| Basanta Kumar Biswas | |
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File photo of Basanta Kumar Biswas |
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| Born | February 6, 1895 Poragachha, Nadia District, West Bengal, India |
| Died | May 11, 1915 Ambala Central Jail - Punjab, India |
| Organization | Jugantar |
| Political movement | Indian Independence movement |
Basanta Kumar Biswas (6 February 1895 – 1915) was a pro-independence activist involved in the Jugantar group who, in December 1912, is believed to have bombed the Viceroy's Parade in what came to be known as the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy. He was initiated into revolutionary movement by Jugantar leaders Amarendranath Chattopadhyaya and Rash Behari Bose.
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On 23 December 1912, Biswas, disguised as a woman, threw a bomb at Lord Charles Hardinge in Delhi.[1] Police arrested him on 26 February 1914 in Porgachha, Nadia while he went to perform the last rites for his father. The trial, which came to be called the Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy Case, began on 23 May 1914 in Delhi and on 5 October, Basanta was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the Government was eager to have the death penalty imposed so an appeal was formulated at Lahore High Court and the records held at Ambala Central Jail were tampered with to show that Biswas was two years older than he really was to impute legal responsibility for his offence. The Crown won its appeal and Biswas was sentenced to be hanged.
Basanta Kumar Biswas was hanged on 11 May 1915 at Ambala Central Jail in Punjab aged twenty and became one of the youngest people to be executed during the Indian revolutionary struggles during the 20th century. There are four plaques to commemorate Biswas - one in front of Muragachha School, Nadia; the other next to the Rabindra Bhavan auditorium at Krishnanagar, the third at Madame Tetsu-cong-Hiochi's garden in Tokyo and the fourth one in front of the SUVENDU MEMORIAL TRUST, a full fledged eye care unit, meant for the poor under the patronage of Suvendu Memorial Trust at P.O & Vill- Gobrapota, Nadia, Pin-741188. Rashbehari Bose embedded the third one in memory of his young disciple.
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