Happy Independence Day ! remembering a great martyr born this day in 1900 !! ~ “Ami je dekhinu tarun balak unmad hoye chhute…”

 

The Nation celebrates its 80th Independence Day and it is time we remember our real heroes.  Today our Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji hoisted the Indian National flag at Red Fort.  

Two things that we read in History books that needs deletion from our memory !!   (distorted truths)  :  1. British who ruled us were – kind, clement and cared about their subjects 2. Freedom was obtained by only Gandhi & Nehru without shedding blood !!   Fact remains that British were cruel and have been waging wars killing millions; also scores of Countries too got their freedom (but there are no Nehrus in their  History!) .. .. freedom was not gotten easily, it was obtained by the gory bloodshed of thousands of our countrymen.

 

Sad, that most of them remain unsung, hidden from public memory with prejudiced History books mentioning Allahabad prison story and the letters !!  ….  Have you read /heard these lines of the very famous Indian Poet who gave us our National anthem … … and the occasion ??

“Bhagaban, tumi juge juge dut pathayecho bare bare Doyahin samsare…”

— “Lord, through the ages you have sent messengers again and again into this merciless world…”

And towards the end comes the devastating question:

“Tumi ki tader khoma koriyachho, tumi ki besechho bhalo?”

— “Have You forgiven them? Have You loved them?”

A great martyr born on 15 Aug 1900  .. .. but passed away young 31 !  Post graduate and LLB  shot down cruelly !!!!

Santosh Kumar Mitra  [15 August 1900 – 16 September 1931)  is the martyr whom our school History books never taught !!  Mitra was born o  in Kolkata, in a middle class Bengali Kayastha family. He passed matriculation from Hindu School, Kolkata in 1915 and became graduate from the University of Calcutta in 1919. During the period 1921–22, he completed his M.A and LL.B.  He participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement of the Indian National Congress leading to his imprisonment in 1921. After the suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement, Santosh Mitra shifted to extremist activities in the struggle for Independence. In 1923, he got associated with lawyer Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Barin Ghosh of Jugantar and Bipin Behari Ganguly.

On August 3, 1923,  there was attempted dacoity at  Shankharitola Post Office. The postmaster was killed, Barendra was caught while escaping and was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.   Mitra was charged with Shankharitola Murder Case and arrested in 1923  because of his association with Barendra Ghosh and other co-conspirators of this case. Similarly, he was also arrested in connection with the Second Alipore case of 1923. Both times, he was acquitted of all charges by the help of Jatindra Mohan Sengupta.

After his acquittal in the Shankharitola case, he was not simply allowed to walk free. The colonial government detained him under the Bengal Criminal Law Amendment legislation, essentially treating him as a dangerous revolutionary even without a successful criminal conviction. He remained in detention until 1927. In   1930 he was again imprisoned and eventually sent to Hijli Detention Camp where his brutal end came !! 

Three detention camps were created by the British — one at Buxaduar, one at Berhampur and the other at Hijli – where people were kept in harsh conditions. The detainees had many grievances and complaints against the jail administration but initially there was never any serious altercation. On September 15, 1931, three detainees — Nalin Das, Phani Das and Chintamani Das — escaped from the detention camp. The jail authorities were extremely enraged by this incident. On September 16, 1931, with prior approval from district authorities, the police surrounded the camp and some entered the premises. They started a deliberate altercation with the detainees and suddenly started firing on these defenseless men. For no reason, the alarm bell of the detention centre started off. Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeshwar Sengupta were shot. Mitra was shot in the abdomen while Sengupta was shot in the forehead. About 29 rounds of ammunition were fired.  Besides the death of these two, over 100 were injured, out of which 23 were seriously injured. The British government first tried to cover up the incident but failed to do so. Anandabazar Patrika came out with the news in detail and followed up with the story. Subhash Chandra Bose and J.M. Sengupta visited Hijli to bring back the dead bodies of Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta. Many national leaders, including Rabindranath Tagore, raised strong protests against the British Raj over this incident.

In the beginning, the British government tried to blame the detainees saying that the firing was done by police for self-defense. Under severe public pressure, the government put up a judicial inquiry led by Justice S. C. Maulick and Drummond, I.C. S., District Magistrate. The commission condemned the behaviour of the sepoys.

The Detention Camp was closed in 1937 and was reopened in 1940. In 1942, it was closed for the final time and the detainees were transferred elsewhere. During World War II, it was occupied by the US Air Force.

The Hijli shootings caused a major public reaction in Bengal. A protest meeting was held in Calcutta on 26 September 1931, presided over by Rabindranath Tagore, who expressed his anguish in his poem Proshno.

By Roll of honour KC GHOSH - Roll of honour KC GHOSH, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=165980075

 Well   the Nation almost forgot its sons who died fighting for freedom !!   

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, started in 1951 is on the premises of Hijli. A part of the Hijli detention camp building is now named as Hijli Shaheed Bhavan. There  is a memorial plaque in the name of both Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta at the campus. Also there are small busts of them in the same premises. The main road inside the IIT Kharagpur Campus has been named after Santosh Mitra.

            Tagore's “প্রশ্ন” (Prashno / Proshno, “The Question”)  was written  following the Hijli firing and the wider anguish it caused. It was later published in Parishesh (1932) There is also a particularly striking passage in the poem:

“Ami je dekhinu tarun balak unmad hoye chhute…”

roughly: “I have seen young men, driven to desperation, hurl themselves against stone in agony…”  

Santosh Mitra Square now  is a public square and tourist attraction located in Bowbazar, Kolkata. It is a popular gathering place for various cultural and political events. The park is named after the Bengali freedom fighter Santosh Kumar Mitra. One of the events held here is Durga Puja, an annually held festival, for which the park is crowded during puja days

Decades after Independence – we kept reading about our clement British rulers – not how they looted but how they were kind to us !?! – not of the elite few who fought and sacrificed but our minds were ingrained with concept of ‘freedom gotten without bloodshed’ – that Britishers benevolently handed to us freedom !!  How sad, we forgot our real heroes!

Jai Hind. Bharat Mata ki Jai; long live our Nation and remembering all those who gave their blood and life for our freedom.

With respects and regards to all of them – S Sampathkumar
15.8.2026