मेरा आजीवन कारावास / माझी जन्मठेप (स्वातंत्र्यवीर सावरकर - काले पानी का ऐतिहासिक संस्मरण)

trick. Six months after he left the prison with three or four hundred others who had got
their discharge on account of the victory celebrations. But the serpent sneaked out with
his fangs taken out. One who was a terror to Hindu prisoners had become a lamb before
them, before he had left the Silver Jail. All his former allies— the Baluchis, the Sindhis,
and the Pathans—had paled into insignificance. Tyranny had been beaten, the tyrants had
gone, and the rest of them simply dragged on their existence. The warder, the havaldar,
the jamadar, the clerks in the office, the doctor, the compounder, in the prison and out in
the Andamans—the best part of this phalanx had now been recruited from the Hindus.
And they were chosen for their merit, their honesty and straightforwardness, and for their
good record as prisoners. The few Pathans that remained, as these new recruits won
favour with their officers, said, "It is now Hindu Raj; and what can one say of it!"
Now, it is Hindu Raj
Some old Pathan prisoners used to complain about the new order of things in the
following words : "Sahib, today it is Hindu Raj at Port Blair; we are afraid, very much
afraid, that the Hindus may trump up some false charge against us!" As if, when these
Pathans were in power, they had not trumped up any charges against the Hindu prisoners
in order to persecute them! For these men to fear now a similar treatment from the
Hindus was nothing short of a reflection of their own wickedness. The Hindu warders,
petty officers and jamadars never persecuted their Mussulman fellow-prisoners, On the
other hand, it was a rule with us always to support such Mussulmans as were free from
bigotry, and behaved with prudence. I used to teach them, and used my influence to
promote their interests. I have written petitions in their behalf, I have helped them in their
work, and when, later on, I had some power in this pinchbeck Raj, I treated them with the
utmost fairness and justice. Later on, I will quote their own words about it in its due
place.
After the exit of Mr. Barrie, his post was temporarily filled by successive
European officers, on permanent or temporary service. Some of them were local men and
others were sent from India. One of them began to treat the prisoners as Mr. Barrie had
treated them in his early career of high-handedness and utmost rigour. He had, however,
lost sight of the ignoble failure of Mr. Barrie's Last days. He sent some of the mildest of
Gujarati prisoners to work the oil-mill. And another equally shallowpated officer
supported him. The political prisoners had almost sabotaged the oil-mill. The officer
sought this opportunity to revive it. However, he did not choose for that purpose the
tough and the strong ones among us. He allotted the task to those who were
constitutionally weak, and who were of a mild and meek disposition. He hoped that they
would not refuse to do it. Most of them were agriculturists, and yet on the very first day
they offered non-violent resistance, for they had known the past history of the notorious
Kolu. Two of them had their rooms in my chawl. And I had directed them how to
proceed in the matter. Enraged by this resistance he outheroded Herod. He roared and
fumed like Mr. Barrie and yoked the two in our chawl, whom he regarded as their ring-
leaders, to the handle of the mill as if they were bullocks, and asked others to turn it