POLITICAL PRISONERS IN INDIA, 1920-1977 Ujjwal Kumar Singh Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1996 ProQuest Number: 10731591 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731591 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT This is a study of the politics of ‘political prisonerhood’ in colonial and independent India. Prison going and the struggles inside the prison had, with the nationalist culture of jail going in the early part of the twentieth century become an integral part of the protest against the colonial state. Imprisonment in its multifarious forms also became the major bulwark of the colonial state’s strategy for harnessing recalcitrant subjects. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the process by which the notion of ‘political’ became a festering issue in the contest between the colonial state and the subject population and later between the state in independent India and the various ‘rebel’ groups, and also the manner in which the ruling classes assumed the sole responsibility of defining the ‘political’. We have confined our study to the peaks of nationalist resistance against the colonial state and popular struggles against the dominant classes in independent India. Through this exploration of the notion of political prisonerhood we also attempt to understand the permanence and ruptures in the forms of repression and the nature of penal sanctions which the state deployed against its political opponents in colonial and independent India. In order to understand what constitutes ‘political crime’, and who were or were not recognized as ‘political prisoners’ at a particular historical moment, we have examined the role of the ideological discourses which informed penal regimes in colonial and independent India. The theoretical premises and conceptual tools in this study bear the influence of the Marxist studies on Indian politics and the Subaltern school’s understanding of Indian history. The material for research has been drawn from various official and unofficial sources viz., archival records of the colonial government and the government of independent India, reports on prisons by various governmental committees, jail manuals, rules, regulations, laws, autobiographies, biographies, prison memoirs, prison diaries and interviews with erstwhile political prisoners. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS From its inception as an idea to its completion in the present form, this work owes immensely to my supervisor, David Taylor. His comments on the numerous drafts and generosity with time were of great help. His equanimity, patience, ungrudging help and valuable suggestions saw me through some anxious moments. Thanks are also due to Sudipta Kaviraj whose suggestions helped give form to my ideas. To Gyanendra Pandey I owe my initiation into historical research. I thank Indrani Chatterjee, Sumit Guha and Gyanendra Pandey for reading parts of the initial draft and drawing my attention to its strengths and weaknesses. Anupama’s observations were extremely perceptive and thought provoking at all stages of this work. Ram and Shrimali helped me during some very tedious moments of my field visit in Delhi. In Lucknow, Sunil, Renuka, and K.N.Roy set in motion the ponderous wheels of bureaucracy to make my work considerably easier. This work would not have been possible without the Felix Scholarship. I thank the Trust for awarding me the scholarship and additional financial support towards the end of the scholarship period. I am grateful to the management of Hindu College for giving me leave to pursue research. I am obliged also to Charles Wallace Trust for giving me maintenance grant in the final phases of this work. My field visit to India was supported by a generous grant from the Central Research Fund of the University of London and School of Oriental and African Studies. I wish to acknowledge with deep gratitude the consideration of the staff at the National Archives of India, Delhi; UP State Archives, Lucknow; UP State Archives Regional Centre, Allahabad; Bihar State Archives, Patna; P.C.Joshi Archives at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; India Office Library, London; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi; Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge; Records of the Inspector General of Prisons Office, Lucknow; Jail Training School Library, Lucknow and Sahitya Sammelan Pustakalay, Allahabad. The spirit of camaraderie and enthusiasm among colleagues at different stages of their research projects was a great motivating force. To my friends in London I am 3 indebted for their friendship and encouragement. Amit, Indrani, Sanjoy and Sangeeta were immensely supportive; Mala, Surinder, David and Atul cushioned my first year in London; Ajay, Anshu, Anuradha, Jahanvi, Jaideep, Jayati, Lakshmi, Lopa, Manjari, Nalini, Neena, Paul, Pragati, Rajiv, Raslimi, Sanjay, Shubhjyoti, Ujjayini and Vibhuti I thank, for their congeniality. To my teachers at Delhi University and my friends of PUDR, I remain indebted for my philosophical and ideological education. 4 ABBREVIATIONS AIR All India Reporter. BSA Bihar State Archives, Patna. CP Central Provinces. CPI Communist Party of India. CSP Congress Socialist Party. CWMG Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. DIB Director of Intelligence Bureau. DIR Defence of India Rules. FC Federal Court, Delhi. Gol Government of India. H(J) Home Department, Jail Branch of the Government of India. H(Jud) Home Department, Judicial Branch of the Government of India. H(P) Home Department, Political Branch of the Government of India. H[P(I)] Home Department, Political (Internal) Branch, of the Government of India. HSRA Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. IG Inspector General. IOL India Office Library, London. ILR Indian Law Reports. INA Indian National Army. KW ‘Keep with’, an appendage to a government file. LCC Lahore Conspiracy Case. MISA Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971. MLA Member Legislative Assembly. MP Madhya Pradesh. NAI National Archives of India, New Delhi. NMML Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. NSA National Security Act, 1980. NWFP North West Frontier Province. 5 OHP Oral History Project. PSV Private Secretary to the Viceroy. PC Privy Council, London. SC Supreme Court of India. UP The United Provinces of Agra and Awadh - the present Uttar Pradesh. UPS A Uttar Pradesh State Archives, Lucknow. WB West Bengal. 6 GLOSSARY aatta wheat flour ahimsa non-violence bhadralok generally refers to western educated Bengali middle class; literally gentlefolk daroga local level police official, in-charge of a police station didi elder sister; a term of endearment for a woman firenghee foreigner ghee clarified butter used for eating, cooking or religious rituals godam babu subordinate officer in charge of ration godown hooka water tobacco-pipe kalapani black-waters; term given to transportation across the sea khaddar hand spun cloth kisan peasant kumkum religious-cultural mark worn by hindu woman langota loin cloth maharaj an address showing reverence; a prince or ruler of state majdur labourer mangalsutra necklace of black pearls worn by married hindu women niwar cotton tape used for weaving across the frame of sleeping cots and chairs rajchhatra ornamental umbrella on the king’s throne or royal mount - a symbol of power and authority raj kaidi state prisoner sabha assembly sarkar government; address of reverence to anyone higher in social hierarchy sarkari pertaining to government 7 satyagraha truth force; soul force; In Gandhian terminology passive resistance to unjust rule propelled by the force of truth; in modern usage any non-violent protest satyagrahi one who offers satyagraha sindur vermillion, a religious-cultural mark worn by married hindu women swaraj freedom; self-rule; political independence tikram trick zamindar landowner, individually or jointly engaged to pay land revenue and receive rent CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Abbreviations 5 Glossary 7 Contents 9 1 The Politics of ‘Political’ Prisonerhood in Colonial and Independent India 10 2 Sedition, ‘Dangerousness’ and Penal Policies: Nationalism, Terrorism and 31 the Colonial State. 3 The Crime of ‘Conscience’: Satyagraha and Colonial Penal Policy in the 78 Early 1920’s. 4 Political Prisoners under Colonial and Congress Regimes During 1920’s and 125 1930’s, 5 The Painful Transition: Political Prisoners Under Colonial and Nationalist 184 Regimes During 1940’s. 6 Political Prisoners and Penal Strategies in Independent India. 237 7 Conclusion. 306 Bibliography 310 Appendix 330 9 CHAPTER ONE THE POLITICS OF ‘POLITICAL’ PRISONERHOOD IN COLONIAL AND INDEPENDENT INDIA In an open letter to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the ‘political prisoners’ of CPI [Marxist-Leninist (People’s War Group)] demanded among other things that "activists of all revolutionary parties, who are in jails as undertrial prisoners and convicts, should be recognized as political prisoners".1 This self perception as ‘political’,