Cellular Jail: Kala Paani Ki Saja

Kala Pani ki Saja was dreaded even by the worst kind of offenders. It was believed who gets Kala Pani ki Saja, never returns. The prison was known to imprison many notable Indian freedom fighters and political activists during the struggle for India's independence. The Cellular jail stands as a mute Spectator to the inhuman sufferings of the patriots, freedom fighters who were imprisoned in the cells of this Jail. In 1863, the Rev. Henry Fisher Corbyn, of the Bengal Ecclesiastical Establishment, was also sent out there and he set up the 'Andamanese Home' there, which was also a repressive institution albeit disguised as a charitable one.

Among the records of the Government of India's Home Department, we found the Empire's response in its Orders to Provincial Governors and Chief Commissioners. "Very Secret: Regarding security prisoners who hunger strike, every effort should be made to prevent the incidents from being reported, no concessions to be given to the prisoners who must be kept alive. Manual methods of restraint are best, then mechanical when the patient resists."The room in the jail was in a row. The verandas about 4 feet wide ran all along the front surrounded by iron railings fixed into the arched pillars that support the roof of the verandas. All these corridors meet at the Central Tower, which alone has the gate entrance and exit. Some of the better known political prisoners incarcerated in the Cellular Jail were Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Upendra Nath Banerjee, Hem Chandra Das, Ullaskar Dutta, Indubushan Roy, Bibhuti Bushan Sarkar, Hrishikesh Kanjilal, Sudhin Kumar Sarkar, Abinash Chandra Bhattacharji & Birendra Chandra Sen. All these prisoners were sent to the Cellular Jail after 1910 on their conviction for participation in the Manictollah Conspiracy case.