Tamil Nadu Assembly records establish M.K. Stalin was a political prisoner under MISA during Emergency

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Record from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly of speech made by M. Karunanidhi in 1978. The words ‘political prisoners’ in Tamil are seen highlighted. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Historical records of debates on the Justice Ismail Commission Report that took place in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as well as Legislative Council (since abolished) in 1978 reinforce that former Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin was indeed a political detenu under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency.

The Commission headed by then Madras High Court judge M.M. Ismail was set up during the President’s Rule in May 1977. The Commission was mandated to conduct an inquiry into the incidents of beating and ill-treatment alleged to have taken place in the Central Prison, Madras, during February 1976 to February 1977.

Records from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly of speech made by M. Karunanidhi in 1978. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

As many as 88 prisoners were detained at the Madras Central Prison under the MISA. Prominent among them were Mr. Stalin, Dravidar Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani, former MLA Arcot N. Veerasamy (later Minister), DMK leader Murasoli Maran, and then MP Chittibabu.

The charge was that several detenus including Mr. Stalin, arrested soon after the dismissal of the M. Karunanidhi Government, were beaten up severely upon their arrival in the prison.

By the time the Commission submitted its report to the Government of Tamil Nadu in September 1977, the AIADMK headed by M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) had taken over the reins of power at the Fort St. George.

On March 31, 1978, a Government resolution was moved by Minister C. Aranganayagam on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council to discuss about the Ismail Commission Report on the allegations of attack on the “political detenus”. Mr. Veerasamy spoke at length for more than an hour graphically describing the attack on the MISA detenus inside the prison.

Thereafter elaborate discussions on the report took place in the Legislative Assembly on April 6 and 7. On the second day, then Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi spoke extensively on the arrest of the political party functionaries, following the dismissal of his government on January 31, 1976. The text of his speech, typed by the Assembly stenographers, ran to nearly 15 pages.

The following day, he had written a letter to the President, explaining about the attack and poor prison conditions. “I do hope that your conscience will not accept the way in which the political prisoners have been treated worser than those who have been convicted for murder. I request you to save the jail birds from torture by the Madras Central Jail authorities,” he wrote.

A day later, Karunanidhi had telephoned Inspector General of Police F.V. Arul and gave him an ultimatum – he would go on a fast outside the jail if family members were not allowed to meet the prisoners by 1 p.m. the next day.