Cellular Jail - National Memory Monument of Andaman
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| Cellular Jail |
The
Cellular Jail was a prison built by
Britain in the Andaman Islands to banish the freedom fighters. Now it stands as
a National memorial monument. The names of hundreds of freedom fighters are
craved on the watch tower. It is also
called as Kala Paani (Black Water). Many of the Indian freedom fighters
including Batukeshwar Dutt and Veer Savarkar were imprisoned here at the time
of struggle for Independence of India.
The History
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| Ross Island Prison Head Quarters,1872 |
The prison complex was build in between 1896 and 1906. Immediately after the War of Independence in 1857, the British started using the Andaman Islands as a prison.
After the war was concealed, the British executed
many of the rebels. Those who escaped from execution were sentenced to life imprisonment
in the Cellular Jail. About 200 rebels were sent to the jail under the custody
of Jailer David Barry and Major James Pattison Walker, a military doctor, the
warden of the prison at Agra. About 733
rebels from Karachi arrived here in April, 1868.
By
the late 19th Century, the independence movement gained momentum.
The number of prisoners increased and a high security prison becomes a real
requirement.
In
March 1868, 238 prisoners tried to escape from the jail. All of them were
caught by the end of April. One of them committed suicide and 87 of them were ordered
to be hanged.
The
prisoners’ starts hunger strike during early 1930s and it made attention to
their imprisonment to outside the jail. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
intervened in this situation. Thus the Government made a decision to send home
the political prisoners from the Cellular Jail in 1937-38.
The Empire of Japan invaded the islands in 1942
throw out British from the Islands. Then Britain becomes the prisoners in the
Cellular Jail.
Cellular Jail Museum
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| Minimal Model of New Cellular Jail |
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| A Statue in the Museum |
Very brutal punishments were given to the prisoners
in the jail. Some of those are shown in this museum as statues in the museum.
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