'I was 19 when my life changed at Ashoka hotel': BJP lawmaker S Suresh Kumar revisits Emergency

'I was taken to the High Grounds police station and put in a cell. Surrounded by 10-12 cops, I was kicked around badly. If I was a football, the cops were Messi and Ronaldo', Kumar recounts

Bengaluru: On November 7, 1975, a 19-year-old S Suresh Kumar was arrested from the Ashoka hotel (now The LaLiT Ashok) during the Emergency. Fifty years later, the senior BJP lawmaker revisited the hotel and relived his life-changing ordeal.

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'November 7, 1975, is an important day in my life'

I was 19 when my life changed at Ashoka hotel (now The LaLiT Ashok). November 7, 1975, is an important day in my life. It was my first time at Ashoka, which was the only star hotel back then after West End.

A Commonwealth delegation was coming. Indira Gandhi had painted a picture all was well under Emergency. We wanted the delegation to see the true picture.

Five of us -- Govardhan, DJ Shivaram, Suresh Nayak and Somashekhar -- met near Shivananda Stores. The plan was that two of us would shout slogans to divert attention and the remaining three board buses that had the delegates.

The police deployment was unimaginable. It's still a mystery how we got there.

I got into one of the buses and started distributing pamphlets. I explained things in whatever English I knew.

It was the jurisdiction of the High Grounds police station. Inspector Veeraiah caught me. The lanky me was beaten in front of the foreign delegates. That's exactly what I wanted. I wanted everyone to know what was going on.

While we were being arrested, one person who had just finished his Yoga class was simply watching. He was arrested, too!

I was taken to the High Grounds police station and put in a cell. Surrounded by 10-12 cops, I was kicked around badly. If I was a football, the cops were Messi and Ronaldo.

I was taken to another room that had a pulley like the one used in wells. I knew what was coming.

They asked me to take off my shirt. When I refused to remove my pants, I was kicked.

With just underwear on, my hands were tied behind my back. My legs were also tied. The rope was attached to the pulley. I was hanging 3-4 feet above ground with my hands behind me.

In a few minutes, I felt a shooting pain. If that wasn't enough, they started beating me from behind. After 8-10 minutes, I fainted. They brought me down. When I regained consciousness, I was asked to hold the rope. When I lost balance and fell, the angered police hit me more.

It was Govardhan's turn next and I was asked to watch him screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, the Yoga person who was arrested turned out to be a rich guy. His parents got him released.

The five of us were kept in a 6x6 cell where we had to eat and relieve ourselves. It was stinking. One of us borrowed a beedi from the constables just to beat the stench.

Four persons, caught for selling tickets to Sholay that had been released in Kapali theatre, were also put in our tiny cell.

Worried that I hadn't come home for days, my mother went around looking for me. Someone took her to Rama Jois' house. Then, to Santosh Hegde's. On November 10, they filed a habeas corpus seeking that I be produced immediately. The Bengaluru police got worried that I'd tell the court about all the torture.

At 7 pm, on November 10, we were thrown into the 'D' barrack of the Central Jail.

I was released 15 months later, on January 22, 1977.

If I hadn't come to the Ashoka hotel on November 7, I don't know what my life would've been.