Bishnu Chattopadhyay: Difference between revisions

'''Bishnu Chattopadhyay''' alias '''Bistu Thakur''' (April, 1910 – April 11, 1971) was a [[Bangladesh]]i politician who was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation war. He was an [[Indian independence activist]] and leader of the peasant movement. He provided leadership to the [[Tebhaga movement]] that developed in the 1940s in undivided [[Bengal]].

Chattopadhyay was born in a [[Bhadralok|Bhadro lok]] family of [[Khulna District]] in [[British India]]. His father was Radhacharan Chattopadhyay. While studying in Naihati village school he left home and attracted with ''Sannyas'' life. After few days he returned home and joined in revolutionary politics. His brother Narayan Chattopadhyay and sister Bhanu Devi were also connected with the secret anti British activities under the disguise of Jessore Khulna Youth Society.<ref name=":0" />

==Career==

Chattopadhyay constructed the Shovana dam over the Shakhabahi river and Nabeki dam organising thousands of farmers in front of the goons of landlords and police forces. In 1940 in his leadership 21 thousand acres land were distributed to the landless people. Chattopadhyay became a heroic figure of the [[peasant uprising]] in [[Dumuria Upazila|Dumuria]], [[Batiaghata Upazila|Batiaghata]] area and [[Khulna District]]. His name itself became myth to the common people. He was popularly known as ''Bishtu Thakur.'' He organised peasants conference in 1939 and 1944 covering two districts. In Maubhag area a regional peasant conference was also organised by him in 1946. After and before [[partition of Bengal (1947)]] he remained under preventive detention and tortured for 24 years of his life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Seishab Shahidera (Bengali)|last=Pinaki Biswas|publisher=Atirikto Publication|year=2014|isbn=978-81-928741-0-4|location=Kolkata|pages=53–55}}</ref> In [[Khulna]] jail, one of his fellow inmates was [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]], the future [[President of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oScvZvKW9-kC&q=Bishnu+Chatterjee+Khulna&pg=PT262 |title=Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: The Unfinished Memoirs |date=June 2012 |isbn=9788184757033 |pages=184 |access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref>

Chattopadhyay was a man of versatile talents. He made night school for the peasants and adult education center, Lokshikkha Sansad under [[Visva-Bharati University]]. He had experience with agricultural science and veterinary treatments.<ref name=":1" /> In 1969 he also published a collection of his articles named ''Mehanati Manush''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sarkar|first=Jatin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpxWDwAAQBAJ&dq=%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A3%E0%A7%81+%E0%A6%9A%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC&pg=PT110|title=Banglar Lok Sangskriti|publisher=Atmajaa Publishers|language=bn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/155356/17/17_selected%20bibliography.pdf|title=SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY|access-date=December 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slYOZal48OcC&q=bishnu+Chattopadhyay&pg=PA157|title=The Sundarbans: Folk Deities, Monsters and Mortals|last=Sutapa Chatterjee Sarkar|year=2010|isbn=9788187358350|access-date=December 7, 2022}}</ref>