Vignettes from the Cellular Jail

Sazaa-i Kalaa Paani, a recent movie, is excellent. A South-India, originally Tamil production, it is very factual--unlike the kiss-anglo-butt Follywood (now Mollywood?) productions.

The music ( Ilyaraja`a? is superb and so is , a usual with south Indian productions, the choreography...

Is it not a shame that very few movies are made in India & Pakistan to nurture & cultivate a healthy hatred against the baboons.....

Before the baboons polluted the shores of India there was not a single case of Hindu-Muslim murder based on religious strife ..yes there were internecine & intranecine warfare between Rajas and Nawabs but never ever on Mohallaa basis. Same thing was true for Sikh Hindu Christain Muslim (sunnishia inclusive) or on the basis of language or culture
EVER!

It is high time the world unites against these thUggs & send them back to the dark ages where they truly belong....

or maybe they`ll all convert to Islam sooner than expected. Then of course there`ll be
no need for such drastic measures... [ this is written precisely for the purpose of flushing out all muslim-haters,non-muslims & impostors of all stripes & dots. It is always nice to see them all lined up for a stripsearch]

Competitive Massacre

Posted Monday, Sep. 8, 1947
While the orchestra at Lahore`s Falett`s Hotel played quietly for dancing, European guests drank cocktails on the moonlit terrace. Beyond earshot of the music, whole blocks of buildings lay gutted. Streets were bare and silent. Over the deserted railroad station the smell of corpses hung.
One-seventh of Lahore, capital of the Punjab, had been destroyed. Scores of nearby towns and villages had been razed. War—or rather, competitive massacre—between Moslems and Sikhs had reached a pitch of horror that made the Indian Mutiny of 1857 look like a mere street brawl. In two weeks, between 40,000 and 150,000 people had been killed in the Punjab. Most of the bodies were too hacked and charred to be recognized. At least a million were homeless.
``Never during two wars have I seen such sights as I have seen these last two days,`` said a middle-aged British colonel at Lahore airport. ``All those atrocity yarns we used to hear, such as Germans cutting Belgian children`s hands off and raping and then killing women, have suddenly come true in the Punjab during the last week.``
``The Joy of Fraternization.`` For months the Punjab`s communal hatred had been boiling up into slaughter. A previous climax came last spring when hundreds were killed in riots there (TIME, March 17). In mid-August the partition of the Punjab between India and Pakistan left 1.6 of the 3.8 million Sikhs in the province under Moslem rule; at least twice as many Moslems remained on the Indian side of the border in a new East Punjab state.
The Sikhs are an offshoot of the Hindu religion; they organized 300 years ago to resist militantly Moslem oppression. The British had used the warlike Sikhs extensively, giving them land and offices, especially in the fertile, predominantly Moslem West Punjab. In consequence, the Moslems hate Sikhs far more than they do Hindus.
The rest of India was relatively quiet. In once turbulent Calcutta, Mohandas K. Gandhi, still striving for Hindu-Moslem unity, was able to write of the situation there: ``One might almost say the joy of fraternization is leaping up from hour to hour.``
There was no fraternization in the Punjab. At Amritsar, on the Indian side of the border, organized gangs of Sikhs had exterminated or driven out the Moslem minority population (150,000). Moslems in Lahore and other Pakistan border regions retaliated against the Hindus and Sikhs there.
Mohamed Ali Jinnah, who had conceived Pakistan in hatred and was now its president and undisputed boss, sent to the West Punjab as governor his faithful follower, the Khan of Momdot. The bland, moonfaced Khan had served four years in the Punjab Legislative Assembly without opening his mouth. When he got to the West Punjab, he acted. With his province literally in flames, the Khan of Momdot relaxed regulations that had restricted the carrying of firearms; he also decreed that every man could wear a sword, provided it was covered.
Some of his subordinates went further. The Moslem deputy commissioner of one of the Western Punjab districts mourned a son killed on the Indian side of the border. Said he to the young Moslems: ``You have full liberty to go the limit.
Take revenge as you like, but if there is one Hindu or Sikh left alive in my district after you are through, I swear to kill them myself.``

The Canal Turned Pink. TIME Correspondent Robert Neville flew over the area last week, then talked with refugees and correspondents fleeing from the carnage. Neville cabled:
``Just flying over the Punjab today with a landing here & there gives a feeling that terrible things have happened below. The number of smoking villages that can be counted from Ambala up to Lahore must be at least 150. Here & there can be seen a big town like Sialkot and Gujranwala, where charred black districts tell the story that here the property of one entire community was wiped out.
``The panorama of West Punjab seems even worse. In hitherto peaceful districts like Montgomery and Lyallpur there is not one town which has not been a battlefield. There is no bazaar which has not been burned out. Streams of refugees can be seen approaching all bridges, and over some roads they form virtual convoys miles long. On a ten-mile stretch of road leading to the big bridge over the Sutlej River into Pakistan, there must have been 100,000 people, most of them walking beside bullock carts piled high with their sole possessions.
``At Lahore`s Central Station, Sikh and Hindu refugees from North or West Punjab were mobbed on the platform, often stabbed to death and their few belongings looted. A major incident involved a big convoy carrying perhaps 1,000 from Sialkot to Amritsar. The convoy was stopped and attacked at the Ravi River bridge. Hundreds were stabbed to death and other hundreds wounded.
``Refugees from Lyallpur in West Punjab say that so many Sikhs and Hindus were murdered and their bodies thrown into the canal that the canal actually had a pinkish color for a day after. Moslem refugees told how Sikhs stripped and paraded Moslem women through the streets, raped them and then killed them. British correspondents reported having seen dead, naked women lying about villages of the Amritsar district.``
A Look of Satisfaction. ``Although railway administrations of both Dominions have doggedly tried to keep a skeleton schedule going, they have now given up. For days on end no trains arrived in Delhi without having been attacked and looted practically all along the route.
``Near Jullundur, a band of Sikhs held up a train, methodically searched all compartments and pulled out 17 Moslems, whom they beheaded on the platform. Most amazing of all was the look of bland satisfaction on the faces of these young Sikh men, their hands dripping blood, their clothes smeared with blood, as they stood and grinned at their handiwork while the train finally pulled out. The only Moslems who escaped on this trip were two who were hidden by two British officers under their baggage.
``A British correspondent traveling in the opposite direction through this territory saw half a dozen lying stabbed on the Lahore platform, slowly dying without any help being given. Later that night, on a small siding south of Amritsar, a band of Sikhs entered his compartment and before his eyes beheaded a Moslem apparently trying to travel disguised as a Hindu. (For identification, both sides use the tried and true means of seeing whether there has been circumcision. Moslems always circumcize, the Hindus and Sikhs practically never.)
``A member of the U.S. Embassy arrived in Lahore from Delhi with another tale of horror. Reaching the small station of Okara, near Montgomery, he found the station platform utterly deserted except for several hundred dead Hindus and Sikhs lying around the platform, apparently slaughtered only a few hours before while waiting for the train to escape. All these people were workers in a textile mill which had been attacked by Moslems. Their bodies were mostly stripped and in several instances limbs had been torn from the bodies. The wife of a British textile factory manager told how a Moslem mob had attacked the Hindu and Sikh workers in another factory. When Moslems broke into the ground floor, the Sikhs slashed the throats of their own wives, and afterwards tried to fight through themselves. All were killed.``
Authorities were utterly unable to cope with the situation. In many cases both Sikh and Moslem police had participated in the riots. British soldiers, present in the Punjab, were not allowed to interfere under the arrangements now in force for Indian independence.
No Plans. For the homeless, crippled refugees, no one had anticipated relief measures. In New Delhi a penniless Hindu woman from the West Punjab clutched her two children, told of her husband`s murder by Moslems. ``Don`t ask her about her plans,`` cautioned a welfare official, ``she hasn`t any and neither have we.``
The rioting was breaking down railroad traffic between parts of India and Pakistan. Unless it was soon restored, both nations, especially Pakistan, would be economically crippled. Fearing that the Punjab rioting would spread, millions of Hindus and Moslems prepared to cross borders in a transfer of population greater than Europe had ever seen.
In his new capital, Karachi, Jinnah preached that ``restraint is necessary.`` However, the fires of communal hatred, which he had fanned for 20 years, were burning too brightly in the Punjab to be easily stifled. They might spread


From the Sep. 8, 1947 issue of TIME magazine

Record Number: 14210
Shelfmark: OIOC Photo 127/(99)
Page Folio Number: -
Description: A half-length, seated, oval carte-de-visite portrait of Sher Ali, the assassin of Lord Mayo.




The night of 8th February, 1872 was a historical one for the Andaman Islands. These islands are found in the Bay of Bengal and are also referred to as `Kala Pani`. During the British Rule, those prisoners who had received life in prison would be boarded off to these islands. These prisoners would than pass their life doing hard labour for the British.

The Viceroy`s arrival was welcomed with 21 cannon fires and the officers lined up to meet him. He spent his entire day touring the workshops, barracks, and factories of the Prisoners where they dwelled and worked. At night fall he was taken to a small mountain on the Island called Mount Harriet. The place was quite high and had been renovated to depict somewhat of a tourist resort for the special guests. There, he marvelled the beauties of the Island and witnessed sunset from atop Mount Harriett. So much was he immersed in the surroundings and activities that darkness totally prevailed. It was then that he decided to go back. On the way there was a small bridge called `Hope Town Bridge` through which he had to pass in order to board a launch that was ready for carrying him back to the Royal Navy Ship where he would be spending his night. Two men with torches were walking ahead of him to light up the path and his private secretaries and bodyguards were on either sides of him. An armed police guard was following them as well. But these were traditional methods and the Viceroy and his secretaries were walking with their own pace enjoying their trip.

As soon as they boarded the small ship, a noise was heard. When the private secretary looked back he saw that a man was stabbing the viceroy in his back. The security personnel reacted immediately and pounded on the attacker and snatched the knife from his hands. The private secretary succeeded in saving the life of the attacker who was a prisoner, otherwise the security personnel were ready to kill him. In all this mayhem, the torch lights also died out creating an atmosphere of fear. When the torches were lit, they saw that the Viceroy had fallen down the tier after being stabbed. He was wiping his face with his handkerchief and told the secretary that he was injured and would be fine because the wounds were not big.

When the torches were relit and brought near the viceroy, they found out that his coat was torn from the back and blood was oozing out like a small stream from the wound. Everybody immediately tried to control the blood with their handkerchiefs. For two-three minutes, the viceroy tried to keep his balance but then his feet started to shake and he fell. He tried to get back up on his feet again and managed to tell somebody, ``Hold my Head``. These were his last words after which he died.

The Viceroy`s body was carried back to the ship. By the time the doctors examined the body, it was too late. The wounds were there stretching from his back to his chest. They were just too deep and nobody could have survived it. Lord Meo was a huge and strong man therefore he managed himself for some while before dying. A man of ordinary build would have died straight away.

This assassination attempt was made by a prisoner `Sher Ali Afridi`. He belonged to Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency. He worked for the Commissioner of Peshawar. By nature, Sher Ali was a kind man but a family feud had brought him to this situation. Two clans of his Tribe were having an enmity with one another since ages. Whomever of them had an opportunity, they would kill their rivals. Many precious lives were lost under the custom of `Revenge`. One day, Sher Ali saw his `Tarboor` (Cousin) in the Peshawar Cantonment near Company Bagh where his office was located. Sher Ali reacted immediately and killed him on the spot. A murder like this right under the nose of the Commissioner of Peshawar was not to go unnoticed. Sher Ali was arrested immediately and a case was booked against him.

Sher Ali was a man who gave great respect to everybody. The English officers were served well by him. He was under the impression that due to his past services, the English officers would be lenient towards him and may possibly be let go. But unexpected to him, the courts announced the death penalty for him on the 2nd of April, 1867.

His overall nature was well cultured even after receiving the death penalty. Moreover, he had served the British well in the Ambela War. Because of these reasons, his death penalty was switched to life in prison at Habs e Dawam on the other banks of River `Showr`; also known as Kalapani when he made an appeal. In 1869, he reached the Andaman islands to serve his sentence. By this time, he had already made up his mind to kill a high ranking English Officer for revenge.

Sher Ali Afridi was evidently a very religious person. His officers have noted that he used to pray five times a day as well as fast regularly. The little amount of money that he would earn while serving at the prison would always be given away to other poor prisoners as charity. Moreover, every second or third month he would provide some food for the orphaned prisoners as well. Such a character was obviously very popular amongst the prisoners and even the prison officers treated him with respect. The officers did not strictly monitor his activities because of this reason as well. It was not long that he was appointed as a barber for the labourers in the prison.

Lord Meo`s murder sent shockwaves throughout the British Empire. Forensic Investigative Teams reached Andaman and started their work there. The British Government was under the impression that this murder was part of a big conspiracy against the empire. By pure chance, a leading figure of the Tehreek e Mujahideen, Muhammad Ja`far Thanesri was serving his sentence at Andaman as well when this murder happened. The British Government was convinced that Maulvi Muhammad Jafar and other Mujahideen serving their prison sentences had somehow convinced Sher Ali to carry on this attack. Many experienced Investigative Officers were appointed this task to somehow find a link to the Mujahideen leaders. One such officer was Aishwari Prasad who was famous for embroiling Mujahideen leaders in false cases. He had gradually gained popularity with the British with his connivance and was now the Deputy Collector of Suraj Garh. Prasad tried his level best to involve the Mujahideen leaders in this case who were already serving sentences for rebelling against the British Empire.

Sher Ali Afridi told the courts that he had waited for almost all day near the small ship where the viceroy would be boarded in order to be transferred to his lodgings. He was under the impression that the viceroy would simply not come because it was too late. Given no chance of attack, he left the site and went to Mount Harriett. He was not aware that the viceroy would enjoy sunset at Andaman from the Mount. Now fully aware of the program, Sher Ali rushed back to the place where he had waited. Fate itself drove the viceroy right to his death. Sher Ali was by no means a strong man and simplicity was written all over his face. Nobody would even have imagined that such a small man would be successful in killing the well built, six foot viceroy. But that was exactly what had happened.

In ``Sarguzasht e Mujahideen``, Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mahar explains the incident in great detail:

``Sher Ali was a man who would come down to anything to fulfil his ambitions. On one occasion, he had broken his heavy chains and handcuffs that were meant to restrain him and injured a prison guard after snatching his rifle. After killing the viceroy, he was asked by the courts about who had hired him to do this job. He would simply reply that I killed him by the Order of Allah!``

Sher Ali was again tried for murder and was given the death penalty once again. On the 11th of March 1873, when he was brought to the gallows, there was a look of satisfaction in his eyes. He kissed the rope from which he would be hanged and exclaimed, ``When I made this intention [of killing the viceroy], I had already envisioned myself over here``. He addressed the Muslims who had come to watch the penalty being enforced, ``Brothers, I killed your enemy. You be witness that I am a Muslim.`` With this, he recited the Kalma Shahadah. Twice he was able to complete it. The third time, he was not able to do so because of suffocation.

The British did not stop at this only. Although no link had been found that could involve the Mujahideen prisoners in this case, their period of length at prison was increased by ten years.

Shantanu Dutta
You write in your intro:

..``Additionally as a Christian and part of a minority community he tries to view things from the perspective of the underdog....``

That short sentence has spoken volumes about life in India for you.

I thank you for writing this.

I am not aware of any christian, Parsi, or any of the anglo-ed class of Muslims, Sikhs, or Hindus doing anything to free India from the British Baboons. The paper-hyenas like Nehru Gandhi Patel or Jinnah mean Zilch to me--

(though I do consider Jinnah to be honest & uncorruptible to a fault (hence :``stubborn`` rigid`` etc--It is always such kind who earn such accolades; never the business-types--LAHAUL-vila-Quvvat.)

It is all the more commendable that you, a christian, had the decency to write this under-the-rug history. I am ashamed to admit that the Uniformed Langoors of Pakistan ( Musharraf & the Cantonement & Colony Canines of Pakistan turned down Mr. Atil Bihari Bajpai`s request to commemmorate May 10, 6157 as a COMMON anniversary when the first shot zingged out of Meerut Chhaoni to ask the Baboons to start packing.

You will soon notice that the Britto-Baboon rump-lickers would never utter a word against their masters although they have all kind of epithets reserved for Arabs, muslims, & mullahs. Four Your info. the quadiyanis were advised to be loyal to the BrittoBaboons & henec to this day Quadianis like Sattar2, t32, and h2 will never ever badmouth their masters...(this is a CLEAR giveaway of a Quadiani; when they deny being a Quadiani, they are mincing words becaue they consider THEMSELVES muslims & others non-muslims; hence they throw dust in other`s eyes. They must cleally announce that Mirza Ghulam-i Farangi was an IMPOSTOR & that Muhammad is the last messenger--until they refuse to do that & continue to be on the side of their masters, they will be stripsearched as & when necessary.

Urstruly:

Kala-Pani: the term was hijacked by the Baboons because the Hindus used this word for the oceans.
In their belief system across the black-waters meant Nirgh, the Hades..the place of no-return. This sent terrors into the hearts and minds of hindus. Ironically the largest number of prisoners were muslims & then sikhs..Hindu prisoners were mostly from Bengal & south-India.

P.S: the Sonofabitch from Cantonement Kennels who sell their amma for even less than what the United Satan expects should never be allowed to become apologists for their TopDog. I always carry a weel-oliedwillow switch to use upon them whenever & wherever they show up.

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`This 1857 photograph was published in 1939 by the English newspaper `Picture Post.` It shows the methods used to suppress the Sepoy Rebellion. As an English eyewitness noted at the time: ``The executions occurred summarily and without appeal.```



A TRIBUTE TO ALL SHAHEEDS WHOSE BLOOD IS IN OUR SOIL

Ik Jinay Jamia si, o teri maan ay
dooji teri maan ay, zameen jida naan ay
lay ke meray kolon onay tenu godi pa lia
sadqay main jawan teray, maan kehn walia

hoyon tu shaheed, khat aya teray naan da
puchday nay lok lal si o keri maan da
rab di janab wich sir main jhuka lia
sadqay main jawan teray, maan kehn walia

teray jeaan putran da des Pakistan ay
meray jiaan maanwaan noon jinan utay maan ay
sadqay main jawan teray, maan kehn walia


Translation:


The one who gave you birth is your mother
The land is also your mother
it has taken you from my loving embrace
and placed you in her own lap

May you have my life, Oh you who calls me Mother

When you were killed in battle
the news came in a letter
the people asked `who is the proud mother of this soldier`

I bowed my head in obedience to God`s will
May you have my life, Oh you who calls me Mother

Pakistan is the land of sons like you
of whom mothers like me are proud
May you have my life, Oh you who calls me Mother

mr dutta, that`s only half the story.

the other half is: there were those who fought for the british empire with the last drop of their blood, people like lance naik FAZL DIN who was awarded Victoria cross the highest award for bravery.

FAZL DIN, Naik, V C, 18602. 7th Bn. 10th Baluch Regiment. 2nd March 1945. Age 24. Son of Nur Bakhsh; husband of Sardar Bibi, of 39. The citation in the London Gazette of Husain pur, Hoshiarpur, India. Face 24th May, 1945, gives the following details : In Burma, on 2nd March, 1945, Naik Fazl Din commanded a section during a company attack on a Japanese bunkered position. His section was held up by machine-gun fire and grenades from several bunkers. Unhesitatingly he attacked the nearest position with grenades and silenced it; but as he led his men against the others, six Japanese soldiers rushed from a house near by, led by two officers wielding swords. The section Bren gunner shot one officer and another Japanese soldier, but was killed by the second officer, who next ran his sword through Naik Fazl Din. Despite this terrible wound Naik Fazl Din, seized the sword from the Japanese officer and killed him with it - he killed two more Japanese soldiers, and encouraged his section before staggering to his platoon headquarters to report. He collapsed there, and died soon after reaching the Regimental Aid Post. His action was seen by almost the whole platoon, who, inspired by his gallantry and taking advantage of the bewilderment created among the enemy by the loss of their leaders, continued the attack and destroyed the Japanese garrison. The supreme devotion to duty of this gallant N.C.O. even when fatally wounded, his presence of mind and outstanding courage, can seldom have been equalled, and reflect his unquenchable spirit.

Mr. Dutta,

Thank you for writing this article. The word `Kala Paani`, which actually referred to exile and incarceration to Andaman Island by british thugs, has been permanently etched in our psyche and diction. But that was not the only dungeon that they had built, another one was built in the Island of Malta; not to mention the slave labor that was forced to be taken to Marituis, Fiji, West Indies, East Indies, Guyana, and African continent. And you are quite truthful to say that humanity has learned nothing from its past. Yes, there is similar opression and torture in present day India and Pakistan, which happens without impunity everyday; but a more appropriate comparison is to the new torture cells and dungeons named Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharaib and several other un-named around the globe, where humanity is being tortured by neo-colonialism and imperialism once again right now as we speak.

Today we should rise up in honor of all of these unfortunate and condemned souls, from past & present, whose only crime is that they demanded freedom from oppression and torture in their own homelands, and offer them our gratitude and say `THANK YOU. With your selfless courage and sacrifice you have shown us the way. One day we will be free because of you; you were the first raindrops who dared to plunge - THANK YOU``.


SALUTE!!!!!