“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

George Orwell’s warning in 1984 feels particularly relevant when political parties begin contesting documented history.

In Tamil Nadu, that contest is now over the Emergency and MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971).

Chief Minister Vijay appeared to cast doubt on whether MK Stalin was arrested under MISA. His cabinet colleague CTR Nirmal Kumar went further.

We went back to the Justice MM Ismail Commission report, the official inquiry into the alleged torture of political prisoners in Madras Central Prison. And the documents leave little room for ambiguity. Stalin was a political prisoner, and MISA was a law that had to go.

But MISA has been replaced in many other forms.

Let Me Explain.

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Produced by Megha Mukundan and Akshay Lal, Script by Dhanya Rajendran, Camera by Akshay Lal and Megha Mukundan, Edit by Krishna