Journey Of India’s Independence Struggle Through The Galleries And Cells Of Cellular Jail

• 13 Aug 2020

( 12 August, 2020, Ministry of Tourism, www.pib.gov.in )

• As India gears up to celebrate its 74^thIndependence Day celebrations , the Ministry of Tourism’s DekhoApnaDesh Webinar Series presented the webinar titled “Cellular Jail : Letters , Memoirs & Memories on 10^th August 2020.
• The Webinar showcased the journey of India’s independence struggle through the galleries and cells of the Cellular jail. 
• The lives and stories of some of the most famous political prisoners like Veer Savarkar, B.K.Dutt, Fazl-e-HaqKhairabadi, Barindra Kumar Ghose, SushilDasgupta were presented. 
• The important contribution made by NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose in Andaman towards India’s independence also had a mention in the presentation. 

The sacrifices of following freedom fighters who had to go through the inhuman sufferings at the Cellular Jail were highlighted:

• Veer Savarkar: In 1911, freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans (also known as Kala Pani) 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’.
• K. Dutt: Batukeshwar Dutt, 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. Both Singh and Dutt were 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 had chosen to be his own counsel and defended himself. His arguments and the way he defended his case was so convincing that the presiding magistrate was writing a judgement to exonerate him, when he confessed to giving the fatwa, declaring that he could not lie. 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: BarindraGhose was born at Croydon, near London on 5 January 1880.  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 AurobindoGhosh on 2 May 1908, along with many of his comrades. The trial (known as the Alipore Bomb Case) initially sentenced BarinGhosh and UllaskarDatta to death. However, the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, by DeshbandhuChittaranjan Das and Barin was deported to the Cellular Jail in Andaman in 1909 along with other convicts.
• Sushil Dasgupta: Sushil Kumar Dasgupta (1910-1947) was born in Barishal, now in Bangladesh. 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, SachinKar 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.

Contribution of Subhas Chandra Bose

• 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.