Jatindra Nath Das
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Jatindra Nath Das (also known as Jatin Das) (27 October 1904 – 13 September 1929) was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. The death of Jatin Das in Lahore jail after 63 days of hunger strike shocked the whole of India.Jatin Das is the only person to fast to death before indepedence ,Potti Sreeramulu fasted to death for a separate Andhra after independence.[1]
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[edit] Revolutionary activities
Jatindra Nath Das was born in Kolkata. He joined Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. Jatindra participated in Gandhi's Non-Cooperation movement in 1921.
In November 1925, while studying for a B.A. at Vidyasagar College in Kolkata, Jatindra Nath was arrested for his political activities and was imprisoned in Mymensingh Central Jail. Protesting against the ill treatment of political prisoners, he went on a hunger strike. After 20 days, when the Jail Superintendent apologised, Jatin gave up the fast. He was contacted by revolutionaries in other parts of India and agreed to participate in bomb-making for Bhagat Singh and comrades.
On 14 June 1929 he was arrested for terrorist activities and was imprisoned in Lahore jail to be tried under the supplementary Lahore Conspiracy Case.
[edit] The hunger strike
In the Lahore jail, Jatin Das started a hunger strike along with other prisoners, demanding jail reforms and rights of prisoners and undertrials. This memorable hunger strike started on 13 July 1929 and lasted 63 days.[2] The jail authority took many measures to feed Jatin, including attempts to feed forcefully.[3] However, Jatindra did not eat. He died, hunger strike unbroken, on 13 September.[4] As his body was carried from Lahore to Kolkata by train, thousands of people rushed to every station to pay their homage to the martyr. A two-mile long procession in Kolkata carried the coffin to the cremation ground.[5]
The hunger strike of Jatin Das in prison was one crucial moment in the resistance against illegal detentions. It highlighted cold-hearted brutality of British colonialism.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822565-1,00.html
- ^ Heroes of Anti Imperialist (British) Movement
- ^ Dr. Premdatta Verma, Punjab University Weekly Bulletin, 19 September 1964
- ^ Indian Post article
- ^ Gateway for India article
- ^ Durba Ghosh Britain’s Global War on Terrorism:containing political violence and insurgency in the interwar years, in Conference: How Empire Mattered: Imperial Structures and Globalization in the Era of British Imperialism, Berkeley, CA, April 4-5, 2003
[edit] External links
- Indian Post article
- The Pioneer article by Balbir Punj
- Bhagat Singh's letter to The Home Member, The Government of India
