Many martyrs have sacrificed their lives on the land of Midnapore. Just as the sons of Midnapore have sacrificed their lives for Midnapore, similarly, the brave revolutionaries from different parts of the country have also sacrificed their lives on the land of Midnapore. One such brave martyr, Harendranath Chakraborty alias Harendranath Bhattacharya, was martyred at the age of just 18 in Midnapore Central Jail. Before going into the matter of martyr Harendranath Chakraborty, we will look at the situation in Chittagong and the adjoining areas at that time –
Martyr Harendranath Chakraborty
February 6, 1932
Bina Das, a student of Diocesan College, daughter of Benimadhav Das, shot and wounded Chancellor Governor Sir Stanley Jackson at the convocation ceremony of Calcutta University. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison.
June 13, 1932
The historic Dhalghat conflict began, with Captain Cameron leading a large Gurkha force on one side. On the other side were Surya Sen, Pritilata Waddedar, Nirmal Sen, Apurba Sen. Although Nirmal and Apurba sacrificed themselves, Surya Sen and Pritilata were able to hide. Cameron was killed.
September 24, 1932
The Pahartali European Club was attacked by Pritilata, dressed in military uniform. As a result, an elderly European woman was killed and Inspector MacDonald Sergeant Willis and six other Europeans were injured. Pritilata, daughter of Jagadbandhu Waddedar of Chittagong city and a university graduate, committed suicide. The day before her death, she wrote a touching letter to her mother.
Pahartali European Club
March 2, 1932
. The verdict in the Chittagong Arsenal robbery case was announced. Twelve people were sentenced to life imprisonment. They were Ganesh Ghosh, Ananta Singh, Loknath Bal, Anand Gupta, Fani Nandi, Subodh Chowdhury, Sahay Ram Das, Fakir Sen, Lalmohan Sen, Sukhendu Dastidar, Subodh Roy and Ranbir Dasgupta. Anil Bandhu Das was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and Nandalal Singh to two years of rigorous imprisonment. The remaining sixteen accused were released. However, according to the Bengal Ordinance, they were all arrested again and taken to an unknown place along with fourteen other convicted accused in a specially chartered ship.
July 29, 1932
Young revolutionary Shailesh Roy shot and killed Comilla's police officer Ellison in broad daylight.
October 27, 1932
A fine of eighty thousand was imposed on all Hindu tribals of Chittagong for the revolutionary attack on the Assam Bengal Railway Institute at Pahartali near Chittagong on the night of September 24.
February 17, 1933
Surya Sen, the hero of the Chittagong Arsenal robbery, was captured in a village called Gerala, five miles from Patiya, by a conspiracy of a traitor, Netra Sen. At that time, the price on his head was ten thousand. However, Netra Sen was not able to get the reward money. Because, in the anger of a young man named Kiran Sen, his head was separated from his torso and rolled around in a plate of rice.
May 29, 1933
Two revolutionaries were killed in a clash with the military in the village of Gahira, and revolutionaries Tarbeshwar Dastidar and Kalpana Dutta were captured.
14 August 1933
The verdict in the Surya Sen and Chittagong Arsenal seizure case was announced. The next day, Anandabazar Patrika reported: "Today at 12 noon, the Special Tribunal delivered its verdict in the Chittagong Arsenal loot case. The Tribunal found Surya Sen guilty under Section 121 and sentenced him to death."
The revolutionaries could not accept this verdict. Secret discussions began. The day of Surya Sen's execution was fixed for the following year, i.e., January 12, 1934. The revolutionaries decided to avenge this verdict before Masterda's execution on January 12. Masterda should know the news of the avengement before the execution. But the revolutionaries could not come to a firm decision on how and where to take revenge.
But the revolutionaries did not have to wait long. At the beginning of the year, news came that on January 7, Europeans would play cricket at Paltan Maidan 10. The revolutionaries decided that they would take revenge on the 7th at Paltan Maidan. Four people were given the responsibility for this operation, Nityaranjan Sen 6, Himanshu Chakraborty 7, Krishna Chowdhury 8and Harendranath Chakraborty 9.
January 7, 1934
Nityaranjan Sen, Himanshu Chakraborty, Krishna Chowdhury and Harendranath Chakraborty reached the ground as ordinary spectators. Krishna and Harendra moved towards the officers' gallery from the north side of the ground. On the other hand, Nityaranjan and Himanshu moved from the south side. With their hand grenades and revolvers. After approaching the gallery, Krishna gestured, and immediately the four of them attacked together. The Paltan ground shook with the sound of bombs and gunfire and the sound of Vande Mataram.
Paltan Ground, Dhaka
The British were not prepared for such an attack in broad daylight. The attack killed the Superintendent of Police Mr. Peter Cleary 4 and injured many officers. Nityaranjan Sen and Himanshu Chakraborty were killed on the spot by the guards. Krishna Chowdhury and Harendranath Chakraborty were arrested while injured.
Krishna Chowdhury and Harendranath Chakraborty were brought to the Medinipur Central Jail. But this news was not published outside. They were sentenced to death in the trial. Krishna Chowdhury and Harendranath Chakraborty were hanged in the Medinipur Central Jail on 5 June 1934, 5 months after the Paltan Maidan incident.
I did not have much information about the family of Harendranath Chakraborty. Once I got in touch with Mr. Pankaj Chakraborty, the secretory of "Birkanya Pritilata Trust". Pankaj Babu came from Dhalghat, Patiya, Chittagong to visit Shaheed Bhoomi Medinipur. He returned to Bangladesh and sent information about the family of Harendranath Chakraborty at my request.
Shri Pankaj Chakraborty, sectory of "Virkanya Pritilata Trust" at the birthplace of Shaheed Khudiram.
Harendranath Chakraborty was born in 1916 in Bagdandi, Chittagong. His father's name was Kalikumar Chakraborty. He was associated with various responsible works as a member of the Chittagong Revolutionary Party. His great-grandfather was Kanuram Brahmachari and his paternal grandfather was Lokanath Nyayaratna. Harendranath was the youngest of Kalikumar Chakraborty's four sons. The first two sons, Yogendra and Satyendra, died in infancy. The descendants of the third son, Gyanendramohan, are currently in Bagdandi. I have prepared a genealogy of them and attached it to this article in the form of pictures.
Family Tree
In Midnapore, there are statues of many famous people and new statues are also being erected by various organizations. There are many people and organizations all over the country to erect statues of those famous people. But there is no one to erect statues of those who have sacrificed on the soil of Midnapore or have made Midnapore's name famous all over the world through their work? So what will the new generation learn? Where will they get the inspiration to do something for the country? If we cannot present regional history to the new generation, we will not progress but will move towards decline. Request to the people of Midnapore that the statues of Shaheed Harendranath Chakraborty and Shaheed Krishnakumar Chowdhury be erected in Midnapore city.
৩. ভারতের স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রাম, শ্রী স্বপন মুখোপাধ্যায়, পুনশ্চ, ১৯৬০, ১৭৬ পৃষ্টা।
৪. পুলিশ সুপার মিঃ পিটার ক্লিয়ারির নাম কিছু বইতে মিঃ ক্রলিয়ারী হিসেবে উল্লেখ রয়েছে।
৫. বিপ্লবী ত্রৈলোক্যনাথ চক্রবর্তীর লেখা "জেলে ত্রিশ বছর, পাক-ভারতের স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রাম" বইতে উল্লেখ করা হয়েছে যে কৃষ্ণ চৌধুরীর ফাঁসি বহরমপুর জেলে হয়েছে। কিন্তু এই তথ্য ঠিক নয়।
৬. নিত্যরঞ্জন সেন নামটি কিছু বইতে নিত্যগোপাল দেব, নিত্যগোপাল ভট্টাচার্য উল্লেখ রয়েছে।
৭. হিমাংশু চক্রবর্তী নামটি কিছু বইতে হিমাংশু ভট্টাচার্য, হিমাংশুবিমল চক্রবর্তী উল্লেখ রয়েছে।
৮. কৃষ্ণকুমার চৌধুরী নামটি কিছু বইতে কৃষ্ণ চৌধুরী, কৃষ্ণগোপাল চৌধুরী উল্লেখ রয়েছে।
৯. হরেন্দ্রনাথ চক্রবর্তী নামটি কিছু বইতে হরেন্দ্রনাথ ভট্টাচার্য উল্লেখ রয়েছে।
১০. ৭ জানুয়ারির ঘটনায় যে পল্টন ময়দানের কথা বিভিন্ন বইতে উল্লেখ করা হয়েছে সেই ময়দান সম্ভবত চট্টগ্রামে নয় কারণ চট্টগ্রামে ঐ নামে কোন ময়দান ছিলনা বা এখনো নেই। পল্টন ময়দান রয়েছে ঢাকায়। সম্ভবত চট্টগ্রামের অগ্নিগর্ভ পরিস্থিতি এড়িয়ে ঢাকার পল্টন ময়দানেই ক্রিকেট খেলার আয়োজন হয়েছিল।
