Pritilata Waddedar: An Iconic Revolutionary Inspiration for Generation

Pritilata Waddedar, first female martyr of Bengal

Pritilata Waddedar was the first woman to sacrifice herself in the anti-British movement.  24th September is the day Pritilata sacrificed herself.  This year marks the 91st anniversary of that fateful day.  Pritilata was born on 5 May 1911 in Dhalghat village of Patia upazila of Chittagong district. Her father's name is Jagabandhu Waddedar.  He was the officer of the Chittagong Municipal Office. Her mother's name is Pratibha Waddedar. Pritilata was the second child among six siblings. Her family nickname was 'Rani' and her pseudonym was 'Fultar'.

In 1918, Pritilat's institutional education began. Her education started at Dr Khastagir Govt. Girls' High School in Chattogram. Her formal education started in class 3.  In 1926, she got a scholarship on the merit list. She passed Matriculation from Dr Khastagir Govt. Girls' High School in 1927 with letter marks.  After that, she was admitted to Eden Women's College for higher secondary education.  Pritilata passed IA from Dhaka University in 1929 by securing fifth place in the combined merit list and first place among girls.  Pritilata then enrolled in Bethune College, Calcutta as an undergraduate. She graduated in philosophy in 1932.  Returning to Chittagong in 1932, she joined Nandankanan Girls' High School (now known as Aparna Charan City Corporation Girls' High School) as headmistress.

Pritilata was the first woman revolutionary in the Swadeshi movement.  Master da Surya Sen was living incognito when Pritilata wanted to join the revolutionary party.  Pritilita had a great desire to meet with Master da Surya Sen. With Pretilita's keen interest and after many attempts, she met MasterDa Surya Sen in May 1932. Later, Master da Surya Sen, the commander-in-chief of the Swadeshi Movement, was pleased with Pretilita's sense of duty, bravery and firmness of character, and appointed her as the leader of the attack on the European Club at Pahartali.

The preparation of the team began.  In order to make the campaign successful, they were trained in weaponry.  Pritilata was the leader of this eight-member team.  Apart from her, the remaining seven members of this party are-- Kalikinkar Dey, Shanti Chakraborty, Bhireshwar Roy, Prafulla Das, Sushil Dey, Mahendra Chowdhury and Panna Sen.  

The campaign was launched on 23 September 1932 at 10 pm under the leadership of Pritilata.  This campaign of the revolutionaries of that day was successful.  As a rule, in any military formation, the leader will be the first to attack and the leader will be the last to return, allowing the comrades to move to safety on the way back.  Pritilata followed this rule properly. After the operation was successful, she signalled the members to go back by blowing a whistle. Pritilata was preparing to return later.  But at the last moment, Pritilata was shot by an English soldier who was hiding.  Meanwhile, all other members of the team managed to reach safety.

After ensuring the safety of all the team members, Pritilata chose to commit suicide by eating a 'potassium cyanide' pill so that the English soldiers could not take her alive. It should be noted here that earlier instructions were that under no circumstances should the enemy be captured alive.  In her wounded state, she committed suicide by cyanide in order to prevent the British imperialist forces from capturing her alive.  Pritilata proved that Master da Surya Sen's decision was absolutely correct, Pritilata was a worthy leader of this expedition. British police found Pritilal's body in the early hours of the following day on 24 September. They were puzzled to identify a woman as the attacker.

After 80 years, Calcutta University has awarded posthumous degrees to two of its former students, anti-British leader Pritilata Waddedar and Bina Das.  According to university sources, the posthumous degree was awarded to honour the revolutionaries.  The degree was conferred on 22 March 2012 at the convocation of Calcutta University.  The Chancellor of Calcutta University accepted the degree certificate on behalf of the State Government and handed it over to the university authority. This certificate is stored in the university.

Both Pritilata Waddedar and Bina Das were scheduled to receive their bachelor's degrees on February 6, 1932, at a convocation ceremony at Calcutta University.  But before that, Pritilata Waddedar looted the armoury of Chittagong and joined the fight against the British soldiers and later remained in hiding for a long time hiding from the police.  As a result, due to their involvement in the anti-British movement, none of these two graduates didn't take their certificates that day.

Later, the then Governor and Chancellor of the University, Stanley Jackson, who appeared at the convocation ceremony on February 6, 1932, gave certificates to the students. Suddenly, a 20-21-year-old young woman shot at Jackson. She wanted to avenge the killing of revolutionaries in Chittagong. The then Prime Minister and Vice-Chancellor of Bengal, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, jumped down from the stage and grabbed the young girl. She was still shooting. That young lady was revolutionary Bina Das. According to historical sources, Bina Das, convocation hall with a revolver hidden in her hair. Bina fired five consecutive shots at Jackson.  But Stanley Jackson was completely unharmed as all the shots missed the target and Bia Das was arrested on this spot because of trying to avenge the killing of the revolutionaries of Chittagong.

At Pahartali in Chittagong city, the then European Club is currently the office of the divisional engineer of the eastern region of Bangladesh Railway.  In front of this European Club, the 'Birkanya Pritilata' memorial sculpture has been installed. It was inaugurated on 2 October 2012.  But it is a matter of great regret that before the installation of the 'Birkanya Pritilata' memorial sculpture, there is nothing but a 'Memorial Plaque' given by the Pahartali Railway School Alumni Association at the office of the Divisional Engineer of Railway East and a memorial on the road island in front of the Pahartali Sub Post Office next to the European Club in memory of this heroine. However, there is a bust of Pritilata Waddedar at Dhalghat in Patia Upazila of Chittagong. Chittagong University and Jahangirnagar University have residential halls named after Pritilata.

Most of the children of this generation do not know the name of the revolutionary Pritilata!  One hears the name but knows nothing about her in detail. The more surprising fact is that she is almost unknown even to the people of her own district.  The saddest thing is that even the students of the schools and colleges where Pritilata studied are not well aware of Pritilata's heroism.

It's a shameful matter that the present generation doesn't know about Pritilata. It is ominous for the generation, for the country! This generation does not read books and gather knowledge.  So they do not know the glorious history of the country.  Even the names of these heroic revolutionaries are now unfamiliar to them.  They are forced to learn a little about history in hopes of getting good marks in exams, which they forget next year in the rush of new books and new reading.  However, there are still many who wish to learn about history out of personal desire.  Apart from academic studies, they engage themselves in reading books and knowledge gathering.  But that number is very insignificant.  The habit of reading books is decreasing day by day in our generation. We need to know the heroic history of all other revolutionaries including Pritilata.  And for that, we have to read, practice and research.

May a revolutionary patriot like Pritilata come back again and again. Heroic women like Pritilata are greatly needed in the crisis of the nation. Heroine Pritilita's courageous spirit, struggling life and patriotic spirit are the symbols of inspiration for the present generation.

Emran Emon is a researcher, journalist and columnist.