Stalin details brutal prison treatment during Emergency period

During the 21-month Emergency declared in 1975, the then 23-year-old Stalin spent several months confined to Madras Central Prison, where he faced systematic mistreatment by prison authorities. In testimony before the Justice M.M. Ismail Commission, Stalin detailed the brutal conditions and violent conduct of jailers toward inmates, including himself and six others held together in the same cell.

According to Stalin's deposition, the prisoners were subjected to physical beatings and harassment during their incarceration. He also cited instances of being fed "kali," an inmate term for substandard or deliberately contaminated prison food used as a form of punishment and control. Such practices were documented as part of a broader pattern of custodial violence during the Emergency period.

The Justice M.M. Ismail Commission was constituted to examine allegations of human rights violations and police excesses during the Emergency era. Stalin's testimony formed part of the official record of atrocities committed against political prisoners and detainees, many of whom faced torture and degradation in custody without legal recourse.

The testimonies and findings documented instances of systematic abuse that characterized detention practices at major prisons across the country during this period, shedding light on the repressive measures employed against political opponents of the government.