Jatindra Nath Das

Jatindra Nath Das (also known as Jatin Das) (27 October, 1904 – 13 September, 1929) was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. The death of Jatin Das in Lahore jail after 63 days of hunger strike shocked the whole of India. Jatin Das is the only person to fast to death before independence, Potti Sreeramulu fasted to death for a separate Andhra after independence. [cite news
author=
title=Fast & Win
date=1952-12-29
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822565-1,00.html
accessdate=2008-08-09]

Revolutionary activities

Jatindra Nath Das was born in Kolkata. He joined Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. Jatindra participated in Gandhi's Non-Cooperation movement in 1921.

In November 1925, while studying for a B.A. at Vidyasagar College in Kolkata, Jatindra Nath was arrested for his political activities and was imprisoned in Mymensingh Central Jail. Protesting against the ill treatment of political prisoners, he went on a hunger strike. After 20 days, when the Jail Superintendent apologised, Jatin gave up the fast. He was contacted by revolutionaries in other parts of India and agreed to participate in bomb-making for Bhagat Singh and comrades.

On 14 June 1929 he was arrested for revolutionary activities and was imprisoned in Lahore jail to be tried under the supplementary Lahore Conspiracy Case.

The hunger strike

In the Lahore jail, Jatin Das started a hunger strike along with other revolutionary fighters, demanding equality for Indian prisoners and undertrials. The conditions of Indian inhabitants of the jails was deplorable-the jail uniforms that they were provided with were not washed since several days, the kitchen area and the food was covered with rats and cockroaches, they were not provided with any reading material-no newspapers, no paper..while the condition of the English prisoners in the same jail was strikingly different-no less than a hotel!

The memorable hunger strike started on 13 July 1929 and lasted 63 days. [ [http://muktadhara.net/antibritish.html Heroes of Anti Imperialist (British) Movement] ] The jail authority took many measures to forcibly feed Jatin Da and the other freedom fighters, beat them and did not even provide them with drinking water. [Dr. Premdatta Verma, " [http://www.bharatiyahockey.org/olympics/golden/1948.htm Punjab University Weekly Bulletin] ", 19 September 1964] However, Jatindra did not eat. He died, hunger strike unbroken, on 13 September. [ [http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Suede%20Gray/Currency/P/JATINDRA%20NATH%20DAS "Indian Post" article] ] As his body was carried from Lahore to Kolkata by train, thousands of people rushed to every station to pay their homage to the martyr. A two-mile long procession in Kolkata carried the coffin to the cremation ground. [ [http://www.gatewayforindia.com/history/british_history4.htm Gateway for India article] ] The hunger strike of Jatin Das in prison was one crucial moment in the resistance against illegal detentions.cite conference
first = Durba
last = Ghosh
authorlink = http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Profile/gl/dghosh.html
date = 4–5 April, 2003
title = Britain’s Global War on Terrorism:containing political violence and insurgency in the interwar years
conference = How Empire Mattered: Imperial Structures and Globalization in the Era of British Imperialism
location = Berkeley, CA
url = ias.berkeley.edu/southasia/Ghosh.doc
format = doc
accessdate = 2007-04-08]

In The Legend of Bhagat Singh, he was played by the Bengali actor Amitabha Bhattacharyya

Notes

External links

* [http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Suede%20Gray/Currency/P/JATINDRA%20NATH%20DAS "Indian Post" article]
* [http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=PUNJ45.txt&writer=PUNJ&validit=yes The Pioneer article] by Balbir Punj
* [http://www.punjabilok.com/misc/freedom/hunge_strike1.htm Bhagat Singh's letter to The Home Member, The Government of India ]

Persondata
NAME=Jatindra Nath Das
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Jatin Das
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Indian independence movement activist
DATE OF BIRTH=27 October 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH=Kolkata, India
DATE OF DEATH=13 September 1929
PLACE OF DEATH=Lahore, India (now in Pakistan)