Suniti Choudhury
Suniti Choudhury | |
---|---|
Born | 22 May 1917 |
Died | 12 January 1988 | (aged 70)
Known for | Assassinating a British magistrate at age 16 |
Movement | Indian independence movement |
Suniti Choudhury (22 May 1917 – 12 January 1988) was an
Early life
Suniti Chowdhury was born on 22 May 1917 in Comilla of Comilla District of Bengal (present Bangladesh) to Umacharan Choudhury and Surasundari Choudhury in Bengali Kayastha family.[6] She was a student of Nawab Faizunnessa Government Girls High School of Comilla.[7][8]
Revolutionary activities
Chowdhury was influenced by the revolutionary activities of
Assassination of Charles Stevens
On 14 December 1931, Chowdhury and
Trial and sentence
The girls were taken into custody and imprisoned in the local British jail.[2] In February 1932, Ghose and Chowdhury appeared in court in Calcutta. Being a minor, both of them were sentenced to jail for 10 years.[14] In an interview, they stated, "It is better to die than live in a horse's stable."[14][5]
She was held captive in Hijli Detention Camp as a "third class prisoner".[15] The effects of her activities were also faced by her family, with her father's government pension being stopped, and her two elder brothers being held in custody without trial. Her younger brother died from consumption, exacerbated by years of malnutrition.[7]
She was released with Santi Ghose in 1939, after having served seven years of her sentence, because of the amnesty negotiations between
Public and media response
Contemporary Western periodicals portrayed the assassination as a sign of "Indians' outrage against an ordinance by the Earl of Willingdon that suppressed the civil rights of Indians, including that of free speech."[2] Indian sources characterized the assassination as Ghose and Chowdbury's response to the "misbehaviors of the British district magistrates" who had abused their positions of power to rape Indian women.[2]
After the verdict was announced, a flyer was found by the intelligence branch of police in the Rajshahi district praising Ghose and Chowdbury as nationalist heroines. The poster read, "THOU ART FREEDOM'S NOW, AND FAME'S" and displayed photographs of the two girls alongside lines from Robert Burns' poem Scots Wha Hae:[5]
"Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!"
Later life and death
After her release, Chowdhury studied and passed M.B.B.S. and became a doctor. In 1947, Chowdhury married Trade Union Leader Pradyot Kumar Ghosh.[7]
Chowdhury died on 12 January 1988.[7]
References
- ^ Forbes, Geraldine Hancock (1997). Indian Women and the Freedom Movement: A Historian's Perspective. Research Centre for Women's Studies, S.N.D.T. Women's University.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-514890-9.
- ISBN 9780252072499.
- ISBN 978-81-85459-82-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0822353188.
- ^ a b "826. Sudhin Kumar (1918-1984), 827. Suniti Choudhury, Ghosh (1917-1988)". radhikaranjan.blogspot.in. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7955-135-6.
- ^ Trailokyanath Chakravarty, Jele Trish Bachhar: Pak-Bharater Swadhinata Sangram, ধ্রুপদ সাহিত্যাঙ্গন, ঢাকা, ঢাকা বইমেলা ২০০৪, পৃষ্ঠা ১৮২।
- ISBN 9789352061730.
- ISBN 9788176298438.
- ^ "Mysterious girls". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ "WOMEN KILL MAGISTRATE". Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954). 1931-12-17. p. 37. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ দেশের প্রথম মহিলা জেল এখন আই আই টি'র গুদামঘর!. Ganashakti/Bengali (in Bengali). Retrieved 2017-11-22.