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Dead bodies of communists fell one by one as
bullets felled them down. 22 martyrs’ blood drenched the soil of the Central
Prison, Salem, in North Tamil Nadu. This was the year 1952. The brutal guns that
mowed down the people’s hero, were not that of the British, but of the newly
‘independent’ Nehruvian government.
Since then, till today, the compound walls of the
central prison is itself witness to continuous brutalities and atrocities. Those
who dare shatter the ‘peace’ of an unjust society, is made to rest in permanent
peace. Now, once again in this historic prison, the ‘peace’ of the fortress was
shattered by militant struggles of the prisoners.
On July 2, 2000, a struggle broke out, with a large
number of demands, including : improvement of basic amenities in the jail,
providing rights to political prisoners, the stoppage of human rights violations
on prisoners by the administration, identification of the legal problems
regarding the release of prisoners, etc. On that day a fast was observed by over
1000 prisoners; the courts were boycotted with prisoners refusing to attend;
demonstrations were organised on the compound wall of the prison in order to
reach out to the people; and cultural programmes, dharnas and public meetings
were held. Though more than 1000 prisoners participated in the agitation the
mainline media wrote editorials accusing the naxalites for creating a war-like
atmosphere in the prison.
In the last year two major prison struggles have
taken place in Tamil Nadu, against the inhuman conditions within the jails of
the state. The November ’99 Chennai prison militant struggle had resulted in the
cowardly killing of 20 prisoners by the jail administration. Inspite of brutal
attacks, the prisoners fought back heroically. Since then, prisoners rights are
being sought to be ruthlessly curtailed.
The Salem prison struggle was led by the
revolutionary forces. To organise this struggle they first began with secret
propaganda, and instilled strict discipline amongst those participating. The
propaganda began one week before the struggle began, and gained widespread
support amongst the prisoners. Immediately, a committee called the ‘Prison
Struggle Leading Committee’ was formed, which comprised Com. Balan (State
Secretary TNRSU), Com. Ilango (Ex. President TNRSU), Com. Siva (Ex. State
President RYL), Ponnivalavan (NSA detenue, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army), and
Ilavarasan (NSA detenue, Tamil Nadu Liberation Army). Apart from this, a wider
body was organised in which some active forces participated.
First, on the basis of the demands put forward, a
signature campaign was conducted. Also some demands included those of convicted
wardens. As a result the prison wardens were supportive of the struggle. In the
course of activities, a confidence developed amongst the prisoners. Due to all
this the authorities were unable to suppress the determination of the
participants. In fact a serious warning was issued from the state secretariat of
the prisons through the district collector. Finally, negotiations took place
under the chairmanship of the deputy collector and Prison IG, which accepted the
demands of the prisoners.
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