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Bina Das

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Bina Das
বীণা দাশ
The photograph shows a photo of Bina Das, an Indian woman revolutionary and nationalist from Bengal. The image was shot around early 1940s.
Born24 August 1911(1911-08-24)
Krishnanagar,Bengal Presidency,British India(nowWest Bengal,India)
Died26 December 1986(1986-12-27)(aged 75)
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand,India
MovementIndian Independence movement
Parent
FamilyKalyani Das(sister)
AwardsPadma Shri Award

Bina Das(24 August 1911–1986) was an Indian revolutionary andnationalistfromWest Bengal.[1]

Biography[edit]

Participation in India's freedom struggle[edit]

Das was a member ofChhatri Sangha,a semi-revolutionary organisation for women inKolkata.On 6 February 1932, she attempted to assassinate the Bengal GovernorStanley Jackson,in the Convocation Hall of theUniversity of Calcutta.The revolver was supplied by another freedom fighterKamala Das Gupta.[2]She fired five shots but failed.[3]Her confession, which ran to five pages long and was written in English, was censored by the British colonial administration, but still found itself widely circulated. In it, she wrote that:

"My object was to die, and if to die, to die nobly fighting against this despotic system of Government, which has kept my country in perpetual subjection to its infinite shame and endless suffering – and fighting in a way which cannot but tell... I have been thinking – is life worth living in an India so subjected to wrong, and continually groaning under the tyranny of a foreign Government, or is it not better to make one's supreme protest against it by offering one's life away? Would not the immolation of a daughter of India and of a son of England awaken India to the sin of its acquiescence to its continued state of subjection and England to the iniquities of its proceedings?"[4]

The Special Tribunal convened to judge her sentenced her to nine years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of attempted murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.[5][6]

After her release from jail,[7]she became active in the Congress, participated in theQuit India Movementand was imprisoned till 1945. After independence, she won the provincial assembly, but the Bina Das left the Congress due to ideological differences.

In 1947, she married Jatish Chandra Bhaumik, an Indian independence movement activist of theJugantargroup.[8][9]

Though she didn't join the Communist Party, the revolutionary Bina Das was attracted to socialist and communist ideals. She believed thatMarxismshould be re-established according to the needs of the country.[10]

She was a friend ofSuhasini Ganguly,a freedom fighter.[11]

Death[edit]

After the death of her husband, Das led a lonely life inRishikeshand died in anonymity.[12]Her dead body was recovered from the roadside on 26 December 1986 in a partially decomposed state.[13]It was found by the passing crowd. The police were informed and it took them a month to determine her identity.[8][14]An alternate report by the current relatives of Bina Das says she was found unconscious at a bus stand and was taken to hospital by the police, where she died the next day. This was stated in a documentary on Bina Das broadcast on 26 December 2021 on DD Bangla.[15]

Legacy and awards[edit]

Her sisterKalyani Bhattacharjeeedited a book calledBengal Speaks(published in 1944), and dedicated it to her.[16]

Das won thePadma Shriaward in 1960 for her "Social Work".[17]

In 2012, Das andPritilata Waddedarwere conferred the Graduation Certificates posthumously by Calcutta University, nearly 80 years after British government withheld them.[18]

Works[edit]

Das wrote two autobiographical works inBengali:Shrinkhal JhankarandPitridhan.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^"The 21 year old Freedom Fighter".
  2. ^Kumar, Radha (1997).The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India 1800-1990.Zubaan.ISBN9788185107769.
  3. ^Five shots fired at governorGlasgow Herald,8 February 1932, p. 11
  4. ^Ghosh, Durba (2013)."Revolutionary Women and Nationalist Heroes in Bengal, 1930 to the 1980s".Gender & History.25(2): 355–375.doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12017.S2CID143325110.
  5. ^Girl, would-be assassin, gets nine years in IndiaatReading Eagle,15 February 1932
  6. ^"Bina Das, Forgotten female freedom fighters".dnaindia.com.15 April 2017.Retrieved30 June2017.
  7. ^Bina Das released from jail,Indian Express, 3 April 1939
  8. ^abcSengupta, Subodh Chandra and Anjali Basu (ed.) (1988)Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan(in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.663
  9. ^Rajesh, K. Guru.Sarfarosh: A Naadi Exposition of the Lives of Indian Revolutionaries.Notion Press.ISBN978-93-5206-173-0.
  10. ^Loomba, Ania (24 July 2018).Revolutionary Desires: Women, Communism, and Feminism in India.Routledge.ISBN978-1-351-20969-4.
  11. ^Chatterjee, India (1988)."The Bengali Bhadramahila —Forms of Organisation in the Early Twentieth Century"(PDF).Manushi:33–34. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 December 2017.Retrieved21 December2017.
  12. ^Rajesh, K. Guru.Sarfarosh: A Naadi Exposition of the Lives of Indian Revolutionaries.Notion Press.ISBN978-93-5206-173-0.
  13. ^"Bina Das: 21-yr-old who shot Bengal Governor got Padma Shri, but died in penury".The Indian Express.8 March 2020.Retrieved27 November2021.
  14. ^Pinaki Biswas (2021).Rabindranath Hatya Shorojantra (Bengali).Kolkata: Lalmati Prakashan. p. 22.ISBN978-81-953129-3-1.
  15. ^Biplabi Bina Das - Ek Ajana Jiban(in Bengali). DD Bangla. 26 December 2021.
  16. ^Sengupta, Subodh; Basu, Anjali (2016).Sansad Bangali Charitavidhan (Bengali).Vol. 1. Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad.ISBN978-81-7955-135-6.
  17. ^"Padma Awards Directory (1954–2014)"(PDF).Ministry of Home Affairs (India). 21 May 2014. pp. 11–37. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 November 2016.Retrieved22 March2016.
  18. ^"After 80 yrs, posthumous degrees for revolutionaries - Times of India".The Times of India.Retrieved21 December2017.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bina_Das&oldid=1230710342"