Sahaj Samvad: The Forgotten Bangladesh Where Revolutionaries Gave Their Sacrifice!

This he did not even imagine. Now the fanatical and hard-line elements that have unleashed a bloodbath of looting, killings and attacks in Bangladesh, revenge rape, have lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, a puppet council that is staunchly opposed to Sheikh Hasina's government and that co-opted the Pakistani invasion during the 2011 war. Killing of temples and Hindus, free rein for exodus, judges resigning for fear of death and attack, entire country in chaos and fundamentalist organizations demanding the establishment of an 'Islamic nation' under Sharia law, there is… yes, there is someone. Who would believe that the Bengali revolutionaries fought for the complete independence of the country? History is a witness to it. And it started at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1905, the British government declared Bang-Bhang to divide Hindus and Muslims and the whole of Bengal came out to resist it. Names of martyrs who were sacrificed, executed and tortured in Bengal including present day Bangladesh: Charuchandra Basu, Narendra Narayan Chakraborty, Indubhushan Rai, Sakhram Gore, Sanjiv Rai, Srish Chandra Mishra, Sushil Chandra Lahiri, Anuj Charan Devgupta, Dinesh Majumdar, Dinesh Gupta, Kanhai Dutt, Satyen, Ashok Nandi, Virendra Gupta, Vasant Biswas, Jatin Mukherjee, Manoranjan Sengupta, Nirendranath Sengupta, Anat Hari Mitra, Rajendra Lahiri, Pramod Ranjan Chowdhury… all these some Kolkata, some Alipore, some Dhaka, some Khulna, no Chattogram, no Jalalabad, no Maniktola, no Howrah, no Barisal, no Silchar… these are the towns of today's Bangladesh. Along with Jai Ghosh of Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vande Mataram, they went to the gallows with Gita in hand or were shot to death in face-to-face and some even died in jails amid severe torture. The British corrupted the name Chittagong, also called Chittagong in the local Bengali language. In recent violence in Bangladesh, there have been reports of extremists burning houses, looting property and raping, all in the name of student agitation. It is clear that anti-social elements have crept in and done these heinous acts. The prosecution of the internationally famous Mohammed Yunus, the government has not yet been able to prosecute those elements. Where does it run from? His government has two student leaders under whose leadership looting and arson took place everywhere. Alas, the world saw scenes of some going to Sheikh Hasina's residence and stealing valuables on TV. This is another picture of Chatgram, a fiery struggle. The hills of Jalalabad bear witness to the liberation from British Punjab. It is described in the book of British Captain Tate. The British army was surrounded on all sides, to capture the handful of revolutionaries. Mr. Farmer on one side, the Railway Battalion on the other, the Eastern Frontier Rifles and Captain Tate's troop on the third. There were revolutionaries in front, he faced with firing. The struggle lasted from morning till evening. Finally the British 'victory'. How to win? Dead bodies of only ten revolutionaries! All these were sixteen-seventeen year old youths. Names not to be forgotten, Jeevan Ghoshal, Dharmendu Dastdar, Pulin Ghosh, Tripura Sen, Nirmal Lala, Vidhu Bhattacharya, Motilal Kanoongo, Jitendra Das, Shashank Das, .. all martyred while fighting. Everyone was in a frenzy. Naresh Rai was a medical student. Vidhu is his classmate. Both are 30 years old. Tripura Sen is a boy studying in ninth standard. He was only sixteen years old. All the rest are seventeen years old. What were these sacrifices? Pretilata was twenty-one years old when she was martyred. Kalpana Dutt was sentenced to life imprisonment. Shanti Ghosh and Suniti went to District Magistrate Stevenson's bungalow and shot him dead. Suniti is fifteen years old. This place is Comilla, Bangladesh. Mamata Mukherjee, Suhasini Ganguly, Parul Mukherjee, Renuka Sen, Indumati Singh, Lilavati Nag. Indumati and Suhasini of Chittagong. Mamata Comilla's. Leela and Renuka of Dhaka. Nalini and Tarini were martyred in this Dhaka's Kalta Bazar where a group of revolutionaries fought against the British for the freedom of the country. Had there been no Indo-Pak partition, there would have been a memorial for it! One Trailokya Nath Maharaj fought against the British and Pakistani government and was sentenced to 11 years by the Pakistani government. In Dhaka, freedom fighters formed 'Anushilan Samiti'. A newspaper called Swadhin Bharat was published. Anukul Chakraborty, Pratul Ganguly, Nalini Ghosh, Aditya Dutt, Nikunj Pal were revolutionaries here, who publicly killed British officers. Born in Jessore, Bagha Jatin means Jatindranath Mukherjee offered sacrifices here. If we want to talk about the youths involved and sacrificed in any revolutionary event, we have to remember the revolution event of Chattogram, Bangladesh. Hear the names of these martyrs: Master Da Suryasen, Harigopal Bal, Naresh Rai, Vidhu Bhattacharya. Madhusudan Dutt, Prabhas Bal, Nirmal Lala, Amarendra Nandi, Manoranjan Sen, Vidhu Bhattacharya, Swadesh Rai, Ramakrishna Vishwas, Pritilata Vadedar, Krishna Chowdhury, Shaileshwar Chakraborty, Lala Mohan Sen, Manoranjan Dasgupta, Anosor Chandrasen, Himanshu Chakraborty, Viren Dey, Sukumar Kanoongo, Farindra Nandi, Suresh Vanik, Ashwini Guha, Sahay Sampad Chaudhary, Yashoda Pal and thirty others. Organized since 1918. Guided by Vivekananda's brother Bhupendra Dutt and Suryasen. Proclamation of the Indian Republic of Chattogram. Its Declaration. The whole of Chattogram is free. The national flag was hoisted. A fierce battle ensued. Sacrifice of many. Hang the rest. Today, how would these heroic sacrifices be affected by the scene of a divided country and indigenous people engulfed in radicalism?

Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).