Kamala Das Gupta
Kamala Das Gupta | |
|---|---|
| কমলা দাশগুপ্ত | |
 | |
| Born | 11 March 1907 |
| Died | 19 July 2000(aged 93) Kolkata, West Bengal,India |
| Alma mater | Bethune College,University of Calcutta |
| Occupation | Freedom fighter |
| Known for | Indian independence movement |
Kamala Das Gupta(11 March 1907 – 19 July 2000) was anIndianfreedom fighterfromBengal region.
Early life
[edit]Das Gupta was born in 1907, to aBengaliBaidyafamily ofBikrampurinGreater Dhaka,now in Bangladesh; the family later moved toCalcutta,where she got a Master of Arts degree in history fromBethune College,Calcutta University.[1]
Revolutionary activities
[edit]Nationalist ideas were current among the young people in Calcutta she met at university, and she was filling with a strong desire to take part in the freedom struggle. She tried to quit her studies and enterMohandas Karamchand Gandhi'sSabarmati Ashram,but her parents disapproved. Finishing her education, she became friends with some members of the extremistJugantarparty, and was quickly converted from her original Gandhism to the cult of armed resistance.[2]
In 1930, she left home and took a job as manager of a hostel for poor women. There she stored and couriered, bombs and bomb-making materials for the revolutionaries.[3]She was arrested several times in connection with bombings but was released every time for want of evidence. She suppliedBina Daswith the revolver that she used to try to shoot Governor Stanley Jackson in February 1922,[4]and was arrested also on that occasion, but released. In 1933 the British finally succeeded in putting her behind bars.[citation needed]In 1936 she was released and placed under house arrest. In 1938 theJugantarParty aligned itself with theIndian National Congress,and Kamala also transferred her allegiance to the larger party. Thenceforth she became involved in relief work, especially with the Burmese refugees of 1942 and 1943 and in 1946–1947 with the victims of communal rioting. She was in charge of the relief camp atNoakhalithat Gandhi visited in 1946.[citation needed]
She worked for women's vocational training at the CongressMahila Shilpa Kendraand theDakshineshwar Nari Swabalambi Sadan.She edited the women's journalMandirafor many years. She authored two memoirs in Bengali,Rakter Akshare(In Letters of Blood, 1954) andSwadhinata Sangrame Nari(Women in the Freedom Struggle, 1963).[citation needed]
Death
[edit]She died on 19 July 2000 inKolkata.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^Distinguished AlmunaeArchived18 September 2008 at theWayback Machinewww.bethunecollege.ac.in.
- ^"Dasgupta, Kamala".Banglapedia.Retrieved8 November2017.
- ^Morgan, Robin (1996).Sisterhood is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology.Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 303.ISBN978-1-55861-160-3.
- ^Kumar, Radha (1997).The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India 1800-1990.Zubaan. p. 87.ISBN978-81-85107-76-9.
Further reading
[edit]- The Silence Day note to Kamala Das Gupta16 December 1946.Collected Works ByMahatma Gandhi.Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1994. page 231.