Rameshwar Banerjee

Rameshwar Banerjee
Born(1925-02-08)8 February 1925
Baghra, Bikrampur, Dhaka, Bengal Presidency, India
Died21 November 1945(1945-11-21) (aged 20)
Kolkata, Bengal Presidency, India
Known forRole in Indian Independence Movement

Rameshwar Banerjee (Bengali: রামেশ্বর বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়; 8 February 1925 – 21 November 1945) was a revolutionary and martyr of the Indian independence movement. He participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942.[1]

In November 1945, the trial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army began. Throughout India, widespread demonstrations were held. In Kolkata, students led the movement. On 21 November during the rally organized by the students against British rule and for release of the officers of Indian National Army, he was killed by police firing. Abdul Salam was also killed and more than 60 people were injured.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Picture of Rameshwar Banerjee in a local newspaper on 22 November 1945.

After his death, a two-mile-long procession was organized in the streets of Calcutta on 22 November.[9] At least 25,000 students marched, and the whole city was shut down by Hartal.[10] The students marching along gave the anti-colonial slogans of "Dilli chalo (March to Delhi), Lal-Kila tod do (Break down the Red Fort)", and then "Rameshwar Banerjee Zindabad".[11] Although initially they were denied to march through Dalhousie Square (the seat of power of the Bengal Government at that time), they were ultimately successful in parading through there. The colonial government's police had fired on the unarmed youths several times - 13 students were killed and at least 125 were injured. Among the killed was educationist Jyotirmayee Gangopadhyay.[10] From 21 to 23 November, at least 50 protesters were killed and more than 300 were injured from police brutality.[12]

The Bengali poet Nirendranath Chakravarty wrote a poem eulogizing Rameshwar.[13][14]

Birth

Rameshwar Banerjee was born in Baghra of Dhaka. His father's name is Shailendramohan Bandopadhyay.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sengupta, Subodh; Basu, Anjali (2002). Sansad Bangali Charitavidhan (Bengali). Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad. p. 671. ISBN 81-85626-65-0.
  2. ^ Bose, Pradip (1999). Subhas Bose and India Today: A New Tryst with Destiny ?. Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 9788176291798.
  3. ^ Mukerjee, Hiren (1982). Under Communismʼs Crimson Colours: Reflections on Marxism, India and the World Scene. Peopleʼs Publishing House.
  4. ^ Bhattacharya, Vivek Ranjan (1977). The Saga of Delhi. Metropolitan Book Company.
  5. ^ Division, India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Publications (1997). Freedom fighters remember. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. ISBN 9788123005751.
  6. ^ Bandyopādhyāẏa, Surabhi (1997). Jyoti Basu, the authorized biography. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780670875191.
  7. ^ Chattopadhyaya, Gautam (1997). Subhas Chandra Bose, the Indian leftists and communists. People's Pub. House.
  8. ^ "Police Fire on Calcutta Students". Hindustan Standard. 22 November 1945.
  9. ^ Majumdar, Sohini (2018). "A Different Calcutta: INA Trials and Hindu-Muslim Solidarity in 1945 and 1946". In Sarkar, Tanika; Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (eds.). Calcutta: The Stormy Decades. Routledge. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-1-315-09897-5.
  10. ^ a b "Police Fire on Unarmed Youths Several Times". Hindusthan Standard. 23 November 1945.
  11. ^ Mukerji, Bithika (2002). My Days with Sri Ma Anandamayi. Indica Books. ISBN 978-81-86569-27-6.
  12. ^ "Kolkatar hatyākāṇḍe āmrā mr̥ityukē jaẏa kariyachi (কলকাতার হত্যাকাণ্ডে আমরা মৃত্যুকে জয় করিয়াছি)". Janajuddha (জনযুদ্ধ). 23 November 1945.
  13. ^ Sānyāla, Āśisa (1989). Contribution of Bengali writers to national freedom movement. Model Pub. House.
  14. ^ Tripathi, Amales (1990). Svādhīnatā saṃgrāme Bhāratera Jātīẏa Kaṃgreśa, 1885-1947 (in Bengali). Ānanda Pābaliśārsa. ISBN 978-81-7066-237-2.