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fogotten heroine
Pritilata Waddedar (Bangla: প্রীতিলতা ওয়াদ্দেদার) (5 May 1911 – 23 September 1932)
was an anti-British pro-India revolutionary in East Bengal, (then part of Province of Bengal in pre-independence India), now in Bangladesh.
Born in Chittagong on 5 May 1911, she was a meritorious student at the Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School of Chittagong and passed the matriculation examination in the first division in 1928. She continued her education in Eden College, Dhaka and in 1929, she passed the Intermediate examinations securing the fifth place among all the candidates from Dhaka Board. Two years later, Pritilata graduated in Philosophy with distinction from Bethune College of Kolkata. In her college days, Pritilata was used to visit Ramkrishna Biswas, a rebel who later was hanged. Pritilata received combat training from Nirmal Sen. He died on 10/11 June 1932.
In early 1930s, Pritilata joined Mastarda Surya Sen's armed resistance movement. In 1932, Surya Sen planned an attack on the Pahartali European Club, which bore the notorious sign 'Dogs and Indians not allowed'. He assigned Pritilata to lead a team of 10-12 men that would attack the Club on September 23, 1932. Members of the team were instructed to carry potassium cyanide with them so that in case they were caught by police they could swallow it before the arrest. Kalpana Dutt, a fellow revolutionary of Pritilata said, "Surya Sen told us he does not support suiciding. But he took Potassium Cyanide from me before he went". The raid was successful but Pritilata, dressed as a man was trapped without a way of escape on that fateful night. She committed suicide by swallowing the cyanide, thus ending her short endeavor in fighting for freedom of her country.
Other activities
Pritilata was vocal against gender discrimination. She wrote a letter a day before she died in which she questioned her countrymen for it. Pritilata was the headmistress of "Nandankanon School" in Chittagong.
Badal Gupta
Date of Birth : 1912
Date of Death : 1930
Place of Birth : Dhaka
Badal Gupta was a Bengali Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. Badal Gupta was born Sudhir Gupta in the village Purba Shimulia (West Shimulia) in the Vikrampur region of Dhaka District, now in Bangladesh. Badal was greatly inspired towards patriotism by Nikunja Sen, a teacher of the Banaripara School of Vikrampur. Badal joined the Bengal Volunteers (BV) as a member. Bengal Volunteers targetted Col NS Simpson,The Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the brutal oppression on the prisoners in the jails.
The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata. On 8 December 1930, Badal along with Dinesh chandra Gupta and Benoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. British police started firing.What ensued was a brief gunfight between the 3 young revolutionaries and the police.Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting. Soon police overpowered them.However, the three did not wish to be arrested.Badal took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers.Badal died on the spot. The martyrdome and self-sacrifice of Benoy,Badal and Dinesh inspired further revolutionary activities in Bengal,in particular and India,in general. After independence, the dalsousie square was named B.B.D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.
forgotten hero
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