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Contents
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Page No.
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Preface
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Foreword
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vii
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A quick and superficial reading through the main events in the
life of Jatindranath Mukherjee (1879-1915)-also known as Bagha Jatin-might
suggest that he was a fairly conventional early Indian freedom fighter,
killed in 1915 after mounting several attacks on the Raj and its
representatives, leaving his Jugantar followers weakened, and the eventual
leadership of India Swaraj in the more versatile hands of Gandhi and Nehru
etc.
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Preface
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ix
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In the midst of the chaos
created by Subhas Chandra Bose's resignation from the presidentship of the
National Congress in 1939, Rabindranath Tagore, in a tribute to Bose,
reminded the world about the display of Bengal's will-power against the
Partition of Bengal, and how it had been able to resist the attempt to cut
Bangal's body asunder.
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Introduction
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xiii
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An inflammable inspiration accompanies the name Bagha Jatin,
which means "Jatin, Valorous like a Tiger". Though little is known
about the life and times of Jatin (Jatindranath Mukherjee), nobody is
indifferent to the magnetic thrill kindled by his legendary nickname.
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Mother Sharat-Shashi
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1
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A map of pre-1947 undivided Bengal shows the small town of
Kushtia in the district of Nadia that lies about a hundred and fifty
kilometres north-east of Calcutta. The river Gorai, a branch of the fierce
Padma, runs along its eastern edge.
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Calcutta Central Collage (1898)
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10
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On passing his Entrance Examination from Krishnanagar, Jatindra
went to Calcutta for further studies along with Vinodebala. The second of the
Chatterjee brothers, Dr Hemanta Kumar, lived at 275 Upper Chitpur Road in the
Shobhabazar area.
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A Double Life (1): HM's Servant
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21
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Vinodebala disclosed to Jatindra their mother's last secret
wish. Her cousin Brajabala, daughter of Bishwarup Chakravati from
neighbouring Kumarkhali, had been married to Umapada Banerjee of
Jiret-Balagar.
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A Double Life (2): Secret Society
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40
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Barin Ghose returned to Bengal in 1904, fascinated by the
seething pre-partition state of Bengal. In an increasingly centralised
organisation, his anti-British propaganda drew profuse inspiration from
Jatindra's overt clash with English officers, attracting a number of
candidates ready to do or die for India's freedom in an imminent and violent
struggle against the Government.
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Howrah Conspiracy Case
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54
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During three years following the arrests in the Alipore Case,
the protracted trail and the publicity given to the revolutionary methods as
well as to the strength of the conspiracy, created in Bengal "a phase of
very severe anarchical crime."
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Release: A New Perspective
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63
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On 21 February 1911, three months before the trial ended
officially, Jatindra was "acquitted and discharged by the said Special
Tribunal. "The news "put fresh heart into the people who had been
contemplating further outrages": they murdered Srish Chakravarti, an
ex-militant turned an informer that very evening.
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Insurrection: First Steps
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71
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In the early part of 1914,"Clandestine conferences led to
the formation of the general staff of the coming revolution, with Jatin
Mukherjee as the Commander-in-Chief,"wrote M.N. Roy.
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Jatindra Absconds
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83
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At a meeting convened by Jatindra Mukherjee, at the Arya Niwas
boarding house near the Sealdah Station, in the presence of Amarendra
Chatterjee, Hari Kumar Chakravarty and Atul Ghose, Lahiri announced that he
bore a specific request from Chatto.
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Haldighat of Modern India
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104
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Nalini Kantra reached Calcutta on 1 September 1915, in need of
funds for the household along with a minor surgical operation for himself.
Messrs Godfrey Charles Denham (Central Intelligence Department), Leslie
Newman Bird and Charles Augustus Tegart (both Deputy Commissioners of
Calcutta Police), in the meanwhile, took a train to Balasore.
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The Good Man: Anecdotes
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115
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Jatindra's organization had many branches and an important one
was at Daulatpur where Manoj Basu, the popular novelist, had grown up. As a
school-boy he had seen Jatindra pass by riding a bicycle.
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Letters by Jatindra
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118
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Jatindra carefully preserved Vinodebala Devi's letters. She was
Didi to every revolutionary. Of the compilation Letters to Didi very little
has survived due to the efforts of the police who carried out sporadic house
searches till 1947 to destroy all traces of the hero's writings.
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Epilogue
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126
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1) The police had made an announcement in the villages to the
effect that bandits were at large and any information leading to their arrest
would fetch a large reward. They had brought reinforcements from Balasore and
other adjacent police stations and encircled the locality.
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Chronology
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133
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7 December 1879 (21 Agrahayana 1286): Born at Koya, near Kushtia
1884: Death of his father Umesh Chandra Mukherjee
1893: Krishnagar A.V. School
1898: Calcutta Central College. Meets Swami Vivekananda and Nivedita
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Bibliography
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137
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Chakravarty, Basudha: Jyotindranath: The Humanist
Revolutionary, Minerva, 1982
Chattopadhyay, Lalitkumar: Biplabi Jatindranath, Bengal Publishers,
1947
Dutta, Soumen: Sir Daniel o Gohabaar Askhyaan, Mitra & Ghose, 2010
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Index
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139
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