Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By INAV Correspondent

Jaya Bachchan is out of Parliament and, if their political opponents are proved right, a host of MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, could also be shown the door. All of them, apparently, are guilty of the same offence as Bachchan: they hold "offices of profit" under the government together with their parliament seats. So what's an office of profit? So far, a clear answer has eluded constitution, court and election commission alike. Bachchan got the boot because she was chief of the UP Film Development Council. Sonia is chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) besides heading several state-funded bodies... ....more

Hundred years of Kala Pani

By Arvinder Kaur

Once infamous as Kala Pani , this historical monument at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, marked its centenary on 10th March this year. From the unmatched sacrifices of freedom fighters to the tyranny of colonial rulers, from being a torture cell to a place of pilgrimage, this historical monument has come a long way since its establishment 100 years back as penal settlement. Cellular jail has stood as the mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters. The jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘‘cullular'' because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged , puce . .......more

EDITORIAL

Perils of terror

This incident has all the ingredients of a Bollywood movie. The lure of property drives a young person of Billawar to plot the killing of his own cousin. Before the final cruel act he takes one step after the other to build up a convincing theory. First he posts a threatening letter to the victim on behalf of a fake terrorist group. Then he himself carries out the murder. To invest his wicked design with credibility he shoots himself in the shoulder as if he was pushed into a corner during an armed confrontation. Have we not seen such scenes in numerous Hindi Films? Where had the assassin learnt the trick? The details reveal that he had worked in Bihar for some time. However, he did not have to go to that much-maligned State to pick up a heinous ploy. Terrorism has spawned an entirely new vicious culture on either side of the Pir Panjal. It cuts across regions and religions. It is teaching people how to employ guns to get rid of each other. It may seem ironic but practitioners of violence were the first to fall victim to this suicidal tendency. They had got guns in their hands to take on pro-New Delhi leaders and sympathisers. Slowly but not unexpectedly they began settling scores with each other. It is none-too-distant gory history that quite a few Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) activists had eliminated one another in the streets of Srinagar in particular. This was the period when their one-time combined wire-pullers across the Line of Control found an eyesore in JKLF and made a determined and successful attempt to put HM in the driver's seat. Then there was another phase even more recently. A number of ideologues (they stood by the militants but did not carry arms and ammunition themselves) were eliminated in the rival separatist camps.

Clearly it was a tit-for-tat exercise. On one day the leader of one faction would be executed. Within a short time there would be the report of the virtual slaughter of a prominent figure of the opponent group. There was a dastardly pattern. As a result there was extinction of several sons of the soil. It was a pity for, some of them were much liked regardless of their political philosophies. Terrorism in the State has seen women being kidnapped and made tools to score points. This has happened much to the horror of sane elements in the country and around the world. An utterly contemptible tactic it has scarred not just only the Summer Capital but also the hills of the Jammu region.

As the dust settles down further and the security scenario improves one is sure to come across more disturbing information. Some militant groups are exposed to the charge of having worked hand in globe with business lobbies. This is substantiated by the manner in which they had slapped ban notices on one product or the other. It is said that on-again-off-again campaign to impose "burqas" too is part of similar play. History shows that these deals are off-shoots of militancy. With a weapon in hand a person starts thinking as if he is lord of all that he surveys. He refuses to believe that he is actually living in a fools' paradise.

Precaution needed

As the enthusiasm for industrial development of the State grows there is need for stepping up safety measures for employees. Owners and concerned authorities in particular should remain vigilant in this regard. One is constrained to offer this advice because even in present circumstances the number of major accidents in industrial units in the State is a matter of serious concern. On an average one person is hurt in every three days in factories. Their number has gone up during the last three years from 50 in 2003 to 121 in 2004 and 125 in 2005. While no one got killed in 2003 there was one fatality each in the last two years. This only explains the necessity for toning up the existing system. One can't overlook the fact that these mishaps have taken place at a time when the State has an extremely low profile in terms of industrial growth. Quite a few investors have turned up in recent years in the Jammu region especially in view of the better security scenario coupled with a series of incentives and concessions. Gradually their dreams will turn into a reality. In the process they should spare a thought for the men whom they will engage to manage their machines. Indeed it is unpardonable if a death or an injury takes place because of the sub-standard quality of material or sheer carelessness. It will be a lame excuse if one were to say that it is a countrywide phenomenon. Admittedly, there is increase in fatal injuries in factories in the country as a whole. These have gone up from 977 in 2003 to 1031 in 204 to 1111 in 2005. However, the instances of non-fatal injuries have declined during the corresponding period: 58062, 56167 and 47755. It is surprising that more than half of the total injuries in 2005 have been recorded in the Communist-ruled West Bengal. It is possible that the workers are better organised in the "red" State and are more assertive in seeking and getting their lawful claims. Gujarat under an entirely different political spectrum is a remote second with 5574 and Maharashtra run by yet another dispensation third with 4137 persons having suffered wounds while on duty in the previous year. However, Gujarat has recorded the maximum number of 200 casualties in 2005 followed by Maharashtra (173), Andhra Pradesh (134), Uttar Pradesh (77), Chattisgarh (73) and West Bengal (64). A developed Punjab in the neighbourhood is quite low in this dubious list with 61 deaths and 148 injuries during the same year.

With this background in view we in the State should be extra careful. Precaution must be taken in advance to eliminate chances of disasters. It calls for alertness by all those who are keen to place the State on the prosperous industrial map of the country. It is primarily the State Government that will have to step into the picture in a big way. It is its responsibility to keep close tabs on the situation that does include the safety, health and welfare of workers. At the same time it could benefit from the advice and training of national institutions like the Directorate-General of Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) which is the Union Government's consultative arm engaged in the field.

Office of Profit ?

By INAV Correspondent

Jaya Bachchan is out of Parliament and, if their political opponents are proved right, a host of MPs, including Sonia Gandhi, could also be shown the door.

All of them, apparently, are guilty of the same offence as Bachchan: they hold "offices of profit" under the government together with their parliament seats.

So what's an office of profit? So far, a clear answer has eluded constitution, court and election commission alike.

Bachchan got the boot because she was chief of the UP Film Development Council. Sonia is chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) besides heading several state-funded bodies.

Karan Singh is chairman of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations and fellow Congressman T. Subbirami Reddy is chief of the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.

If this is too confusing, don't look to the constitution or the Representation of Peoples Act for help, legal experts says. Neither defines what an "office of profit" is.

The Supreme Court, however, would not settle the issue once for all. It wants the matter decided in a "realistic way" - separately in every case, taking into account "its own peculiar facts" and circumstances.

"The question.should be interpreted reasonably having regard to the circumstances of the cases and the times with which one is concerned," the apex court said while deciding the Karbhari Bhimaji Rohamare case in 1975.

Legal experts said Sonia might look for protection under The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act if she can prove the NAC post gives her a minister's status. The act exempts several offices from the ambit of the disqualification rule, including that of a minister.

Five years ago, the Supreme Court had ruled against JMM leader Shibu Soren after he was ousted from the Rajya Sabha because he was chairman of the interim council of the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council.

Samajwadi leader Amar Singh - himself facing possible disqualification - says 44 such cases are pending with the president. Mamata Banerjee has pointed the finger at half-a-dozen Left MPs, including Mohmmad Salim and Hannan Mollah. The Telugu Desam has petitioned Rashtrapati Bhavan against Sonia, Karan Singh and Reddy.

The poll panel is reportedly considering the case of Amar's party colleague Mohmmad Azam Khan, chief of the UP Jal Nigam.

The Gandhi family loyalist and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) president Kapila Vatsayan, whose case bears striking resemblance to that of Bachchan's, likely to face the heat as well.

Employees union at the IGNCA will petition the Election Commission and president A.P.J Abdul Kalam to seek Ms. Vatsayan's disqualification from the Rajya Sabha under the same rule - Article 102 and 103 - of the constitution that was applied to Ms. Bachchan. Ms. Vatsayan, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in February this year, is IGNCA president and also the chairman of the trust's executive committee. The cultural body created by the government as in the case of UP Film Development Corporation. Ms. Bachchan was disqualified for holding the post of UPFDC chairperson despite being an MP.

Ms. Vatsayan is an appointee of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Allegations of corruption have also surfaced against her.

Jaya Bachchan may well be advised to seek re-election rather than become a test case to settle the unsettled law on what constitutes an 'office of profit'. The constitution contains various provisions disabling a person who holds an 'office of profit' under the government from becoming president (Article 58(2)), vice-president (Article 66(4)), members of parliament (Article 102(1)(a)), or a state legislator (Article 191(1)). It is left to parliament to pass any laws to remove any other 'office' form incurring disqualification.

On August 24, 1954, the Bhargava Committee was appointed to consider a comprehensive Bill on disqualificatory exceptions. The committee reported in September 1958 and broadly justified exclusion from disqualification of ministers, while underlining that governmental largesse should not pick and choose MPs to whittle down their independence. Parliament has enacted legislation in 1950, 1951, 1953 and 1959 and later amended them.

The state legislatures have done likewise on an ad hoc basis. Indeed, this is exactly what Mulayam Singh tried to do unsuccessfully for Jaya Bachchan, not realising that state legislatures cannot save an MP with their brute voting power. After R.K. Hegde's disqualification in 1989, the post of deputy chairman of Planning Commission was excluded from disqualification. However, the random power of legislature to qualify legislators retrospectively was accepted by Supreme Court's constitution bench in the Kanta Kathuria case (1969).

It is also alarming that, unlike the Mohana Rangam case of 1982, Jaya Bachchan's disqualification has been made retrospective. This is not a case where she had an inherent disqualification when she was elected. The disqualification came while she was elected. The disqualification came while she was still an MP. To make the disqualification retrospective means that her entire presence in Parliament is wiped out. This is playing around with a legal fiction to absurd lengths.

Hundred years of Kala Pani

By Arvinder Kaur

The jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘‘cullular'' because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged , puce coloured building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of seven prongs are intact. The jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.

The penal settlement established in Andaman by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonizing story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this jail, where many perished.

The Andamans are a chain of 184 odd islands in the Andaman sea at approx 1100 kms to the south of Kolkata. Port Blair was named after the East India Companies' Lt Archibald Blair who occupied the Andamans in 1789 to keep his ships safe and protected in the rains as a safe harbour and as a penal settlement for prisoners. But because of the unhygienic climate and outbreak of diseases and the expenses in maintaining the harbour he had to abandon the Andamans in 1796.

Recapture of Andaman Islands to keep Political Prisoners started in 1857. Freedom fighters on 10th May 1857, gave the clarion call to rise against the British rule. This was the First War of Independence. To totally stomp out the uprising the British sent thousands to the gallows and even hung them up from trees, tied them to cannons and blew them up, destroyed them with guns and swords.

The revolutionaries, who survived, were exiled for life to the Andamans so that their connection with their families and the country would be severed and their countrymen would forget them forever. For this reason, in January 1858, the British reoccupied Port Blair, Andamans. For the first time on 10th March 1858, Supdt. J B Walker arrived with a batch of 200 freedom fighers. The second batch of 733 freedom fighter prisoners arrived in April 1868 from Karachi. They had been sentenced for life imprisonment. After this however it is not known how many thousands of freedom fighters were sent to the Andamans from the harbours of Bombay, Kolkata and Madras. Their numbers, names and addresses are not known. It is said that all records were burnt when the Japanese occupied the Andamans.

In March 1868, 238 prisoners tried to escape. By April they were all caught. One committed suicide and of the remainder Supdt. Walker ordered 87 to be hanged. Despite these atrocities the freedom fighters used to resist and fight for their self-respect and for the love of their country. Sher Ali was given life imprisonment during the Wahabi movement against the British Raj. He assassinated Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India with a knife on 8th February, 1872. He was hanged on Viper Island.

From 1896 the construction of Cellular Jail was started and it was completed in 1906 with 698 cells. The Jail was constructed with seven wings, spreading out like a seven - petal flower. In its centre it had a tower with a turret. Connected to this were the three storey high seven wings with 698 isolated cells. This is why it is called the Cellular Jail.

National movements were flaring up against the British rule all over India and the freedom fighters related to these movements were sent to Andamans or the ''Kala Pani'' with long sentences. Prominent among these were those from The Wahabi Movement (1830-1869), Mopla Rebellion (1792-1947), First Rampa Rebellion (1878-1879), Second Rampa Rebellion (1922-1924), Tharawadi Peasant Rebellion, Burma (1930).

The National Revolutionary Movement had prominent among them in Punjab, the revolutionaries of The Gadar Party. The Hindusthan Republican Association in UP formed by Sachin Sanyal in Maharashtra with the Savarkar brothers and with the partition of Bengal in 1905, secret societies and lots of underground groups were beginning to form. Lots of conspiracy cases started in the courts and the number of revolutionary freedom fighters in the jails began to swell. Most of the leaders of these movements if not hanged outright were deported to the Andaman Cellular Jail. Several died due to inhuman treatment and torture.

Bengal's Alipore Conspiracy Case (1908) saw 34 revolutionaries being accused in which were Barin Ghosh, Ullaskar Dutt, Upendranath Banerjee and Hem Chandra Das. They were sent to the Andamans in 1909. Later revolutionaries from UP and Maharashtra were also sent.

For the assassination of Collector Jackson of Nasik District in the Nasik Conspiracy Case Vinayak Savarkar was convicted and sent to the Cellular jail on 7th April, 1911. According to Savarkar Freedom Fighters were made to do hard labour. They had to peel coconuts and take out oil from them. They were forced to go around like bullocks to take out oil from mustard seeds. Outside they were forced to clear the jungles and trees on hillside levelling marshy land. They were flogged on refusal. On top of this they did not even get a full meal every day.

The Gadar Party whose president was Baba Sohan Singh and the secretary was Lala Har Dayal was formed in America to free the country from the British. In 1914, with arms and ammunition, Gadar Party members, travelling by the ship Kama Gata Maru arrived in Calcutta. They were arrested by the British and sent to the Cellular Jail.

On 8 April 1929 in protest against the trade dispute bill Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb in the central constituent assembly. They threw leaflets and got themselves arrested. On 12 June 1929 both were given life imprisonment. The British Government filed the second Lahore Conspiracy Case against Bhagat Singh and 16 of his colleagues. In 1930, Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Rajguru were hanged. Shri Yatendra Nath died because of hunger strike. Bhagat Singh's other friends Batukeshwar Dutt, Bejoy Kumar Sinha, Shiv Verma, Jaidev Kapoor, Dr Gaya Prasad, Kamal Nath Tiwari, Mahabir Singh were given life imprisonment and sent to Andaman Cellular Jail.

On the right of 18th April 1930 revolutionaries occupied Chittagong Armoury. For many days they battled with British army on the hills of Jalalabad. Many died and a large number were arrested on 1st March 1932. 12 out of 32 people were given life imprisonment. Revolutionary leader (Master Da Surya Sen) was arrested and hanged on 12th Jan 1934. Ambika Chakraborty, Ganesh Ghosh, Anant Singh, Lok Nath Bal, Anand Gupta, Randhir Dass Gupta, Fakir Sen and other compatriots were sent to Cellular Jail. All around the country there were revolts against the British. In Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab a chain of revolutionary conspiracies started. On a large scale there were arrests and long sentences were given. National revolutionary movement leaders and active participants were sent to the Cellular Jail in Andamans.

The food that was given was not fit for human consumption. The 13'x6' cells were dark and damp and dingy thickly coated with moss. There were no toilets. There were no lights, no reading material. Prisoners were not allowed to meet with each other. The only alternative before the freedom fighers was to resort to a hunger strike against these atrocities. On 12 May 1933 they started a fast undo death. Mahavir Singh, Mohan Kishore Namo Das and Mohit Moitra died during this hunger strike. Punjab's jail inspector Barker was called to break the hunger strike. He issued orders to stop the issuing of drinking water. The freedom fighters were resolute. There was a huge outcry throughout India because of this hunger strike. After 46 days the British Raj had to bow and the demands of the freedom fighters had to be accepted. The hunger strike ended on 26 June 1933.

After the death of three freedom fighters the facilities won from jail authorities proved beneficial for the future. There was light in the cells. The prisoners started getting newspapers, books and priodicals. They were allowed to meet. The facility to read individually or on a collective basis was allowed. The opportunity to play sports and organise cultural events was given. The jail work was reduced to minimal. Above all there was respect for the freedom fighters from the prison officials and a marked improvement in their behaviour. A new environment was created as the freedom fighters met to discuss and read. A thirst for books and knowledge began. There were students, doctors, lawyers, peasants and workers all together. They discussed politics, economics, history and philosophy. There were classes in biology and physiology given by the doctors amongst them. Others gave classes in historical and dialectical materialism. Knowledge, experience and books were hungrily shared. A jail library was started. A veritable university of freedom fighters had begun where revolutionaries were learning about Marxist and socialist ideas and how to disseminate these amongst the people whose freedom they were fighting for.

A Communist consolidation was formed of 39 prisoners on 26 April 1935. This number later swelled to 200. A petition was sent to the Viceroy on 9 July 1937 by the freedom fighters that all political prisoners should be repatriated to the mainland and released. An ultimatum was given that if these demands were not met a hunger strike would begin.The second hunger strike for the repatriation of freedom fighters began on 25 July 1937.

A country wide movement on the mainland in support of the demands of the Andaman freedom fighters began as other political prisoners in other jails on the mainland also started hunger strikes in support. There was a mass demonstration of working people, intellectuals and students. This upsurge clearly showed that their people on the mainland did not forget them. After four weeks telegrams from Bengal's chief minister, leaders of the nation Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sharad Chandra Bose, Rabindra Nath Tagore etc poured in imploring the freedom fighters to end their hunger strike.

On 28 August 1937, Gandhiji, poet Rabindra Nath Tagore and the Congress Working Committee sent a telegram...'' the whole nation appeals to you to end the hunger strike... and assures you to take up your demands and to see them fulfilled...'' After a lot of deliberation and discussion this historic 36-day hunger strike of 200 revolutinary freedom fighters ended. The process of repatriation started in September 1937. There were a total of 385 freedom fighters in jail at the time- 339 from Bengal, 19 from Bihar, 11 from Uttar Pradesh, five from Assam, three from Punjab, two from Delhi and two from Madras.

Netaji visited the Andaman Island and hoisted the tricolur flag on 30 December 1943. He had declared that the very first bastion to be relieved of the British yolk was Andamans, where the Indian freedom fighters were kept, very much like the Bastille in Paris during the French Revolution. The British reoccupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and abolished the Penal Settlement in 1945. This symbol of tyranny needed to be preserved as a National Memorial to remind our future generations of the tremendous cost that was paid for the freedom. The cellular jail today has a museum, an art gallery, and a photo gallery, which are open to the public. PTI Feature