द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

160 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE permission and for funds to perform the ceremony. Since similar facilities were given to Christian prisoners in Indian prisons, the Superintendent gave us the necessary facilities, in anticipation of Government sanction. The Government, however, not only refrained from giving sanction but censured the Superintendent, Major Findlay, for acting on his own responsibility. Thereupon we informed the Government that they should reconsider their decision, otherwise we would be forced to go on hunger-strike. The reply being in the negative, we commenced hunger-strike in February 1926. All our correspondence with the outside world was at once stopped. Nevertheless, three days after the hunger-strike began, the Calcutta paper, Forward, published the news of our hunger-strike and also the ultimatum we had sent to Govern- ment. About the same time Forward published extracts from the report of the Indian Jail Committee of 1919-21. Before this Committee a high official of the Prison Depart- ment, Lieut-Col. Mulvany, had given evidence to say that he had been forced by his superior officer, the Inspector- General of Prisons of Bengal, to withdraw the health reports he had sent of some state-prisoners in his jail and to send in false reports instead. These disclosures raised a storm of indignation among the public. In the Indian Legislative Assembly which was then sitting in Delhi, Mr. T. C. Goswami a Swarajist member, moved the adjournment of the House over the hunger-strike in Mandalay Jail and referred to the evidence of Lieut.-Col. Mulvany to the effect that false reports about the state prisoners are manufactured by the Prison Department. The Home Member found himself in an uncomfortable position and promised to redress the grievances of the state prisoners on hunger-strike. No sooner was the debate over than a searching inquiry was instituted with a view to finding out how Forward got the necessary material for publication. However, the Government issued orders without delay that they would sanction the money that had been spent by us and that in future they would provide facilities and funds for our religious requirements. So after fifteen days' starvation, having won our point, we ended the strike.