Badal Gupta
Born1912 (1912)
Bikrampur, Bengal, British India
Died8 December 1930 (aged 17–18)
Calcutta, Bengal, British India
Known forWriters' Building attack

Badal Gupta (Bengali: বাদল গুপ্ত Badol Gupto), real name Sudhir Gupta (1912 – 8 December 1930), was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Calcutta, along with Benoy Basu and Dinesh Gupta.

Early activities

Badal Gupta was born in the village Purba Shimulia (East Shimulia) in the Bikrampur region of Dhaka, now in Munshiganj District, Bangladesh.[1] Badal Gupta was also influenced by the revolutionary activities of his two paternal uncles Late Dharaninath Gupta and Nagendranath Gupta, who were involved in the Alipore Bomb Case and were imprisoned along with Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh. Badal Gupta joined the Bengal Volunteers in 1928.[2]

The battle at Writers' Building

Bengal Volunteers targeted Lt Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the oppression of the prisoners in the jails. The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata.

On 8 December 1930, Badal along with Dinesh Gupta and Benoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. Police in the building started firing at them in response. What ensued was a brief gunfight between the three young revolutionaries and the police. Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice, and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting.[3]

Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers. Badal died on the spot. He was only 18 years old during when this incident took place.[4]

Significance

Memory of martyrdom of Writers' attack

After independence, the Dalhousie Square was named B. B. D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.[5] In memory of their Writers' Building attack, a plate was engraved in the wall of Writers' Building, first floor.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Mohanta, Sambaru Chandra (2012). "Gupta, Badal". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  2. ↑ Mahotsav, Amrit. "Badal Gupta". Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Bengali movie '8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh' to have its TV premiere". The Times of India. 21 May 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Engineer, Rayomand (4 August 2018). "Benoy Badal Dinesh: The Story of Three Brave Boys Who Took The Battle to the British!". The Better India. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Bengali movie '8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh' to have its TV premiere". The Times of India. 21 May 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Pinaki1983 (3 March 2017), English: In memory of martyrdom of Benoy, Badal, Dinesh. Writers' Building, retrieved 9 December 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

    Bibliography

    • Hemendranath Dasgupta, Bharater Biplab Kahini, II & III, Calcutta, 1948;
    • Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, History of the Freedom Movement in India, III, Calcutta 1963;
    • Ganganarayan Chandra, Abismaraniya, Calcutta, 1966.
    • Aamar Mama Badal Gupta: A memoir by Biswanath Dasgupta 2020
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