Bhupendra Kumar Datta

Bhupendra Kumar Dutta (1892-1979) (Bangla:ভূপেন্দ্র কুমার দত্ত) was a Bengali Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. In addition to his other specific contributions as a Jugantar leader, he holds the record of a hunger strike for 78 days in Bilaspur Jail in December 1917.

Early days

He was born on 8 October 1894, in the village Thakurpur in Jessore, now in Bangladesh. His father Kailash Chandra Datta was the manager of the nearby Parchar estates in Faridpur. His mother Bimalasundari was a charitable woman who brought up her children Bhupen, Kamalini, Jadugopal, Snehalata and Suprabha in a God-loving atmosphere.

While reading the Ramayana, one day young Bhupen learned that the heroic Lakshmana owed his valour to his control of impulses ("brahmacharya"). Having asked his mother what it meant, he declared that he would follow "brahmacharya", which he did throughout his life of a bachelor, dedicated to the service of fellow creatures. He joined Anushilan Samiti in his Faridpur Government High School days, drawn by its humanitarian activities and its anti-Partition agitations since 1905. The study of the "Bhagavad Gita" and of works by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Vivekananda opened before him the path he wanted to follow.

Daulatpur College

After joining the Scottish Church College of Kolkata, in 1911, Bhupen came across two significant members of the initial Anushilan Samiti of Kolkata, who introduced him to Sachin Sanyal from Benares, who was desirous to join an active revolutionary party. His prior release from the Howrah Trial and informed him about a forthcoming World War. During this time, Jatindranath Mukherjee or Bagha Jatin had suspended all violent activity, preparing for an armed insurrection all over India. "Nixon's Report" in Samanta, Vol.II, p591] "agniyug o biplabi bhupendrakumar datta" by Samyukta Mitra, Sahitya Samsad, 1995, pp38-39.)] Discouraged at the suspension of all revolutionary activities, Sachin went to the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti whose leaders did not participate in Bagha Jatin's programme. Led by a faint clue in 1913, Bhupen decided to go to Khulna and join the Daulatpur Hindu Academy. Encouraged by the liberal spirit reigning in the campus, Bhupen brought together his own group of college-mates interested in social work, raising funds for the poor by offering manual labour, gymnastics, study sessions for the "Gita" and essays of contemporary thinkers. They founded their own hostel. Several professors of the college and the superintendent himself, like for example Shashibhushan Raychaudhury (or more commonly known by his nickname) Shashida, who was more famous for his experiments in education, and had been closely associated with Bagha Jatin, used to visit the College.

Introduced by Shashida, after a number of contacts, Bhupen recognised in Bagha Jatin the leader he was waiting for. Invited by his friend Hemanta Sarkar, Bhupen went to Krishnagar and spent a few days in the company of Subhash Chandra Bose, the future Netaji. Contrary to his habit, during a conversation, Bhupen disclosed to the friends his meeting with Bagha Jatin and informed them that he sensed that there was a big revolutionary preparation going on under Jatin's guidance. Subhash listened to all this and, moved up to his core, retired without dinner. He had a conviction that one had to be a "liberated soul" ("mukta-purush") in order to lead a revolution and, the next day, asked Bhupen point blank, "Is Jatin Mukherjee a "mukta-purush"?" Bhupen told him that he had no idea of what a "mukta-purush" was, but there was a man who not only quoted the Gita but whose very life was an embodiment of the teachings of the Gita. Samyukta, pp67-68]

Drawn by the relief work organised by the revolutionaries in August-September 1913, in collaboration with the Ramakrishna Mission during the flood on the Damodar in the districts of Burdwan, Midnapur and Hooghli, Bhupen met there some of the stalwart collaborators of Jatin Mukherjee. Arun Chandra Guha wrote : "The police had somehow information that behind the facade of relief work, Jatin and other workers were forging a powerful revolutionary organisation." "First Spark of Revolution", pp189-190)] Bhupen was to know later that during the flood relief , at Kalinagar in Medinipur, Atulkrishna Ghosh, Amarendra Chatterjee, Jadugopal Mukherjee and others brought together, under the moral and spiritual caution of Bagha Jatin, the various branches and sub-groups of the secret societies in order to create the rising Jugantar, which was more a concerted movement than a party. Samyukta, p4]

After returning to Daulatpur, Bhupen learnt from his college mate Gopaldas Majumdar that Bagha Jatin was soon leaving his business as a contractor in order to go back to Kolkata. "smaran-baran", 1981, pp38-41] After a significant farewell visit to Bhupen, Jatin sent a horse to Dr Amulya Ukil of the campus, apparently for the latter's use; thanks to this gift, Bhupen and the other boys took lessons in riding. Samyukta, pp68-69] Assisted by Bhupen, Dr Ukil in earnest discipline took to training the students in military drill, semaphore signaling, arms collection, propaganda among military police and the fluvial workers of Khulna-Jessore regions. On visit to Daulatpur, Subhash Chandra Bose and Hemanta Kumar Sarkar were so impressed by this pageant that during the Kolkata session of the National Congress, in 1928, when Bose organised the Bengal Volunteers in a fully military style, he was happy to have Bhupen by his side. "Bhupendra Kumar Datta" in Dictionary of National Biography, Vol.I, p383] Samyukta, p69 ] On visiting India after forty-two years, Dr. Taraknath Das reminded in his tribute to Bagha Jatin : "In Jatinda’s method of working there was a military discipline (…) Throughout the country, inspired by Jatinda’s ideology, one has to create an organisation similar to the military model. That alone will be an adequate homage to Jatinda." "Anandabazar Patrika", 10 September, 1952.)]

Kolkata again

In spite of such a hectic social programme, in March 1915 Bhupen passed his Intermediate Examination securing very high marks, with distinctions for the quality of his Bengali and English prose. Although he joined the Sanskrit College of Kolkata, he attended (along with Subhash Bose) courses in philosophy at the Presidency College.For students coming from the districts, Bhupen opened a hostel which counted among its inmates brilliant students like Megh Nad Saha, Sisir Mitra, Sailen Ghosh, Jatin Seth, Jnan Mukherjee, Jnan Ghosh, all of them known to Bagha Jatin and Shashida, all of them more or less involved in the Indo-German plan. Similar other hostels were run by his revolutionary associates, out of which the Eden Hindu Hostel was to become a permanent reference for years to come. Bagha Jatin was a frequent visitor to these addresses which sheltered a number of future celebrities. Samyukta, pp 74-75] In September 1915, after the self-undoing of Bagha Jatin, massive repression and imprisonment prevailed in India. Stunned by the leader’s sudden death, whereas his top-ranking associates felt helpless and absconded, Bhupen stepped forward to remind them that a revolution could not die with the leader’s death : "Bhupendra Kumar Datta remained the sole moving worker to maintain the links and collect money," admitted Arun Chandra Guha. He was assisted by Charu Ghosh, Kuntal Chakravarti and Jibanlal Chatterjee."First Spark of Revolution", p418] . His role was similar to that of Bagha Jatin during the Alipore trial in 1908-09. According to Jadugopal Mukherjee, "In 1917 Bhupen occupied a special place among our leading figures.""Biplabi jibaner smriti", 2nd ed, p380.] On 17 May 1917, he was arrested.On the eve of the visit to India of Montagu, Secretary of State for India in the British Cabinet, information came that the Government did not want to discuss with the Minister the fate of those accused of any implication in the Indo-German plot. Immediately, the Jugantar group, then led by Jibanlal Chatterjee, published its declaration in December 1917: "But first and last spread the terror. Make this unholy Government impossible. Hide like invisible shadows of doom and rain death upon the alien bureaucracy. Remember your brothers who are perishing in Jails and rotting in swamps. Remember those who have died or have gone mad. Remember, watch and work." [ "Rowlatt", §98] Поможем сделать НИР