A fortnight after India became a Republic, Madras State witnessed a sensational prison massacre that left 22 Communists dead. Around 12.35 p.m. on February 11, 1950, Communist prisoners started rioting in the Salem Central Jail Annexe. In the firing by prison officials that followed, apart from the fatalities, 102 prisoners and 21 jail staff members were injured. Among the dead were 19 Malayalis, two Tamils, and a Telugu. The Communist Party of India was then a banned organisation. Its leaders, including those of its farmers’ wing from the Malabar region, were lodged in different prisons in the State.

“Rioting took place in the Jail Annexe, situated opposite the main premises of the jail on the other side of the road. The Communist prisoners who were reported to have been armed with windo

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