Modi in Andaman: PM visits Cellular Jail; Pays homage to Veer Savarkar, martyrs

Port Blair, Dec 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the Cellular Jail in Port Blair and paid homage to those who were exiled and hanged as political prisoners in colonial India.

On reaching the jail premises, Modi laid a wreath at the Martyr's Column before proceeding towards a cell, where Hindutva idealogue Veer Savarkar spent his days in captivity.

"Among those imprisoned at Cellular Jail was the great Veer Savarkar. I visited the cell where the indomitable Veer Savarkar was lodged. Rigorous imprisonment did not dampen Veer Savarkar's spirits and he continued to speak and write about a free India from jail too," PM Modi tweeted.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a political leader and practitioner of Hindu philosophy, was imprisoned by the Britishers and moved to the Cellular Jail in 1911. The prime minister sat down on the floor of the cell, in front of Veer Savarkar's photograph, with his eyes closed and hands folded for some time.

After stepping out of the cell, he went to the central tower of the prison, and stopped before a marble plaque, where names of jail inmates are inscribed. Modi also visited the gallows, where there were arrangements to hang three prisoners at one go. After taking a tour of the museum at the prison complex, he signed the visitor's book.

The Cellular Jail, also known as Kala Pani, was constructed between 1896 and 1906. The prison is known to have housed many leaders, including Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, Yogendra Shukla, Batukeshwar Dutt and Sachindra Nath Sanyal, during freedom struggle. The jail had special provisions for solitary confinement of the prisoners. PTI SBN RMS AAR