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{{Short description|20th-century Indian revolutionary}} | |||
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}} | |||
{{Infobox person | {{Infobox person | ||
| name | | name = Batukeshwar Dutta | ||
| image | | image = Batukeshwar dutt.jpg | ||
| caption | | caption = Batukeshwar Dutt in 1929 | ||
| birth_name | | birth_name = | ||
| birth_date | | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|11|18|df=yes}} | ||
| birth_place = [[ | | birth_place = [[Khandaghosh]], [[Purba district|Bardwan district]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]<ref>{{cite web |title= Batukeshwar Dutta |url= http://www.towardsfreedom.in/site/Batukeshwar_Dutt |access-date= 5 May 2015 |archive-date= 7 March 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190307144553/http://www.towardsfreedom.in/site/Batukeshwar_Dutt |url-status= dead }}</ref> | ||
| death_date | | death_date = {{Death date and age|1965|07|20|1910|11|18|df=yes}} | ||
| death_place = [[New Delhi]], India | | death_place = [[New Delhi]], [[India]] | ||
| nationality = Indian | | nationality = Indian | ||
| | | known_for = [[Indian Freedom Movement]] | ||
| | | criminal_charge = | ||
|organization = [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]], [[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]] | | criminal_penalty = [[life imprisonment]] | ||
| organization = [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]],<br/>[[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]] | |||
}} | }} | ||
Dutt | '''Batukeshwar Dutta''' {{audio|Batukeshwar Datta.ogg|pronunciation}} (18 November 1910 — 20 July 1965) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] [[socialist]] [[revolutionary]] and independence fighter in the early 1900s.<ref name="Sarala1999">{{cite book|author=Śrīkr̥shṇa Sarala|title=Indian Revolutionaries: A Comprehensive Study, 1757-1961|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iFS6waXHYIC&pg=PT110|access-date=2012-07-11|year=1999|publisher=Ocean Books|isbn=978-81-87100-18-8|pages=110–}}</ref> He is best known for having exploded two bombs, along with [[Bhagat Singh]], in the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] in New Delhi on 8 April 1929. After they were arrested, tried and imprisoned for life, he and Bhagat Singh initiated a historic [[hunger strike]] protesting against the abusive treatment of Indian political prisoners, and eventually secured some rights for them.Along with that he also played an important role in establishing [[Communist Consolidation]], a Marxist study circle comprising of co-revolutionaries like [[Shiv Verma]], [[Jaidev Kapoor]], [[Bejoy Kumar Sinha]] etc. Dutt also used to write the handwritten magazine titled ‘The Call’, for the study circle which was edited by Jaidev Kapoor. He was also a member of the [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]]. | ||
==Biography== | |||
Batukeshwar Dutta — also known as B. K. Dutta, Battu, and Mohan — was a son of Goshtha Bihari Dutta. He was born on 18 November 1910 in [[Khandaghosh]] village, [[Purba Bardhaman district]], in what is now [[West Bengal]] in a Bengali [[Kayastha]] family. He graduated from [[Pandit Prithi Nath College|Pandit Prithi Nath High School]] in [[Kanpur|Cawnpore]]. He was a close associate of freedom fighters such as [[Chandrashekhar Azad]] and [[Bhagat Singh]], the latter of whom he met in Cawnpore in 1924. He learned about bomb-making while working for the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) there. | |||
==1929 Assembly bomb throwing incident== | |||
To subdue the rise of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, the British government decided to implement the [[Defence of India Act 1915]], which gave the police a free hand.<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title= Defence of India Act |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/155628/Defence-of-India-Act |access-date=2011-10-28|publisher= [[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]}}</ref> Influenced by a French anarchist who bombed the French [[Chamber of Deputies of France|Chamber of Deputies]], Singh proposed to the HSRA his plan to explode a bomb inside the [[Central Legislative Assembly]], to which it agreed. Initially it was decided that Dutt and Sukhdev would plant the bomb while Singh would travel to the [[USSR]]. However, later the plan was changed and Dutta was entrusted with planting it alongside Singh.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ralhan |first=Om Prakash |title=Encyclopaedia of political parties, Volumes 33-50 |publisher=Anmol Publications |year=1998 |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-7488-865-9 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RJCB7CPPeWwC}} {{clarify|reason=vols 33-50 is vague and I suspect someone has used GBooks snippet view|date=August 2013}}</ref> On 8 April 1929, Singh and Dutta threw two bombs inside the assembly rushing from Visitor's Gallery. The smoke from the bomb filled the Hall and they shouted slogans of "''[[Inquilab Zindabad]]!''" (Hindi-Urdu: "Long Live the Revolution!") and showered leaflets.<ref name="Time1929">{{cite news |title= INDIA: Jam Tin Gesture |date= 22 April 1929 |publisher= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751851-2,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130822012131/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751851-2,00.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 22 August 2013 |access-date=2011-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-3-2004_pg7_9|title=Bhagat Singh Remembered|publisher=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)]]|access-date=2011-10-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606223617/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-3-2004_pg7_9|archive-date=6 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?link=april8 |title=Leaflet was thrown in the Central Assembly Hall, New Delhi at the time of the throwing voice bombs |access-date=2011-10-29 |work=Letter, Writings and Statements of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his Copatriots |publisher=Shahid Bhagat Singh Research Committee, Ludhiana |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930153306/http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?link=april8 |archive-date=30 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The leaflet claimed that the act was done to oppose the Trade Disputes and the Public Safety Bill being presented in the Central Assembly and the death of [[Lala Lajpat Rai]].<ref name="theopposedbills">{{cite book |last2=Hooja |first2=Bhupendra |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAq4N60oopEC |title=The Jail Notebook and Other Writings |publisher=LeftWord Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-81-87496-72-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001140920/https://books.google.com/books?id=OAq4N60oopEC&hl=ru|archive-date=1 October 2015}}</ref> Few sustained injuries in the explosion but there were no deaths; Singh and Dutta claimed that the act was intentional.<ref name="shahidbhagatsingh.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?link=june6 |title=Full Text of Statement of S. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutta in the Assembly Bomb Case. |access-date=2011-10-29 |work=Letter, Writings and Statements of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his Copatriots |publisher=Shahid Bhagat Singh Research Committee, Ludhiana}}</ref> Singh and Dutta were arrested,<ref name="shahidbhagatsingh.org"/> as planned.<ref name="indialawjournal.com">{{cite journal |title= The Trial of Bhagat Singh |journal= India Law Journal|url= http://www.indialawjournal.com/volume1/issue_3/bhagat_singh.html |access-date=2011-10-11}}</ref><ref name=mainstream>{{cite news |author=Lal, Chaman |author-link=Chaman Lal |title=April 8, 1929: A Day to Remember |date=11 April 2009 |url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1283.html |work=Mainstream |access-date=2011-12-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001142556/http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1283.html |archive-date=1 October 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> | |||
''The Tribune'' reported the incident as: | |||
{{quotation|When [[Vithalbhai Patel|Mr Patel]] from India got up to give his ruling on the Public Safety Bill, two bombs were thrown from a gallery near the seat of [[George Schuster (public servant)|George Schuster]]. The whole House was dispersed in the panic caused. George Schuster and [[Ardeshir Dalal|B. Dalal]] were injured while few other members received minor injuries. Bhagat Singh and Dutta were arrested by the British. | |||
Ten minutes later the Assembly got reassembled. The Chamber was filled with smoke. Mr Patel adjourned the House till next Thursday. A red pamphlet "Hindustan Socialist Republican Army" signed by Balraj, Honourary Chief, was thrown into the blazing fire. | |||
The police locked the Council House and prevented the movement of the visitors. [[John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon|Sir J. Simon]] was also in the President's Gallery when the bomb fell. Sir G. Schuster, Sir B. Dalal, [[P. Raghavendra Rau|Mr Raghavendra Rao]] and Mr Shanker Rao were among the injured. | |||
== | Batukeshwar Dutta from [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] and Bhagat Singh from [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]] were arrested.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bomb explosion in Assembly |date=9 April 1929 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060225/edit.htm#14 |work=The Tribune |location=India |access-date=2011-12-14}}</ref>}} | ||
== | ==Trial== | ||
Along with Singh and Sukhdev, Dutta was tried in the Central Assembly Bomb Case, and was sentenced in 1929 to life imprisonment by the Sessions Judge of Delhi under Section 307 of the [[Indian Penal Code]] & Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. He was deported to the [[Cellular Jail]], [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. | |||
{{ | ==Last days== | ||
After his release from prison Dutta contracted [[tuberculosis]]. He nonetheless participated in the [[Quit India Movement]] of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and was again jailed for four years. He was lodged in Motihari Jail (in Champaran district of Bihar). After India gained independence, he married Anjali in November 1947. Independent India did not accord him any recognition, and he spent his remaining life in poverty away from the political limelight. The later life of the freedom fighter was painful and tragic. Being released from jail due to tuberculosis, he was not valued in independent India, he grappled with destitution. He was forced into starting a transport business for livelihood. Dutta outlived all his comrades (except Jaydev Kapoor) and died on 20 July 1965 in the [[AIIMS]] hospital in Delhi after a long illness. He was cremated in [[Hussainiwala]] near [[Firozepur]] in [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] where the bodies of his comrades Bhagat Singh, [[Shivaram Rajguru|Rajguru]] and Sukhdev were also cremated many years before. He was survived by his only daughter, Bharti Dutta Bagchi,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/Remembering-the-great-Indian-revolutionary/article15320714.ece|title=Remembering the great Indian revolutionary|date=2008-10-12|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-08-31|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> in [[Patna]] where his house was situated in the Jakkanpur area. He was one of the writers of the film [[Shaheed (1965 film)|Shaheed (1965)]]. During the filming of [[Shaheed (1965 film)|Shaheed]], once the lead actor [[Manoj Kumar]] went to meet [[Bhagat Singh|Bhagat Singh's]] mother, as she was not well at that time and was admitted in a hospital in Chandigarh. Manoj Kumar said that he met Batukeshwar Dutt there.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-23|title=When Manoj Kumar met Bhagat Singh's mother: 'She scanned me and said, I do look like her son'|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/shaheed-diwas-manoj-kumar-met-bhagat-singh-mother-old-interview-video-7240998/|access-date=2021-03-30|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> | |||
==Recognition== | |||
[[ | The B.K. Dutt Colony in [[New Delhi]], located on a prime location opposite [[Safdarjung Airport]] and adjacent to Jor Bagh, is named after Dutta. It is the nearest private residential colony near to AIIMS in NDMC area. | ||
[[ | |||
Anil Verma wrote a book titled ''Batukeshwar Dutt: Bhagat Singh ke Sahyogi'', which was released on the centenary of Dutta's birth. The book was published by the Government of India's publication service, the National Book Trust. It is the first book published on Dutt in any language. | |||
==In popular culture== | |||
In [[Ki. Rajanarayanan]]'s novel ''Gopallapurathu makkal'' (1989), Dutt is anachronistically mentioned as dead on the 56th day of his hunger-strike in 1929. | |||
[[Bhaswar Chatterjee]] played the role of Dutta in the movie ''[[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]'' (2002). | |||
== See also == | |||
* [[Ashfaqulla Khan]] | |||
* [[Kakori Train Robbery]] | |||
{{ | ==Notes== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutt, Batukeshwar}} | |||
[[Category:1910 births]] | |||
[[Category:1965 deaths]] | |||
[[Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] | |||
[[Category:Hunger strikers]] | |||
[[Category:Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]] | |||
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]] | |||
[[Category:People from Purba Bardhaman district]] | |||
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]] | |||