Chittagong armoury raid

The Chittagong armoury raid (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম অস্ত্রাগার লুন্ঠন) was an attempt on April 18, 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong (in present-day Bangladesh) armoury in Bengal province of British India, by armed revolutionaries led by Surya Sen.

The raiders

The raiders were members of revolutionary groups believing in armed uprisings for Indian independence to liberate India from British colonial rule. The group was led by Masterda Surya Sen, and included Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Nirmal Sen, Ambika Chakrobarty, Naresh Roy, Sasanka Datta, Ardhendu Dastidar, Harigopal Bal (Tegra), Tarakeswar Dastidar, Ananta Singh, Jiban Ghoshal, Anand Gupta, Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Dutta. Also among them was 14-year-old Subodh Roy (died August 27, 2006), who was jailed for his part in the uprising and held in the Andaman Islands, but released in 1940.

The plan

Surya Sen devised the strategy of capturing the two main armouries in Chittagong and then destroying the telegraph and telephone office, followed by assassination of members of the "European Club", the majority of whom were government or military officials involved in maintaining the British Raj in India. Firearms retailers were also to be raided, while rail and communication lines were to be severed.

The raid

The plan was put into action at 10 o'clock on April 18, 1930. The police armoury was captured by a group of revolutionaries led by Ganesh Ghosh, while another group of ten men led by Lokenath Bal took the Auxiliary Forces armoury. However, they could not locate ammunition. Revolutionaries also succeeded in cutting telephone and telegraph wires and disrupting the movement of the trains. Some sixty-five revolutionaries took part in the raid, which was undertaken in the name of the Indian Republican Army, Chittagong Branch. After the raids, the revolutionary groups gathered outside the police armoury where Surjiya Sen took a military salute, hoisted the National Flag and proclaimed a Provisional Revolutionary Government. The revolutionaries left Chittagong town before dawn and marched towards the Chittagong hill ranges, looking for a safe place^[1].

Aftermath

After a few days, the police traced some of the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries were surrounded by several thousand British Colonial troops while taking shelter in Jalalabad hills on the afternoon of April 22, 1930.

Over eighty British Colonial troops and twelve revolutionaries were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Surjiya Sen dispersed his men to neighbouring villages in small groups, and the revolutionaries escaped accordingly. A few of the revolutionaries fled to Calcutta, while some were arrested.

Some of the revolutionaries managed to reorganize their broken organisation. On 24 September 1932, eight young rebels led by Pritilata Waddedar attacked the European Club, killing one woman. During 1930-32, 22 officials and 220 others were killed by revolutionaries in separate incidents.

The armoury raid trial

The mass trial of those arrested during and after the raids concluded January 1932 and the judgment was delivered March 1, 1932. 12 of the defendants were sentenced to deportation for life, 2 others received three year sentences, and the remaining 32 individuals were acquitted.

Capture and death of Surjiya Sen

The Chittagong revolutionary group suffered a fatal blow when Masterda Surjiya Sen was arrested on February 16, 1933 from Gairala village, after a tip-off from inside the group. He was tried and subsequently hanged on January 12, 1934.^[2]

Film adaptations

In 1949, a Bengali movie Chattagram Astragar Lunthan was made on the Chittagong armoury raid. It was directed by Nirmal Chowdhury.

In 2010, a Hindi movie, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey was made on the Chittagong armoury raid. It was directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, staring Abhishek Bachchan and supported by Deepika Padukone. It was a period thriller, based on the book Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 by Manini Chatterjee.

References

1. ^ Chandra, B & others (1998). India's Struggle for Independence 1857-1947, New Delhi: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-101781-9, p.251-2
2. ^ Chandra, B & others (1998). India's Struggle for Independence 1857-1947, New Delhi: Penguin, ISBN 0-14-101781-9, p.252

Further reading

• Chatterjee, Manini (2000). Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34, New Delhi: Penguin, ISBN 9780140290677.