Impact of Khudiram's Sacrifice in India's freedom struggle
भारत के स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में खुदीराम के बलिदान का प्रभाव
ভারতের মুক্তিযুদ্ধে ক্ষুদিরাম-এর আত্মবলিদানের প্রভাব
Arindam Bhowmik
Inspired by the advice of A O Hume in 1885, 72 representatives from different parts of the country met in Bombay and established the Indian National Congress. But all of them were Western-educated successful dignitaries. At first the main function of the organization was to express loyalty to the British Raj after discussions in annual meetings. However, it was from this time that the idea of India as a single country instead of the first small independent states got a clear shape among the people. But there was almost no leadership or public opinion to stand against the wrong policies or tyranny of the British Raj.
It was at this time that our Khudiram was born in 1889 AD. Khudiram firmly believed that if he sacrificed himself on the gallows, the fires of rebellion would ignite in India's homes. And that fire will burn to ashes the tyrannical British empire. Khudiram and Prafulla threw bombs at Muzaffarpur. The fire and sound of that bomb spread in all directions. As the guards were taking him to the gallows, it looked as if Khudiram was dragging the guards towards the gallows. In Muzaffarpur, Khudiram wore the gallows around his neck with his head held high with a smile on his face.
A little boy in the city of Cuttack, far away from Muzaffarpur, was haunted by this incident. That little boy of that day grew up with Khudiram's dream in his heart and led a historic struggle against the British. His name is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Not only Netaji, Khudiram's self-sacrifice inspired all the people of the country that day. In 1908, just 3 months after Khudiram's execution, traitor Naren Goswami was shot dead in Alipore Jail by revolutionaries Kanai Dutta and Satyendranath Bose. When Kanai was asked in the court where he got the gun in the jail, he replied, "Kudiram's ghost came and gave me the gun in the jail."
Kanai and Satyen were hanged in the trial. Khudiram's self-sacrifice also inspired Indian revolutionaries in the diaspora. In the same year Madame Cama hoisted a flag woven in silk and gold during her speech at the India-House meeting in London. In the flag was written in golden letters - "In memory of the Martyrs of 1908". He asked everyone to prepare for self-sacrifice like Khudiram.
In 1909, Madanlal Dhingra shot and killed Curzon Wyllie in London. He was hanged on trial. Thus the fire of Khudiram's self-sacrifice spread beyond the borders of the country to England.
His sacrifice ignited the fire of revolt in Midnapore that grew so strong in time that in 1930 the revolutionaries of Midnapore directly challenged the British power and declared that no British District Magistrate would be allowed to stay in Midnapore. In 1931 Bimal Dasgupta and Jyotijiban Ghosh assassinated the tyrannical District Magistrate James Paddy. The next year in 1932, District Magistrate Douglas was shot dead by Pradyot Bhattacharya and Prabhanshu Pal. It is noteworthy that shortly before killing Douglas, Pradyot Bhattacharya was coldly playing Carrom-Board at Khudiram's elder sister Aparupa Devi's house. No one could have guessed that he was going to be martyred sometime later. In 1933, despite the heavy security measures, the British force could not save the life of the Third District Magistrate. Mrigendranath Dutta and Anathabandhu Panja killed the 3rd District Magistrate Barge. The revolutionaries of Medinipur killed three British District Magistrates named Paddy, Douglas and Barge three years after each other. The martyrs are Pradyot Bhattacharya, Mrigendranath Dutta, Anathabandhu Panja, Ramakrishna Roy, Brajakishore Chakraborty and Nirmaljiban Ghosh. After that, the British government never dared to send any European district Magistrate to Medinipur.
In 1942, several national governments were formed in various parts of Medinipur district by ending the British rule. All these regions became independent before independence. Notable among these is the "Tamralipta Jatia Sarkar". This government had its own defence department, law and order department, health department, education department, judiciary department, agriculture department, finance department, publicity department etc. In 1944, the activities of this government were stopped on the orders of Gandhiji.
The announcement was made that the country would become independent on August 15, 1947. On the afternoon of August 14, Khudiram's elder sister Aparupadevi was taken in a horse carriage to the place where Khudiram was born in Habibpur. Aparupadevi identified that lonely place. A Martyr's Altar was built in that place within some time. When the country became independent at 12 o'clock that night, many people went around the city holding torches and national flags from that altar. Patriotic cheers were resounding in the air. The fire and sound of that bomb in Muzaffarpur was still going around in different parts of the country.
