Our Birthday wishes go to the address of the first lady Martyr of Bengal,who was a revolutionary nationalist leader/activist of Chittagong. She is none other than Preetilata Waddedar a leading member of Indian Republican Army(Chittagong Branch) led by the legendary Surjyo Sen aka Masterda.Preetilata was born in Chittagong on 5th May, 1911.By the beginning of the twentieth century a section of the Indian youth imbibed with patriotism and nationalism desired immediate action to liberate their Motherland India from the clutches of Imperialistic British oppression and plundering of wealth.By then,about 150 years of British occupancy(first by British East India Company and later under British crown) and consequent exploitation had reduced the Indian subcontinent from the wealthiest region of the world to a much poorer entity. Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries were the time when Europe prospered at the expense of the wealth sucked out of Asia,Africa and Latin America. England,France,Spain,Portugal,Denmark, Netherlands,Germany and even small European country like Belgium started competing with each other in acquiring colonies. Britain was the most successful amongst them and became the ruler of virtually half of the world including their prize possession of our subcontinent.
Nationalist movements cropped up by the end of the nineteenth century in many parts of the world including ours to get rid of the colonialist/imperialist exploitation. Desire to get Independence from the colonial forces was intense. India was no exception.By end eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Indian National Congress and Muslim League were formed as the two major political parties to negotiate the rights of the Indians with the British government. There of course were other minor players as well. Though these parties could muster the support of their countrymen for fighting the rulers,they could not achieve much success and total Independence was no where in the horizon. A section of the advance thinking youth were not happy with the situation. They wanted revolutionary action and rapid progress of the movement for freedom. Frustrated by the slow progress in decision making of the leading figures of Indian National Independence movement,they formed secret groups like Jugantor,Anushilan Samity,Indian Republican Army and many such splinter revolutionary secret groups parallel to the politics of Congress and Muslim League. This period is termed as the Agnijug(Fiery period) of Indian Independence Struggle. Our hero Masterda Surjyo Sen was the leader of one such group based in Chittagong. He was a firebrand leader who united a group of freedom loving young people of Chittagong to raise an armed struggle to unnerve and unsettle the British powers. He knew fully well that his group’s actions could not drive the British away from India. He still wanted to create an example and arouse patriotism of highest order amongst Indians. By scintillating success of inflicting physical damage to persons, properties and symbols of British colonialism he wanted to scare the Brits and prove to his countrymen that the foreign powers are not invincible. His group has to it’s credit the success of keeping Chittagong free of British rule for four days( by capturing the British armouries,disrupting train and telecommunication of Chittagong with rest of India and waging a battle at Jalalabad after declaring Chittagong free of British rule under their Supreme Commander Surjyo Sen). It was in April 1930. Before and after that,the group had successes in many other actions of attacking and killing/injuring particularly ill tempered,ferocious natured British officers and their local collaborators. They also attacked British treasuries to master funds for their actions. Before and after the Chittagong Youth Revolution(the armoury raids and battle of Jalalabad)their actions were based on hit and run guerrilla tactics. The Chittagong Youth Revolution,despite having casualties,could really ignite the fire of revolution and independence in the heart of Indians as a whole and Chittagong in particular. All the youth of Chittagong cherished the idea of becoming a revolutionary soldier of Master Da’s IRA. Females were no exceptions. They too dreamt of being taken into the ranks of Master Da’s revolutionary army. Here we come to the story of revered revolutionary soul Preetilata.
Preetilata Waddedar comes of a respectable Dasgupta family of Dengapara,a small village near famous Dhalghat under Patiya upazila of Chittagong. In her childhood she was brought up in her maternal place in Dhalghat Dastidar bari(house of Dastidars). This Dastidar bari also boasts of famous revolutionaries like,Ardhendu Dastidar(a Martyr of Jalalabad battle),Sukhendu Dastidar(participant of Jalalabad battle and underground Communist leader later) and Purnendu Dastidar (a member of Master Da’s army,Communist leader and writer in later life). Preetilata showed signs of merit in early childhood and was brought by her father to Chittagong town for studies. Jagatbandhu Waddedar was working in Chittagong Municipal office. His daughter being an intelligent one,he had no difficulty in getting her admitted to the best girl’s school in Chittagong,the Dr Khastagir’s Government Girl’s School. Besides achieving good grades in her class young Preetilata was particularly interested in History. Her history teacher’s lecture on Rani Lakshmibai ,a leader of Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 inspired hes so much that she and her classmate Kalpana(another famous Chittagong revolutionary girl Kalpana Dutta who later became a Communist leader Kalpana Dutta Joshi) wanted to go for supreme sacrifice for the freedom of Motherland. Only they did not know any avenue how to go about it. Preetilata passed her Mateiculation examination under the University of Calcutta in flying colours in 1928 and was admitted to Eden College in Dacca(now Dhaka). After doing her Higher Secondary (F A) from Eden she went to Calcutta Bethune College for higher studies. In Dhaka Preeti had some exposure to Nationalist movements while she joined Sree Sangha and Deepali Sangha led by another illuminated lady Leela Nag. While she was doing her Bachelor’s degree in Calcutta she developed liaison with some of the Chittagong revolutionaries. She was cherishing the idea of becoming one of them but was not yet accepted into their ranks. However she was trusted upon and was treated as an associate. She was entrusted with the responsibility of meeting some of the political prisoners jailed for revolutionary activities. At times,she carried explosives and ammunitions for the revolutionaries as well. In 1930 the Chittagong Youth Revolution was staged and after that she became restless to join Master Da’s party the soonest. But she had to wait for a green signal. When she passed her BA with distinction,she came back to her hometown Chittagong and joined the Aparna Charan Girl’s School as it’s Headmistress. Finally the signal came. A section of the revolutionary youth were not in favour of admitting females in their fighting ranks because ladies were not considered sturdy enough and fit for armed struggle. Still Master Da had the final call and in 1932 he gave a final nod to the inclusion of young girls in his team. Preetilata and Kalpana Dutta Joshi were amongst the first to jump into action. They recieved psychological,physical and arms training and were being made ready for combat. Meantime Master Da was planning an attack on the Pahartali European Club,a symbol of British supremacy over native Indians. No Indian was accepted as members of such Clubs and they were only allowed in for serving the Europeans as cleaners,waiters,cooks and doormen. To encourage the female folk Master Da decided that a lady revolutionary will lead the contingent. Kalpana Dutta was nabbed by the British police immediately before the planned attack. So,our Hero Preetilata was the natural choice. A team of 15 was selected out of which 8 were supposed to go for the attack on the Club house and the rest for support in the rear. The team set out on 24th September,the D day from a revolutionary hideout in Kattali. They reached the destination at Pahartali and when everyone took position,the commander Preetilata,dressed as a Sikh youth gave the go ahead signal. There were close to forty Europeans in the Club and a pandemonium ensued. The revolutionaries fired and charged explosives. A section of the Club was in smoke and fire. Screaming club goers ran hither and thither for safety. The attack was deemed as a success after it was understood that the Europeans were dead scared and casualty was inflicted. The authorities later released press note that there was one death and several injured. But independent sources put much higher figures. No real figure could ever be confirmed. However the revolutionaries were ordered by Preetilata to withdraw and retreat. It was at this moment that she was hit by a bullet from inside the club. It could be from a member’s personal revolver. Or it could be from a guard’s gun. She ordered her teammates to leave and disperse immediately. They insisted on carrying her back to safety. She decided that it could endanger the whole group. So,she issued her final orders for them to move on and she herself preferred to commit suicide by consuming potassium cyanide that she carried with her. This,she did,so as not to be arrested and tortured by the tyranny of British police. Not far from the Club house fell her sacred body which was discovered by the police the next morning.
It was a great loss for Master Da,the IRA(Chittagong Branch),for her family,for Chittagong and for the Nation. On the other hand it could stir the Nation and induced patriotism in the heart of millions of Indian youth,specially young ladies. Till today,we sing the praises to this brave heart. She became a modern version of Lakshmibai and till this date her story is passed on from generation to generation as an example of true selfless patriotism. Many a schools,university ladies hostels, roads and streets,social organisations and other facilities are named after her. Several films have also been made and released where her achievements are outlined together with those of other Chittagong revolutionaries. In Dhalghat,a Preetilata Complex stands high singing her glory. It imparts different types of training mainly to girls. These include singing,sewing,dancing,drama,drawing,karate,computers,etc.
Pahartali European Club that she attacked with her team was being used as an office of Bangladesh Railways until recently. Meantime,the Government of Bangladesh has declared that a Preetilata Museum will be organised in that premise. A signboard is in place there for a few years now. People want to see the Museum in operation soonest. This museum will teach our future generations history of sacrifice of their predecessor Freedom Fighters who fought against the British colonials and later the Pakistani neo colonials.
