Bharati Sen

What are your memories that your mother shared about her contribution to the Indian freedom movement?

How old were you when you heard her talking this way?

What prompted her to do such a thing?

Why were they not taken to the court?

Suniti Choudhury

It is said that she was held captive in the Hijli detention camp…

She was released in 1939 after the amnesty negotiations between Gandhiji and the government…

Once out of the prison, it must have been very challenging to rebuild her life. How did she accomplish that?

That’s a huge distance…

Why didn’t she join politics?

Why was that so?

Having seen many upheavals, did she ever say that this wasn’t the free India that she had fought for?

What do you remember about your interactions with Bina and Santi?

Is there anything that she insisted needs to be done for India now?

On December 14, 1931, two teenagers fired at Charles Geoffrey Buckland Stevens, a British bureaucrat and the district magistrate of Comilla . Stevens died on the spot and these two girls — Suniti Choudhury and Santi Ghose — were sentenced to life. In the history of India’s freedom movement, they were the only two women who had successfully assassinated a British bureaucrat. Suniti and Santi were both released from prison in 1939. On Republic Day , Bharati Sen, the daughter of Suniti, shares the extraordinary story of two ordinary teenagers who were grateful for having done their bit for the nation. Excerpts:I have to refer to my mother along with other women since they were very close to each other. These women never thought about their “contribution”. It was a job that needed to be done. They didn’t think it was a huge thing. Much later, when the head of the department of political science had asked my mother a similar question about her “contribution”, she had said: “I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve my country”.I can’t give a date. This sentiment was there all along. She would be called to hoist the flag on Republic Day or Independence Day. In my presence, one or two people have also asked her other kinds of questions. My mother was a doctor and she was asked: “You had killed a man. Do you have no regrets?” Her answer was at that point in time she had done was what was required. It was what the country had needed then. In Bengali, the words — “hotya” and “bodh” — have two different meanings. In Bengali, we say “asurake Maa Durga bodh koren”. We never say “asurake Maa Durga hotya koren”. My mother used to insist that she didn’t kill somebody. It wasn’t “hotya”. It was the need of the hour.It was the situation in the 30s. People were being killed right, left and centre. The Chittagong Uprising had already taken place. My mother didn’t do this as an impulsive act. It had been in planning for six-seven months. The plan was that they will take an application to the district magistrate asking for a swimming pool. They went with that application. The magistrate said they should go to the principal of Faizunnesa Girls’ School and seek her help. Both were students of that school. He took it inside to forward it. When he brought it out, they fired. These two girls were caught. They were tied and beaten up. After a few hours, they were taken straight to the jail.This was the first time two women had done something so drastic. In the history of Indian freedom movement, this was the only time women were successful in such attempts. All the other attempts by women, including that by Bina Das , were unsuccessful. Cops, I believe, were afraid that these two girls were part of a larger gang who would react to the arrest. That’s why they were directly taken to the jail.It was a life sentence and they were rotated in various prisons. She was a class three prisoner and was kept with the lowliest of the lowly prisoners. Some were petty criminals and did not come from the educated class to which she belonged. But my mother never put them down. There were many santhals in prison. She picked up many Santhal songs from them. Many potters were also behind bars. My mother learnt pottery from them. Later on, when we had Saraswati Puja at home, my mother made the idol. The women prisoners were allowed to keep their children along with them up to the age of five. My mother would teach them.Because of World War II, Gandhiji had said that all political prisoners — including those who were in detention — had to be released. It wasn’t that my mother alone was released.It was tough. Once she went to jail, her two elder brothers were also put behind bars. The pension drawn by my grandfather — who was working for the government —was stopped. There was no source of earning. My mother’s younger brother died of tuberculosis. In Kolkata, there was no place for my mother to stay. But she was determined to study and become a doctor. Kalyani Das, the elder sister of Bina Das, was running a destitute home in Tiljala. My mother stayed there. First, she had to clear her 10th examinations. She had gone to jail when she was promoted to Class IX. Because of World War II, there was a special examination held so that students could clear it and leave Kolkata during the bombing. This exam was held six months after my mother’s release. My mother passed in first division. Then, she got admitted in Asutosh College. She had to walk from Tiljala to Asutosh College to attend her classes.Yes. It was tough. In a destitute home, there was no one to offer guidance to a science student. My mejomama was friends with my father, Pradyot Kumar Ghosh. He wasn’t married to my mother then. My mejomama told my father about my mother. My father’s family had a big household with open doors. They were happy to welcome her. One of my aunts — who was a graduate — used to teach her English. My father used to teach her science and maths. She passed her exams. However, her results were not all that good. In between, her name was struck off from the rosters since she couldn’t pay her fees. Therefore, her attendance was falling short. She went and met Syama Prasad Mukherjee. Knowing her history, he condoned. She enrolled herself into a diploma course at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College. At that time, it was called Campbell Medical College. Once she completed her diploma, she did her MB. At that time, it wasn’t called MBBS.In 1952, both the Congress and Communist Party had offered her a ticket to contest. But she refused saying I am not a politician. She refused to accept the pension for freedom fighters by the government. My mother got a job in the Chandannagar Hospital. She worked there for a few years. When she joined, the service rules were according to the French government’s stipulation. Chandannagar was a French colony then. Later on, Chandannagar merged with West Bengal. So service rules of West Bengal were applied and she was transferred. She thought it was a punishment meted out to her.The nurses had a lot of problems which my father was voicing. He used to write their letters. My mother thought the transfer order was result of all this. She opposed the transfer and went to court. During Ajoy Mukherjee’s tenure, the government wanted to reinstate her. But she didn’t want that and took voluntary retirement. She started her own nursing home.I was in close touch with Bina Das, Santi Ghose and Ujjawala Rakshit Roy. They all asked if this is what they had fought for.Just after my mother and Santi had shot dead the magistrate, Bina mashi had told Kamala Dasgupta that she wanted a revolver. If such young girls could do such an act, she felt that she should also come forward. After the demise of her husband, Bina mashi left Kolkata without telling anybody. I am not exactly sure about how she died. Santi mashi had later joined the Congress party and served on the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. She wrote a book titled Arun Bahni. As for my conversations with Bina and Santi mashi, they didn’t really dwell on their firing stories. They were all devoted to their families.She used to say that this sort of system is will not help anybody. There has to be change in the system. Democracy doesn’t mean getting votes. It is about changing the system and working for the people who need to get benefited.