Book throws new light on Bengal’s women revolutionaries

Book throws new light on Bengal’s women revolutionaries

Subject: History

Section: Post Independence

• The first files on women revolutionaries in Bengal appeared in the Intelligence Branch of British India roughly around 1919. And by 1947, more than 200 cases of conviction and sentencing of women were recorded in these files.
• All such interesting details about women revolutionaries are contained in a recent publication titled Women in the War of Freedom Unveiled, Bengal 1919-1947: Glimpse from Archival records.
• British Intelligence Branch in Bengal, which kept surveillance on the revolutionaries by maintaining a ‘blue list’ and a ‘red list’.
• As per the book conviction of women in the eastern part of Bengal was far greater than the western part. The highest numbers of accused were from Chittagong because the numbers might have increased after the Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930).
• Women’s wings became active among the students of colleges in Kolkata. Bethune College had become a centre of radical feminist agitation

Jayasree

• Ajournal published by women which played a crucial role in mobilising women for ‘revolutionary activities
• One such revolutionary, Sudhangshubala Sircar, whose name is mentioned in the famous Alipore Bomb Case ( 1908).

Other Women Revolutionaries

• Dukhoribala Devi,the first woman to be convicted for revolutionary activities
• Lila Nag, the first woman to be recruited as a member of a revolutionary organisation (Dacca Shree Sangha) in 1924,
• Bina Das , arrested for her attempt on the life of Governor Stanley Jackson.
• Kalpana Dutta
  • She was one of the members of Master Da Surya Sen’s revolutionary group (an influential Indian revolutionary), who carried forward the work of PritilataWaddedar.
  • She was a member of Chattri Sangha (a semi-revolutionary organization for women, Kolkata). She was part of the armoury loot, and the first attempt at torching Pahartoli Club (which led to the death of Pritilata).
• PritilataWadder/Waddedar
  • She became member of a revolutionary group, Deepali Sangha (a rebellion organization established by Leela Nag – the advocate of women education, where combat training was imparted to women).
  • She worked under the leadership of Surya Sen and led the attack along with fellow revolutionaries on Pahartali European Club – symbolizing the British supremacy.
• Santi Ghosh and Sunitichoudhury
  • They are known for her participation in an armed revolutionary struggle
  • They assassinated a British district magistrate
  • They co-founded the Chhatri Sangha (Girl Students Association)
• The Chittagong armory raid
  • Also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 by armed Indian independence fighters led by Surya Sen to raid the Chittagong armory of police and auxiliary forces in British India’s Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh).
  • The raiders belonged to the revolutionary Indian Republican Army, which advocated for armed uprisings to liberate India from British colonial rule.
• AliporeBomb Case 1908
  • In 1908 a revolutionary conspiracy was intrigued to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate D.H. Kingford of Muzaffarpur. The task was entrusted to Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki. They threw the bombs on a vehicle coming out of the magistrate’s home on April 30, 1908. The magistrate could not be killed as he was not in the vehicle, but two British ladies were killed in the attack. Prafulla Chaki committed suicide after cornered by the Police and Khudi Ram Bose was arrested
  • The ‘Alipore Bomb Case’ was “the first state trial of any magnitude in India”.
  • The British Government arrested Sri Aurobindo, a prominent Nationalist Leader at the time, Barindra Ghose, and many young revolutionaries. They were charged with “Conspiracy” or “waging war against the King” – the equivalent of high treason and punishable with death by hanging.
  • The judgment was finally delivered by Judge Beachcroft on 6 May 1909 after a protracted trial of one year. Sri Aurobindo was acquitted of all charges with the Judge condemning the flimsy nature of the evidence against him. Of the thirty-seven prisoners on trial, Barindra Ghose, as the head of the Secret society of revolutionaries (Manicktolla Secret Society) and UllaskarDutt, as the maker of bombs, were given the death penalty (later commuted to transportation for life), seventeen others were given varying terms of imprisonment or transportation and the rest were acquitted.