| Kalpana Datta কল্পনা দত্ত |
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|---|---|
| Kalpana Datta | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1913 Sripur, Chittagong District, Bengal Province, British India |
| Died | 8 February 1995 (aged 81) Calcutta, West Bengal, India |
| Nationality | Bengali, Indian |
| Political party | Indian Republican Army, Chittagong branch From 1940 onwards, Communist Party of India |
| Profession | Indian independence movement activist, Revolutionist |
Kalpana Datta (Bengali: কল্পনা দত্ত) (27 July 1913 – 8 February 1995) (later Kalpana Joshi) was an Indian independence movement activist and a member of the armed resistance movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930.[1] Later she joined the Communist Party of India and married Puran Chand Joshi, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of India in 1943.[2]
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Kalpana Datta was born at Sripur in Chittagong District of Bengal Province in India. After passing her matriculation examination in 1929 from Chittagong, she went to Calcutta and joined the Bethune College for graduation in Science. Soon, she joined the Chhatri Sangha (Women Students Association).[3]
The Chittagong armoury raid was carried out on 18 April 1930. Kalpana joined the "Indian Republican Army, Chittagong branch", the armed resistance group led by Surya Sen in May 1931. In September, 1931 Surya Sen entrusted her along with Pritilata Waddedar to attack the European Club in Chittagong. But a week before the attack, she was arrested while carrying out reconnaissance of the area. She went underground after release on bail. On 17 February 1933 the police encircled their hiding place and Surya Sen was arrested but Kalpana was able to escape. She was arrested on 19 May 1933.
In the second supplementary trial of Chittagong armoury raid case, Kalpana was sentenced to transportation for life. After her release in 1939, Kalpana graduated from the Calcutta University in 1940 and joined the Communist Party of India. In 1946, she contested in the elections for the Bengal Legislative Assembly as a Communist Party of India candidate from Chittagong but could not win. She died in Calcutta on 8 February 1995.
In 1943, she married Puran Chand Joshi. They had two sons: Chand and Suraj. Chand Joshi was a noted journalist, who worked for the Hindustan Times. He was also known for his work, Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality (1985). Chand's wife Manini (née Chatterjee) penned a book on the Chittagong armoury raid, titled, Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34.[4]
In 2010, Deepika Padukone starred as Kalpana Datta, in a Hindi movie, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, which dealt with the Chittagong armoury raid and its aftermath.