After the sepoy mutiny, India saw the power of the Company replaced by the British crown and the country became a British colony by all definitions. Colonial powers suck too much and that could not be tolerated by it's subjects.
by Pradip Kumar Dutta
It is well known to all of us that the Indian subcontinent was under the colonial rule of British imperialists for close to two centuries. The first century was under the British East India Company which had a mandate of doing business of all sorts including slave trade and at the same time to maintain a private army to take control of areas where they traded and rule those areas as virtual colonies. The Company,by royal charter, maintained their army and other law enforcers,collected revenue,administered judiciary functions and could penalise subjects upto the limit of capital punishment. This went on from 1757 after the battle of Plassey if not earlier.
In 1857 the Indian sepoys of the Company revolted because of different reasons which are beyond the scope of discussion of the present topic. Though,freedom from colonial struggle was not the primary aim of 1857 Sepoy mutiny,it spread like wildfire and swept the entire Indian population barring British boot lickers to rise against the British company. Some enthusiastic rebels even persuaded the aging name sake Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Jafar(whose jurisdiction was by then restricted to the walled portion of Delhi and who lived on a privy purse allowed by the British) to claim sovereignty. The unable,old and unwilling descendant of once mighty House of Mughals complied and consequently met a tragic end. That part too we will skip today. Even the great Karl Marx has also termed this Sepoy mutiny as the first Freedom Struggle of India. Though many other historians have different opinions. One of the greatest Bengali Historian Prof RC Majumder,who taught and headed our prestigious Dhaka University was firmly of the opinion that the real impetus to the Freedom Movement from British colonial rule was given by the youth revolutionaries who were disillusioned by the too slow ction of Indian politicians and the infight between them which prompted them to take up arms to fight the colonisers.
After the sepoy mutiny, India saw the power of the Company replaced by the British crown and the country became a British colony by all definitions. Colonial powers suck too much and that could not be tolerated by it's subjects. Political activities and resentment grew.Brute power and booty to boot lickers were the answers of the masters. The revolutionary youth of the subcontinent were not happy with their mainstream politicians and they started forming their secret organisations which they thought will be the tools to drive the oppressors away by force. Examples: Alipore Bomb case,Khudiram and Prafulla Chaki,Kakori case,Udhanm Singh and so on.and so forth. They thought,their actions will activate the nation and ignite within them the flame of freedom from injustice and will unite them to a fierce anti colonial struggle which will grow like waves to drown the oppressing foreigners. Worldwide too,the twentieth century was to see the demise of colonialism and new form of exploitation of the by then developed capitalism was in the offing.
Under this backdrop the great revolutionary action by the Chittagong youth led by legendary Masterda SurjyoSen(Surya Sen) took place. This valiant action could keep Chittagong free of British occupation for four days from 18April 1930 to 22nd April 1930. In history the heroic action goes by the name Chittagong Youth Revolution or Chittagong Armoury Raid. It was a severe blow to the British powers and they dealt with the action as brutally as they could. By their terms,it was looting of Chittagong Armoury. There were never any shortage of Mirzafars in this land. Those Bengalis,who were not much favourable towards this action also terms it Chattogram Astragar Loonthon(loot of Chittagong armoury). Some Bengali writers and publishers also had made this historical mistake. We consider the Colonialists including the Britishers as exploiters and looters of our wealth. Even those arms taken possession of by the revolutionary youth were bought with our wealth.So,we consider that the brave boys took over our own wealth by force from the British.It was the British and their cronies who coined the revolutionary youth as looters or dacoits. To us,the Bengalis and the people of the subcontinent they were and will always remain Heroes of the highest order.Our deepest respect to them will remain for all time to come. If not for their exemplary self-sacrificing all out armed attacks,Netaji's desperate attack with his Azad Hind Fauz, the British Indian Naval forces mutiny and such other vital incidents the Independence of the subcontinent may not have happened in 1947.
However,lets discuss the 1930 Chittagong Armoury Raid or the Chittagong Youth Revolution,as named by the revolutionary leader Masterda himself,in a little more detail.
During the WW1 the tricky British proposed to the Indian political leaders that if the Indians support and fight for the Allied forces in the WW1 the Indian demand for self-rule will be met. Accordingly the mainstream Indian political leaders persuaded thier people to join the British Indian Army. The semi sovereign Indian Kingdoms and Nawab/Sultan ruled entities also fought for the Allied forces. But as soon as the war against Axis forces of Austro -Hungary,Turkey and Germany/Prussia was won,all promises were forgotten. The Indian leaders were left with an empty bowl. The Muslims were particularly frustrated at the disslution of Othman caliphate. In early 20's of 20th century simultaneously the Noncooperation movement by Gandhiji and the Khilafat movement by Moulana brothers started in tandem. Though the movements could master enough popular support but it did not possess the steam to make the necessary outburst of revolutionary movement to compel the rulers being pushed against the wall. The movements slowly started losing steam and slowed down. This infuriated the young guards of freedom and revolution.
The then Secretary of Chittagong district Indian Congress Surjyo Sen alias Masterda(he actually was an innocent looking mathematics teacher in a school)chalked out his own program. He had innumerable young supporters who were ready to sacrifice their own life in the alter of freedom of the country anytime. They only waited orders from their leader.
Masterda fixed the D Day to be 18april 1930. He chalked out a meticulous plan. In his plan we find deep influence of Irish Sinn Fein revolutioneries. Ireland too was fighting against the British crown around that time.A group of 64 selected youth were divided into several groups. By evening of that day the railway link between Chittagong and rest of the British India was severed near Feni. Telephone exchange was attacked and the communication with rest of the country was broken. The Armoury of the Auxiliary forces was taken over. Chittagong Club attack was abandoned because it was closed due to easter. The main target,the Police line Armoury was attacked.The British defenders fled and the Armoury and the police HQ was taken over. Masterda was given a full Guard of Honour as the Provisional Head of the IRA government of Chittagong. The district was declared free. All Britishers left the city and took refuge in the ships in Karnafully and Bay of Bengal. Masterda knew that they could not hold this Independence for long as whole of India was not prepared. He wanted to create an example. Wanted to kindle the fire of revolution. He withdrew his forces to the Jalalabad Hills where a rugged battle was fought between handful of revolutionary youth and a huge contingent of British soldiers. 12 young freedom fighters embraced martyrdom whereas reportedly 80 of the enemies were killed. The British contingent left in the evening with their casualties. Masterda offered a 21gun salute to the fallen Heroes and decided to withdraw to the villages for the next session of protracted guerilla warfare. It was already the early hours of 22nd April 1930.This phase continued for more than 3 years. Finally and gradulally all the top leaders including Masterda was apprehended and the great Chittagong Youth Revolution died down in action but not in spirit. Their Heroism is still acclaimed.
As we know MasterdaSurjyo Sen and his 2nd in command Tarakeswar Dastidar were tried summarily and awarded death penalty. Only a few days was allowed to hear the appeal at the High court. It was mockery of a trial. Before hanging they were beaten and tortured beyond limits and just hanged almost dead bodies.
The British powers were so afraid of their popularity that the dead bodies were not handed over to the friends and relatives for last rites. They carried the sacred bodies deep into the Bay of Bengal and sunk the bodies with heavy weight.
Masterda Surjyo Sen's immortal revolutionary ideas will live for ever!
Long live Masterda Surjyo Sen!
Inquilaab Zindaabad!
Chittagong Youth Revolution will remain as a beacon to all revolutionaries all over the world for all time to come.
Pradip Kumar Dutta is a Masters in Engineering. He writes regularly in different Bangladesh Newspapers on History,heritage,culture, traveling,nature,people's rights, progressive ideas and environmental issues.
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