"Nothing Prepared Me For That Night"

It was 2.20. We caught up with the arresting party at the Crime Branch-cid office. I was desperate to see my father. But they would not let me in. They said do not enter the building, sit inside the car. We waited for an hour. Finally, I saw dad being brought out. He was without his slippers. I had never seen him even walk about the house barefoot. What worried me most was not just his 78 years but his frail health, his high blood pressure, his shoulder problem. Even getting up from a chair is an effort for my dad.

The police was then to take my father to the magistrate's house on Taylor's Road. They reluctantly let Murasoli Maran accompany him in the car. We followed in our car. On the way, the cops stopped at the Police Commissioner's office for an hour. The next stop was Vepery police station where Maran was asked to get off and threatened with arrest. This is where the police harassment worsened. Even women were ill-treated. The convoy moved ahead. Maran caught an autorickshaw and followed.

Then to the magistrate's house where he assured us that father would be first taken to the government hospital. But they drove straight to the Central Prison. Three panels of doctors walked in and walked out. Dad's blood pressure had shot up and he looked tired and exhausted. In such a condition, they decided that he was fit enough to be taken to the Vellore jail, two hours away. Father decided to go on a hunger strike.

It was about 6.00. It was a pathetic sight. Jolted out of his sleep in the middle of the night, dad was now squatting there in his lungi. He refused even water. Inside the jail, he was made to sit on a wooden bench. His feet were swollen. At that point he told me how he felt sad that (K.A.) Nambiar (the former chief secretary) too had been arrested. He recalled how he had pleaded with Nambiar to come and serve as chief secretary. Father felt guilty.

It all sank in when I saw the images of his arrest. It was painful. He certainly deserved to be treated with more dignity. Today (July 2) when I visited him, he was in good spirits despite having to suffer the jail food. He has a weak stomach.

When I look back, I feel terribly insecure. This could happen to a person who till the other day was chief minister. My friends have been advising me to be wary of whom I talk to and whom I meet. Or even writing this.