A symbol of oppression
A visit to Kala Pani is an emotional one, as it opens one's eyes to the sufferings of our freedom fighters.
The main purpose of my tour was to visit Kala Pani, the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which at one time housed Indian freedom fighters, who were taken prisoners. Today, there are no prisoners in captivity, but those black bricks are constant reminders of the dark and horrific history of the Indian struggle for independence. I feel that the present generation ought to visit this jail in order to understand the price paid by our countrymen in their struggle.
As many as 238 patriots, who took part in the revolt of 1857, were imprisoned and 87 of them were hanged to death and the remaining were exiled for life to the Andamans. That is how the island got the name Kal Pani —Kal meaning death and Pani meaning water. Kal Pani later became Kala Pani.
The Cellular Jail was the brainchild of the English philosopher and sociologist Jeremy Benjamin. The jail was constructed in such a manner that the prisoners would have no contact with each other and thus could not exchange ideas with any of the other freedom fighters.
Blackish brown bricks brought from Burma were used to build the walls, which were four-feet thick. There were 696 cells in all, each cell measuring 14.8 by 8.9 feet, with a ventilator placed 10 feet high from the floor and housing only one prisoner. It was customary to change the convicts from one cell to the other, so that none of the
convicts had a permanent neighbour.
There were two iron pots placed in each cell — one was for water and the other for defecation. Having to spend the whole night in this atmosphere was unbearable. Those being rebellious, harming the authorities or trying to escape from prison faced the gallows.
The punishments meted out to those who disobeyed the rules were horrifying. The convicts had to work nine hours a day and would be bound by chains when they were at these jobs. Those who failed to complete the work were beaten with whips. As many as 650 convicts from India and Burma were kept here. A list of the names of prisoners from various states is displayed here.
Some important names of those imprisoned in the Cellular Jail include Vir Savarkar, Babarao Savarkar, Mahavir Singh, Diwan Singh, Maulana Ahmedullah, Yogendra Shukla, Faizal Ihak and Liakid Ali.
It is a historical fact that in 1942 during the Second World War the Japanese invaded the Andaman Islands and drove away the British. The British soldiers who were caught were put in prison by the Japanese. It was during this time that Subash Chandra Bose visited the jail. But in 1945, the British regained control of the islands and ensured supremacy over the jail.
With the passage of time and owing to natural disasters, four of the seven wings of the jail were destroyed. What remains of the structure are the three wings and the central tower.
The two burning torches (Smrithi Jyothi) that were installed in 2004 and 2008 are symbolic of the defiance to British oppression and continues to burn even today.
After the heart-rending narration from the guide, the day ended with a light and sound show in the evening. At the end of every show, the viewers filled with patriotic fervour, shout out ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or ‘Vande Mataram’. Where else can you witness such display of
patriotism?
(C.A. Francis is Academic Administrator, Devamatha CMI Public School, (CBSE), Trichur. He visited the island as part of a tour by Salesian Cooperators).