100 years of martyrdom and no one bothers!

Do you know who is Khudiram Bose,or Prafulla Chaki? No this is not a lesson in history--but rather i prick close to our conscience to help us remember on the eve of the 15th of August that this independence we so much take for granted--was not something that was handed over  to us on a platter.

One of  the most enduring legends of the freedom struggle is that of an 18 year old boy climbing the gallows with a smile on his face even as his last cry of "Vande Mataram" resonated in the air. He is none other than Khudiram Bose.  This 11th of August was his 100th death anniversary--which passed us by without so much as a ripple. Incidentally recent insight into his case study shows that his lawyer Narendra Kumar Basu, a veteran lawyer of High Court then, had moved  a clemency petition before the British government,asking the government to spare his life in light of his tender age. It is not yet known that whether the petition was filed with or without the revolutionary's consent. The plea was rejected yet it did not put a dent on Khudirams courage.

Khudiram who joined the revolutionary group Yugantar at the young age of 16 was deeply shaken by the Partition of Bengal in1905, and was soon drawn to militant nationalism. He showed immense courage in the face of mortal danger and was chosen by the revolutionaries, along with Prafulla Chaki,for the job of assasining Magistrate Kingsford  in Muzaffarpur in1908, who was known for his brutalities towards freedom fighters. However on April 30 1908 the duo bombed  another coach by mistake, instead of Kingsfords, killing two innocent British women intead. Chaki was cornered at Samastipur station and shot himself dead, khudiram was arrested and put on trial.

Recent revelations by the West Bengal home-political department and the intelligence branch shows that on May 1st Khudiram accepted the murder charges in front of Muzaffarpur district magistrate,Woodman.  However documents reveal that a few days later at the Alipore Sessions Court the young revelotionary claimed that he was "convinced into committing the act" by Chaki. His layers mercy appeal of life imprisonment fell on deaf ears and Khudiram was sentensed to death by hanging.

Mystries however continue to linger. The clemency petition hinted that Khudiram had no links with any extrimists group and that the arms were given to him by Chaki. According to recent findings, after the appeal was rejected, Khudiram suddenly became very quite, so much so that when he was repeatedly asked by the jailor prior to the execution that wether he knew he would be hanged, he would just nod in the affirmative. However when asked if he was scared the revolutionary would nod vigorously to say no.

So lets not waste any more time, lets take a moment out of our busy schedule and salute 100years of  the death of four of our earliest revolutionaries--Khudiram Bose,Prafulla Chaki, Kanailal Dutta and Satyen Bose.