The Indian freedom struggle saw limited yet significant participation of people in the acts of violent aggression. Post the 1857 rebellion, sporadic acts of violent tribal and peasant uprisings were seen all over the nation throughout the 19th and 20th century. But these movements, though heroic and anti-British to the core, mostly originated from local factors and thus lacked the pan-Indian outlook to classify as a true nationalist uprising. A plan for a large scale mutiny in the British Indian Army was hatched by the Ghadar Party during the First World War but it was uncovered prematurely and frustrated by the imperial forces. The efforts of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (or Army) led by the likes of Azad and Bhagat Singh are well etched to this day in public imagination. A heroic act of aggression against the British Raj, often forgotten by the current generation, is the Chittagong Uprising.
Before going into the details, it will be prudent to discuss the difficulties that stood in organizing an all India uprising. The antagonism between the Indian rulers and British policy of aggression was a major factor in fulminating the events of 1857.But the British had learned from this experience and thus were more tolerant towards princes post-57 which safely nullified the possibility of all the princely states simultaneously turning against the Raj .Also, the geographical vastness and cultural diversity of India made it difficult for any movement to effectively spread throughout the country.The modern notions of nation was yet to adapt itself to such unique Indian circumstances. It took more than 60 years for another pan-India uprising in the form of the Non-Cooperation movement. The abrupt discontinuation of the movement shattered the imagination of a whole generation. It is interesting to note that many among the armed revolutionaries of the 1930s (including members of HSRA and the heroes of Chittagong ) were active participants in the non-cooperation movement who were convinced of the futilities of non-violent means by the movement being called off suddenly.The chief architect of the Chittagong Uprising was a soft spoken teacher (hence fondly called Masterda by his followers) in his mid-thirties who believed that “Humanism is a special virtue of a revolutionary.” His associates included Nirmal Sen,Ganesh Ghosh,Lokenath Baul,Ambika Chakraborty,Tarakeshwar Dastidar,Anant Singh,Pritilota Waddedar,Kalpana Dutta and a host of teenagers. Sen and friends had some prior experience in revolutionary activities having robbed the Chittagong treasury office of the Assam-Bengal Railways in broad day light on 23rd December 1923.He was jailed for a period of two years from 1924-26.Later,he was elected the president of the Chittagong District Committee of the Indian National Congress. Many of his associates were also active members of the Congress and utilized it as a cover for their revolutionary activities.
Masterda’s plan was grand, to say the least.It was in fact the single biggest act of planned and violent defiance of British authority since the Kakori Train Robbery. His status as a teacher helped him impress upon and pick out a number of revolutionary volunteers prepared to kill and to die for the cause. The funds were arranged from generous donations from the volunteers.With the finances being managed efficiently by Ambika Chakraborty,the other associates like Ananta Singh took the responsibility of procuring arms.More than 60 volunteers were trained secretly in the operation of firearms like musket,pistols and bombs. On the night of 18th April 1930,at around 10PM, a group of revolutionaries damaged the train lines thus disrupting the movement of trains between Calcutta and Chittagong. Simultaneously, another group led by Ambika Chakraborty took control of and damaged the Telephone and Telegraph lines. Chittagong was thus effectively cut off from the rest of the country.
The Police Armoury was captured by a group led by Ganesh Ghosh and Surjya Sen while another group led by Lokenath Baul and Nirmal Sen took control of the Auxiliary Forces Armory.Ananta Singh led a group who captured the European Club. The plan was to seize the ammunitions, take all Europeans hostage (and possible assassinations of unpopular officials) inside the Club and free all the nationalists from the British prison.But the campaign was ill fated.
18th of April being Good Friday,all the Europeans had left the club early after prayers.Also Lokenath Baul and his associates could not locate the ammunitions inside the Auxiliary Armoury. These two mistakes proved disastrous. Realizing that they would soon be surrounded and being heavily deficient in ammunitions, Sen decided to disperse towards safety in the jungles. But before that he did something symbolic. The British flag in the Auxiliary Armoury was brought down and an Indian tricolour hoisted in it’s place.Sen took a military salute here amidst shouts of Vande Mataram and declared Chittagong Independent.In all,65 revolutionaries participated in the raid and all this was done under the name of Indian Republican Army,Chittagong Branch.
Whether the history of India would have been different had Materda and his associates succeeded in locating the ammunitions has been a cause of much speculation among historians.It is generally agreed that the revolutionaries knew that eventually they will be surrounded by enemy forces and will be forced to retreat.Hence the idea here was not the independence of Chittagong,the ultimate aim was to die fighting and set an example before the countrymen.No wonder that the book by Manini Chatterjee which chronicles the events of the uprising is called Do And Die.
On the 22nd of April 1930,Masterda and others were surrounded by the British troops in the Jalalabad Hills.The battle that ensued goes down in golden letters in the Indian history. Heavily outnumbered and outweaponed,the revolutionaries commanded by Lokenath Baul inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy.In total,80 British soldiers and 12 revolutionaries were killed. Fearing more casualties Sen and Baul ordered a retreat. The rebels were divided into small teams and dispersed.The British hunt for the heroes of Chittagong continued for more than three years.In the meanwhile some them regrouped and on the 25th Sept 1932,eight young rebels led by Pritilota Waddedar attacked the Pahartuli Europian Club bearing the notorious sign ‘Indians And Dogs Are Not Allowed Inside’ and killed one women.Th rebels carried cyanide capsules with them and unable to find an escape,Waddedar committed suicide.The bravery at Chittagong also inspired a chain of acts of individual heroism all over Bengal.Santi Ghosh and Suniti Chowdhury,two school girls at Comilla,shot dead the district magistrate in Dec 1931.In Feb 1932, Bina Das fired point blank at the Governor while receiving her degree at the Convocation. Three British Magistrates were assassinated at Midnapore. Between 1930 and 1932 a total of twenty two officials and twenty non-officials were killed.Over the period of years some of the rebels like Nirmal Sen were killed and some others like Ganesh Ghosh were arrested. Hearing the news of arrest of his friends,Anant Singh surrendered to the police.On Feb 1932,Masterda was arrested.Tarakeshwar Dastidar made a plan to free him from jail but the plan was uncovered and Dastidar arrested. A trial was carried out where Masterda and Tarakeshwar Dastidar were awarded death sentences and were hanged on January 12 1934.Many of their associates were deported to Kala Pani.
One of the strength of the Chittagong movement was the participation of women like Pritilota Waddedar and Kalpana Dutt. The revolutionaries also shed the elements of Hindu religion followed by the underground organizations of Bengal like Jugantar and Anushilan.Many of the cadres like Sattar,Fakir Ahmed Mian,Tunu Mian and Mir Ahmad were Muslims.
The gallows at Chittagong Central Jail have been declared a memorial to Sen by the Govt of Bangladesh.India and Bangladesh have issued commemorative stamps in Masterda’s memory.A metro station at Kolkata is named Masterda Surya Sen Metro Station.The Ashutosh Gowarikar movie Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se portrays the events of Chittagong Uprising. An upcoming movie called Chittagong is also based on same events.
