THE CELLULAR JAIL

(The Guantanamo Bay of British India)

A Presentation by Jacob George Michael
This presentation was made on the 6th of September 2016 in honor of those who sacrificed their lives inside this cruel penitentiary . My Email: joseyown@gmail.com,
The Cellular Jail, situated in South Andaman is a Indian National Monument as declared by
Prime Minister Morarji Desai on February 11, 1979. Today it that stands as the symbol of
extreme cruel oppression of the Political prisoners & freedom fighters of British India. The
construction of this institution of torture and solitary confinement for life, started in the year
1896 and was completed by 1906. The building was a puce coloured one, with the bricks for the
construction, being brought from Burma. The construction was undertaken by the detainees
themselves, under supervision of the British. It cost around Rs. 5.17 lakh to the British rulers.
During the Japanese occupation, two wings of the jail were demolished. Two more were pulled
down after Independence.

The Cellular Jail, also known as ‘KALA PANI’( name derived from Sanskrit words 'Kal'
which means ‘Time’ or ‘Death’ and 'Pani' which means Water). The Cellular Jail got its
name from the 698 cells in 7 wings of various lengths, all radiating from a center Watch
Tower, like the spokes of a wheel, which prevented the inmates from communicating to
each other. Each cell was 14.8 X 8.9 ft, with a ventilator at an height of 9.8 feet. The cells
were not provided with urinal or lavatory facilities. The inmates were given clay pots to be
used as urinals in the night. The knowledge of treatment meted out to human lives inside
this building, is one that will fan hatred for the British, even today.
Arial view of the Cellular Jail as seen today

It was after the ‘First war of Indian
Independence in 1857, that the British thought
of a place to dump Indian political prisoners and
freedom fighters, who survived the war and the
systematic elimination carried out by them. The
first batch of 200 prisoners were brought into
Andaman, under the control of jailer David Barry
and Major James Pattison Walker. By late 19th
century, as the independence movement picked
up, it became necessary for the British to build a
high security prison. The concept of the Cellular
Jail, thus came into being.
Main entrance of the Cellular Jail

. The face of every cell opened at the back of other cells so as to prevent interaction between detainees
It was on the recommendation of Charles James Lyall who served as home secretary in the
British Raj government, and A S Lethbridge, a surgeon in the British administration who, on
their appointment as men in charge of searching for a penal settlement in Port Blair,
concluded that the punishment of transportation of detainees to the Andaman Islands was
failing to achieve the purpose intended and that a “severe penal stage" should exist in the
transportation sentence, whereby transported prisoners will be subjected to a period of
harsh treatment upon arrival. The outcome was the construction of the Cellular Jail, which
has been described as "a place of exclusion and isolation” by the cruel British.

This island penitentiary was a place that involved activities like inhuman torture,
medical tests, forced labour and, for many, death. Inmates were treated to
unimaginable acts of forced feeding through the nostrils and the rectum. Flogging was
a day to day activity the British enjoyed with great enthusiasm. When some needed
medical aid for fevers, the duty doctors signed papers stating that they were fit enough
to be flogged.

Some inmates ended up chained like bullocks to oil mills, grinding mustard seed,
around and around for hours on end.

Various articles used as uniforms and as hand and leg cuffs.

Those inmates who refused to submit to hard labour were publically flogged in full
view of other inmates.

The interior of these cells are witness to life in extreme torture, pain and slow death.

A closer view of the cells were
hundred of life were sacrificed at the
alter of India’s Freedom from the
inhumane and cruel British
Monarchy. Indians were treated as
secondhand citizens in their own
country by the savage British.

THE GALLOWS WERE MANY LIVES
ENDED AFTER INHUMANE TROTURE

A GENERAL VIEW OF THE CELLS IN ONE THE WINGS INSIDE WHICH MANY INDIAN LIVES FELL APART

A VIEW OF WATCH TOWER FROM OUTSIDE ONE OF THE WINGS

THE WATCH TOWER GIVES A CLEAR VIEW OF THE AREA IN BETWEEN THE WINGS

THE CORRIDORS OF LIFE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, TORTURE, PAIN & DEATH

THE SIGN BOARD SAYS IT ALL. LET’S JUST PRAY A WHILE FOR THOSE MANY LIVES.

NAMES OF CELLULAR JAIL’S POLITICAL PRISONERS, MANY OF WHOM, COME FROM PUNJAB &
BENGAL, ARE INSCRIBED ON THE WALLS OF THE TOWER TODAY.

The Cellular Jail today remains as the right epitaph for one of the worst indignities the
wicked and cruel British, inflicted upon India and its gallant freedom fighters.
The inhuman physical and mental tortures on these brave men, failed to deter them
from their grim resolve to free their motherland.
These brave hearts were made to work hours on the grinding mill, to standing
handcuffed for a week, to bar-fetters for six months, to confinement in solitary cells, to
four days of starvation diet and to cross bars for ten days.
Work on the oil grinding mill was all the more terrible and caused several deaths. Often
the prisoners became breathless, with their tongues parched up, limbs numb, hands
bruised and the brain reeling. And their crime? They loved their motherland.
It was jailer David Barry who was ordained to suppress Britain’s enemies with vile
abuse and crude violence. But he had to pay for his sins. Terminally ill, he was sent to
Calcutta somewhere in mid-1920s, never to reach England.
Today the Cellular Jail has been nominated by Govt of India, to be recognized as a
‘WORLD HERITAGE MONUMENT’ by UNESCO.

Dear friends,
It is upon the sacrifices of these brave men, and men like Netaji
Subash Chandra Bose, that we live in a nation of our own.
Though not totally free of bondage from a cunning British
monarchy, we still need to preserve our unity at all costs. We
cannot afford to tolerate our enemies, destroy the unity and
integrity of our Mother land. As FIREBRAND PATRIOTS of our
beloved nation, let us pledge to ever remain vigilant to identify
and destroy our nations enemies, without any consideration or
mercy.
JAI HIND

THE CELLULAR JAIL

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THE CELLULAR JAIL