Cellular Jail
- August 13, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: History
Context:
Ministry of Tourism organises Independence Day themed webinar titled “Cellular Jail: Letters, Memoirs & Memories” under DekhoApnaDesh webinar series
Concept:
- The lives and stories of some of the most famous political prisoners like Veer Savarkar, B.K.Dutt, Fazl-e-HaqKhairabadi, Barindra Kumar Ghose, Sushil Dasgupta were presented.
- The important contribution made by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Andaman towards India’s independence also had a mention in the presentation.
- The Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a prison where Indians fighting for freedom from the British were exiled and incarcerated under very inhuman conditions.
- The construction of the prison started in 1896 and was completed in 1910.
- The architecture of Cellular Jail was conceptualized on the basis of ‘Pennsylvania System or Separate System’ theory in which separate confinement is necessary for each inmate for complete isolation from other inmates. No communication of any kind was possible between prisoners in the same or different wings.
- Each and Every brick of the Cellular Jail has got a heart rendering stories of resistance, sufferings and sacrifices. Cellular Jail stands as a mute spectator to the inhuman sufferings of the patriots, freedom fighters who were imprisoned in these cells. They even had to sacrifice their precious lives as victim of tyranny.
Famous freedom fighters
- Veer Savarkar – In 1911, freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans for revolting against the Morley-Minto reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909). He was released in 1924. He was known for his bravery and hence nicknamed ‘Veer’.
- BatukeshwarDutt, also known as B K Dutt, was a Revolutionary Freedom Fighter. He, along with Bhagat Singh was involved in the Central Legislative Assembly Bombing Case of 1929, passed away on 20th July 1965 after an illness at the age of 54. Dutt was sentenced to life imprisonment and deported to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
- Fazl-E-HaqKhairabadi– After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 failed, Fazl-E-Haq was covered by an amnesty and was arrested by the British authorities on 30 January 1859 at Khairabad for inciting violence. He was tried and found guilty of encouraging murder and role in the ‘jihad’. He was sentenced for life to the prison at Kalapani (Cellular Jail) on Andaman Island, and his property was confiscated by the judicial commissioner of Awadh court.
- Barindra Kumar Ghose – Following the attempted killing of Kingsford by two revolutionaries Khudiram and Prafulla on 30 April 1908, the police intensified its investigation which led to the arrest of Barin and Aurobindo Ghosh on 2 May 1908, along with many of his comrades. The trial (known as the Alipore Bomb Case) initially sentenced Barin Ghosh and UllaskarDatta to death. However, the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, by Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and Barin was deported to the Cellular Jail in Andaman in 1909 along with other convicts.
- SushilDasgupta – He was a member of the revolutionary Yugantar Dal of Bengal, and the Putiya Mail Robbery case of 1929 took him to Medinipur prison. From there, he escaped along with fellow revolutionaries, Sachin Kar Gupta and Dinesh Majumdar. They were absconding for seven months. Eventually Dinesh was caught and hanged, Sushil was sent to Cellular Jail, and Sachin first to Mandalay Jail and, then, to Cellular Jail..
- On December 29, 1943, political control of the islands was passed to the Azad Hind government of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose visited Port Blair to raise the tricolour flag of the Indian National Army.