Pritilata Waddedar
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Pritilata Waddedar (Bangla: প্রীতিলতা ওয়াদ্দেদার) was an anti-British pro-India revolutionary in East Bengal, (then part of Province of Bengal in pre-independence India), now in Bangladesh.
Born in Chittagong in 1911, she was a meritorious student at the Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School of Chittagong and passed the matriculation examination in the first division in 1927. She continued her education in Eden College, Dhaka and in 1929, she passed the Intermediate examinations securing the first place among all the candidates from Dhaka Board. Two years later, Pritilata graduated in Philosophy with distinction from Bethune College of Kolkata.
In early 1930s, Pritilata joined Mastarda Surya Sen's armed resistance movement. In 1932, Surya Sen planned an attack on the Pahartali European Club, which bore the notorious sign 'Dogs and Indians not allowed'. He assigned Pritilata to lead a team that would attack the Club on September 23, 1932. Members of the team were instructed to carry potassium cyanide with them so that in case they were caught by police they could swallow it before the arrest. The raid was successful but Pritilata, dressed as a man was trapped without a way of escape on that fateful night. She committed suicide by swallowing the cyanide, thus ending her short endeavor in fighting for freedom of her country.
