Revolutionary Terrorism in Kolkata took shape in the first few decades of the twentieth century. The beginnings of revolutionary terrorism in Bengal can however be traced to the nineteenth century with the conception of 'Anusilan Samitis' formed for the moral, mental, and physical development of the youth.
The propagators of these Anusilan Samitis were Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Swami Vivekananda, and Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh. Numerous 'anusilan samitis' (youth associations) were formed in the urban and rural areas of the then Bengal comprising present day's West Bengal in India and Bangladesh. The youths trained up physically, mentally, and morally formed the revolutionaries.
Two such 'anusilan samitis' came into prominence in the beginning of the twentieth century. One was the Calcutta Anusilan Samiti established by Barrister Pramanath Mitra with the assistance of Jatindranath Banerjee and Barindra Kumar Ghosh, younger brother of Rishi Aurobindo in 1902. This association later became famous as the 'Jugantar' party. The second was the Dhaka Anusilan Samiti formed by Pulin Bihari Das with eighty young men in 1906. Initially these associations confined themselves to the moral, mental and physical development of its members. They trained with poles, wooden swords, daggers, and firearms like revolvers and pistols. Though the 'samitis' functioned independently, a local central committee led by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Pulin
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Bihari Das, and Pramathanath Mitra was formed to oversee and monitor their activities.
After the famous speech of Bipin Chandra Pal in Dhaka in 1905 against the partition of Bengal unrest spread amongst the members of these associations. In December 1907 on the 6th day, these revolutionaries tried blowing up a train, which was carrying the Lieutenant – Governor of Assam and East Bengal. In that same year on December 23rd they tried to assassinate the former Dhaka District Magistrate Mr. Allen.
The activities of the Revolutionary terrorists in Calcutta came to limelight when two innocent British ladies Mrs. and Miss Kennedy were mistakenly killed in Muzaffarpur in place of Calcutta Magistrate Douglas Kingsford. This 30th April 1908 incident led to the trial and hanging of Khudiram Bose, while Prafulla Chaki, another revolutionary, shot himself.
The most famous of all revolutionary terrorist activity in Bengal was the raid on Chittagong arms depot led by Surya Sen, famously called 'Masterda'. On 18th April 1930 Sutya Sen successfully raided the Chittagong arms depot and became a hero among all revolutionary terrorists. However, he was tried and hanged in 1934 on 12th January.
Revolutionary terrorism in Kolkata forms an inseparable part in India's struggle for freedom and is read and taught in schools and colleges.
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