Bimal Dasgupta (29 April 1910 – 3 March 2000), nicknamed "Makhan", was an Indian revolutionary and member of the Bengal Volunteers who carried out assassinations against British colonial officials in an attempt to secure Indian independence. [1]
Bimal Dasgupta | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Bimal Dasgupta | |
| Born | 29 April 1910 |
| Died | 3 March 2000 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Revolutionary |
| Organization | Bengal Volunteers |
| Movement | Indian Freedom Movement |
Family
editBimal Dasgupta was born in Jhalokati District, Barishal in 1910.[citation needed] His father was Akhyay Kumar Dasgupta, an ayurvedic doctor.[citation needed] His mothers name was Sushila Devi. His father came to Midnapore permanently when he was only 4 years old. His parental uncle Hiralal Dasgupta was already lived here. They were four brothers and five sisters. He joined the Bengal Volunteers, a revolutionary organisation of British India.[2]
Education
editDasgupta started his education at Mahendra babur Pathsala, Mir Bazar.[3] Then he was admitted to the Vidyasagar Vidyapith as a class 5 student at Hindu school from class 7 to class10. Hindu school was a private school at that time. Later he came under the influence of Dinesh Gupta, who was a student of Midnapore College at that time. Dinesh Gupta came to Midnapore after the instruction of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and stayed with his brother Jyotish Gupta who was a lawyer in Midnapore judges court. This way Dasgupta joined the Bengal Volunteers, a revolutionary organisation of British India. His paternal uncle was Hiralal Dasgupta,[4] headmaster of Midnapore Collegiate School. He forced his uncle to patronize a handicraft fair on collegiate school premises and continued it till 7 April.
Revolutionary activities
edit
Dinesh Gupta fought in the Battle of the Writers Buildings but somehow survived.[5] After discussion it was decided by the Bengal Volunteers group that the first _target would be James Peddie the District Magistrate of Medinipur. Peddie had earned notoriety, he would beat the salt satyagrahis to unconsciousness and even killed some of them by kicking them. He would also take unarmed women to the open streets, strip them and leave them there. A list of four names was sent to the Calcutta Headquarters of the Bengal volunteers for approval. They were Shashanka Dasgupta, Phani Kundu, Jyoti Jibon Ghosh and Bimal Dasgupta. On 7 April at around 5:00 p.m., Peddie went to the fair[clarification needed] to distribute prizes, along with two officers, 16 police dogs and 16 bodyguards. He was busy in the exhibition when Ghosh and Dasgupta shot him.[6] After the shootout they took a cycle and fled to the Salbani Jungle. There they boarded from two different railway stations Godapiasal and Salboni, and reached Purulia by Gomo Passenger.[clarification needed] After that they spent some days in Asansol and Kolkata. His uncle refused to give any information about Peddies' killers and lost his job.[7] He worked in Jharia coalfield for some time during this period.[8] Some days later Dasgupta was again given the responsibility of killing Villiers, chief editor of the newspaper The Statesman of Clive Street. On July 29, 1931, Dasgupta shot Villiers in his office. He got caught before he could take the cyanide out of his pocket. Police eventually found him as a defendant in the Peddie Murder case after he was assumed to be dead, as the revolutionary Kanailal Bhattacharjee, who killed R. R. Galik, a judge of the Alipore court, on 27 July 1931 and was martyred under the name of Bimal Dasgupta (or Bimal Gupta) so that the police would stop searching for the real Dasgupta.[9][10] The sacrifice of Bhattacharjee, to remain anonymous and save another revolutionary from the hands of the police is rare in history. At the initiative of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, three barristers stood for the revolutionaries in the special tribunal. Ghosh was acquitted and during cross-examination, key witness Sushil Das said, "Peddi's killer is not Bimal Dasgupta." To save Dasgupta, Raja Narendra Lal Khan of Medinipur had instructed Das to say this. Although Dasgupta was acquitted of the murder of Peddie, he was sentenced to ten years in prison in the Villiers murder case.[11]
Prison Life
editIn the middle of 1932, Dasgupta was sent to the Andaman Cellular Jail. In 1936 he went on a hunger strike to demand the status of a political prisoner.[12] The fast was called off with the mediation of Subhash Chandra Bose and Muzaffar Ahmad. He was repatriated in 1938 but was not released. Dasgupta spent four years in various prisons on the mainland of Bengal.[13]
Last life
editAfter being freed in 1942 he was looking after the land in his home in Medinipur. He worked as a sales inspector of Anandabazar newspaper after independence.[14]
Death
editBimal Dasgupta died on March 3, 2000.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Bimal Dasgupta-medinipur-freedom-movement-freedom-fighter-mymedinipur". mymedinipur.com. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ Vol I, Subodhchandra Sengupta & Anjali Basu (2002). Sansad Bangali Charitavidhan (Bengali). Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad. p. 297. ISBN 81-85626-65-0.
- ^ সোমরাজ বোস, VOL.I (2013). অন্বেষন. Kolkata: Soumen Jana. p. 61.
- ^ Hiralal Dasgupta, VOL.I (2013). Swadhinata Sangrame Barisal. Kolkata: Shishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 9788186806272.
- ^ Mohanta, Sambaru Chandra (2012). "Gupta, Dinesh Chandra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ "Midnapore Central Correctional Home". wbcorrectionalservices.gov.in. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ^ "Emperor vs Nirmal Jiban Ghose And Ors. on 30 August, 1934". Retrieved October 28, 2021.
- ^ S. N. Sen (1997). History of the Freedom Movement in India (1857–1947). New Age International. ISBN 9788122410495. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
- ^ Club, Laughing (2013-09-18). "MARXIST INDIANA: 134. Kanailal Bhattacharya (1909-27.7.1931)". MARXIST INDIANA. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
- ^ Dey, Soilish. মৃত্যুর চেয়ে বড়. Biswabani Prakasani. p. 171.
- ^ "Independence Day 2021: দেশ স্বাধীনের পর মেদিনীপুর কলেজ মাঠ থেকে পাকড়াও করা হয়েছিল বিপ্লবী বিমল দাশগুপ্ত-কে!". bengali.news18.com. 16 August 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
- ^ Dr. Sarit Kumar Mukerji (December 15, 2009). Islands Of India. Publications Division. p. 242. ISBN 9788123022857.
- ^ "-Bengal Volunteers of Midnapore". Retrieved October 28, 2021.
- ^ MADHUMANTI SENGUPTA (January 1, 2016). বেঙ্গল ভলান্টিয়ার. Kolkata: Ananda Publishers. ISBN 978-9389876772.
- ^ "FLASH BACK : Three Collectors Killed: More Martyrs Born". bhavans.info. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2021.