imprison themselves and their fellow countrymen. Constant vigil was kept on these labour prisoners during the construction work so that no revolt was organized by them. It was for this reason that the target of three years took thirteen years for the completion of its construction. The Cellular Jail was thus completed in 1906 and the number of prisoners it housed had swelled to 14086! Situated on the sea coast in the north-eastern portion of Port Blair, the Cellular Jail was the first hair-raising sight for the deported prisoners arriving in ships coming to Port Blair.
Like an octopus having eight arms to catch its prey, the Cellular Jail had seven protruding arms or wings from the central watchtower. Each wing had three floors with 698 cells. Each cell measured 4.1 by 1.9 metres, just enough for one convict. These small cells gave the Cellular Jail its name. All the seven wings of the Cellular Jail had a meeting point at the central watchtower for entry and exit. Each cell had separate iron bolts and locking devices outside, beyond the reach of the prisoner's hand. Though there was no chance of an escape, there was constant vigil by 21 wardens; seven on each floor facing their respective wings. There were sentries in the central watchtower.
The prisoners would be made to walk through the well guarded first iron-bar entrance. As the gate would be unlocked and pulled, it would make a terrible sound like the jaws of death ready to swallow a new arrival. After this first gate was a second one. Between the two gates was a thick wall. It was covered with gruesome instruments nailed to the wall. These were the terrible instruments of punishment and torture. Some of the instruments of torture in the Cellular Jail were as follows:
1. Handcuffs - to be used on the wrists in front or behind; the prisoners would also be made to remain standing for hours at a stretch with their hands tied to handcuffs hooked to a wall above his height(standing handcuffs punishment). The prisoners were kept in this position from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 12 noon to 5 p.m. They were not allowed to answer nature's call while undergoing this punishment. Many would pass urine and stools when it became impossible to control their urge. They would then be punished for soiling their clothes and the prison! This inhuman punishment was administered for a week at a stretch.
2. Link fetters- composed of a chain and ankle rings; the length of the chain being two feet and the total weight being 3 pounds. The bars were stiff and unbending; riveted to the prisoner's feet and hung up to his waist. As the bars were stiff, the prisoner could not bend his legs throughout the period of punishment which could extend for months.
3. Cross bar fetters - composed of single bar for the purpose of keeping the legs apart and ankle rings; length of the bar being 16 inches and the total weight being two and a half pounds. Under this sentence, the prisoner could not bring his feet or legs close to each other. He had to walk, sit, work and sleep with feet and legs stretched out. This punishment could continue at a stretch for weeks!
4. Canes, thick and long
5. Bayonets
6. Rifles
7. Shackles
8. Thick long ropes
9. Leather whips fastened to a stiff handle
10. Oil mill or kolu; the prisoners would be yoked like bullocks to the metal bar and made to push it around in a circle so that dried coconut pieces kept in a central receptacle would get crushed and oil would drip; total oil required to be thus extracted would be thirty pounds.
To minimize the chances of communication between the convicts and to isolate them from each other, the construction of the Cellular Jail was made such that the front portion of each wing faced the back side of the other wing at a sufficient distance. There were no dormitories in the Cellular Jail. On arrival in the Cellular Jail, convicts would be placed in solitary confinement for six months. This helped to tone down their vigour and vitality and demoralize them. Thus the Cellular Jail was a prison within a prison!
From the early period of the 20th century onwards, jails in India were packed with young revolutionaries. The most feared among them were sent for Kaala paani to the Cellular Jail. Among those who served time here were revolutionaries of :
· The Alipore Bomb Case
· The Chittagong Armoury Case
· The Nashik Conspiracy Case
· The Lahore Conspiracy Case
· The Nadia Conspiracy Case
· The Gadar Party heroes
· The Khulna Conspiracy Case
· The Rumpa Peasants' Revolt
Most of them were charged under section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (1860), namely "waging of War against the King of the British Empire".
The 1941 earthquake caused considerable damage to the Cellular Jail. During the Japanese occupation, further damagae was caused to the building which resulted in demolition of four wings of the Cellular Jail. Presently, there are only three wings that stand as a silent monument to those unheard and unlisted heroes who perished in its soil and made the land fertile for the freedom of our motherland!
After Independence, there was a proposal by Pandit Nehru to turn the Cellular Jail into a hospital. One suspects that Nehru had a deep-seated animus against the revolutionaries. His daughter Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi however proved worthy in this regard. When a proposal to beautify the Cellular jail reached her, she made the following observation, "The main point of the preservation of the Jail is to maintain its gaunt severity. This should be the most effective and poignant memorial of all. New memorials, statues, gardens and youth camps will detract from the atmosphere of the original Jail, which we seek to preserve, and will obviously have an artificial look. These proposals should therefore be dropped. Instead of all this paraphernalia, roll call of freedom-fighters, inscribed on metal plaques might be put up at an appropriate place. We are in no position to incur the additional expenditure which the expert team's recommendations would necessitate. The matter should be re-examined so that construction of new buildings is avoided" (Letter no. 30/130/69, ANL dated 12 December 1971).
They were treated worse than criminals. Boden Kloss, an English observer has recorded with intense feeling of sadness, "Prisoners were set free on nearby Viper Island - to make friends, one supposes, with poisonous snakes. Who knows how many lived?" To be sent there was considered to be a living death and hence it came to be known as Kaala Paani (lit: black waters).
During the First War of Independence of 1857, the British resolved to ship out freedom fighters, whom they called 'mutineers' from the soil of the mainland to distant islands and isolate them. A noting in Home Judicial, OC No. 21 dated 15 January 1858 states, "It has been determined by the Right Hon'ble the Governor-General in Council to establish a penal settlement on the Andaman Islands, for reception of the first instance of convicts sentenced to imprisonment, and to transportation for the crimes of mutiny and rebellion and for other offences connected therewith."
The first batch of freedom-fighters reached Port Blair on 10 March 1858 from Calcutta. Their number was 200. About the first batch, it is reported that four Punjab mutineers died on the way before reaching Andamans and within three months of their arrival 64 of them died in hospital. Some of them were executed. The second batch of 171 convicts from Karachi came by the ships, the 'Roman empire' and 'Edward' in April 1858. By May 1864, the number of convicts grew to 3294. As the number of prisoners deported from the mainland started increasing to the staggering figure of 9603 by 1874, it became difficult to check their 'patriotic indiscipline' . An Order No. 423 dated 30 September 1893 was issued by the British administration for the construction of a bigger and well secured jail as a 'matter of great urgency' to dehumanize these freedom-fighters. The Jail was sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 517352 (1893 prices!). Some half-starved 600 prisoners were used as forced labour for the construction of the Jail that was meant to imprison themselves and their fellow countrymen. Constant vigil was kept on these labour prisoners during the construction work so that no revolt was organized by them. It was for this reason that the target of three years took thirteen years for the completion of its construction. The Cellular Jail was thus completed in 1906 and the number of prisoners it housed had swelled to 14086! Situated on the sea coast in the north-eastern portion of Port Blair, the Cellular Jail was the first hair-raising sight for the deported prisoners arriving in ships coming to Port Blair.
Like an octopus having eight arms to catch its prey, the Cellular Jail had seven protruding arms or wings from the central watchtower. Each wing had three floors with 698 cells. Each cell measured 4.1 by 1.9 metres, just enough for one convict. These small cells gave the Cellular Jail its name. All the seven wings of the Cellular Jail had a meeting point at the central watchtower for entry and exit. Each cell had separate iron bolts and locking devices outside, beyond the reach of the prisoner's hand. Though there was no chance of an escape, there was constant vigil by 21 wardens; seven on each floor facing their respective wings. There were sentries in the central watchtower.
The prisoners would be made to walk through the well guarded first iron-bar entrance. As the gate would be unlocked and pulled, it would make a terrible sound like the jaws of death ready to swallow a new arrival. After this first gate was a second one. Between the two gates was a thick wall. It was covered with gruesome instruments nailed to the wall. These were the terrible instruments of punishment and torture. Some of the instruments of torture in the Cellular Jail were as follows:
1. Handcuffs - to be used on the wrists in front or behind; the prisoners would also be made to remain standing for hours at a stretch with their hands tied to handcuffs hooked to a wall above his height(standing handcuffs punishment). The prisoners were kept in this position from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 12 noon to 5 p.m. They were not allowed to answer nature's call while undergoing this punishment. Many would pass urine and stools when it became impossible to control their urge. They would then be punished for soiling their clothes and the prison! This inhuman punishment was administered for a week at a stretch.
2. Link fetters- composed of a chain and ankle rings; the length of the chain being two feet and the total weight being 3 pounds. The bars were stiff and unbending; riveted to the prisoner's feet and hung up to his waist. As the bars were stiff, the prisoner could not bend his legs throughout the period of punishment which could extend for months.
3. Cross bar fetters - composed of single bar for the purpose of keeping the legs apart and ankle rings; length of the bar being 16 inches and the total weight being two and a half pounds. Under this sentence, the prisoner could not bring his feet or legs close to each other. He had to walk, sit, work and sleep with feet and legs stretched out. This punishment could continue at a stretch for weeks!
4. Canes, thick and long
5. Bayonets
6. Rifles
7. Shackles
8. Thick long ropes
9. Leather whips fastened to a stiff handle
10. Oil mill or kolu; the prisoners would be yoked like bullocks to the metal bar and made to push it around in a circle so that dried coconut pieces kept in a central receptacle would get crushed and oil would drip; total oil required to be thus extracted would be thirty pounds.
To minimize the chances of communication between the convicts and to isolate them from each other, the construction of the Cellular Jail was made such that the front portion of each wing faced the back side of the other wing at a sufficient distance. There were no dormitories in the Cellular Jail. On arrival in the Cellular Jail, convicts would be placed in solitary confinement for six months. This helped to tone down their vigour and vitality and demoralize them. Thus the Cellular Jail was a prison within a prison!
From the early period of the 20th century onwards, jails in India were packed with young revolutionaries. The most feared among them were sent for Kaala paani to the Cellular Jail. Among those who served time here were revolutionaries of :
· The Alipore Bomb Case
· The Chittagong Armoury Case
· The Nashik Conspiracy Case
· The Lahore Conspiracy Case
· The Nadia Conspiracy Case
· The Gadar Party heroes
· The Khulna Conspiracy Case
· The Rumpa Peasants' Revolt
Most of them were charged under section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (1860), namely "waging of War against the King of the British Empire".
The 1941 earthquake caused considerable damage to the Cellular Jail. During the Japanese occupation, further damagae was caused to the building which resulted in demolition of four wings of the Cellular Jail. Presently, there are only three wings that stand as a silent monument to those unheard and unlisted heroes who perished in its soil and made the land fertile for the freedom of our motherland!
After Independence, there was a proposal by Pandit Nehru to turn the Cellular Jail into a hospital. One suspects that Nehru had a deep-seated animus against the revolutionaries. His daughter Prime Minister Shrimati Indira Gandhi however proved worthy in this regard. When a proposal to beautify the Cellular jail reached her, she made the following observation, "The main point of the preservation of the Jail is to maintain its gaunt severity. This should be the most effective and poignant memorial of all. New memorials, statues, gardens and youth camps will detract from the atmosphere of the original Jail, which we seek to preserve, and will obviously have an artificial look. These proposals should therefore be dropped. Instead of all this paraphernalia, roll call of freedom-fighters, inscribed on metal plaques might be put up at an appropriate place. We are in no position to incur the additional expenditure which the expert team's recommendations would necessitate. The matter should be re-examined so that construction of new buildings is avoided" (Letter no. 30/130/69, ANL dated 12 December 1971).