Ullaskar Dutta
Born(1885-04-16)16 April 1885
Kalikaccha, Bengal, British India (now Chittagong, Bangladesh)
Died17 May 1965(1965-05-17) (aged 80)
Calcutta, West Bengal, India
EducationPresidency University
OccupationIndian independence activist
Organisations
Known forFreedom Struggle
MovementIndian Independence movement

Ullaskar Dutta (16 April 1885 – 17 May 1965) was an Indian revolutionary associated with Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar of Bengal, and was a close associate of Barindra Ghosh. He was the principal bomb maker of the Jugantar group[1] until Hemchandra Kanungo returned from Paris learning political theory and explosive chemistry.

Early life

Ullaskar was born on 16 April 1885 to a Bengali Baidya family in the village of Kalikachha, Sarail, then located under the Brahmanbaria subdivision of the Bengal Province's Tipperah District (present-day Bangladesh).[2] His father Dwijadas Duttagupta was a member of the Brahmo Samaj and had a degree in agriculture from the University of London. After passing entrance examination in 1903, he took admission in the Presidency College, Kolkata and his passion was for the subject Chemistry. However, he was rusticated from the college for hitting a British professor, Professor Russell, who made some derogatory comment about Bengalis.

Revolutionary activities

Ullaskar was a member of the Jugantar party and he became expert in bomb-making. Khudiram Bose used a bomb manufactured by Ullaskar and Hem Chandra Das[3] in an attempt to murder the notorious magistrate, Kingsford. However, police caught many members of the Jugantar group including Ullaskar Dutta, Barindra Ghosh and Khudiram.

Trial and sentence

In the famous Alipore bomb case, Ullaskar was arrested on 2 May 1908 and he was sentenced to death by hanging in 1909. Later, on appeal, the verdict was reduced to transportation for life and he was deported to the Cellular Jail in Andaman.

Cellular jail

Ullaskar was subjected to brutal torture and repeated electrocution in the Cellular Jail and is said have lost his mental balance.[4] He was set free in 1920 and he returned to Kolkata.

Later life

Ullaskar was again arrested in 1931 and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. He returned to his home village Kalikachha when colonial rule ended in 1947. After a lonely life of 10 years, he returned to Kolkata in 1957. After returning to Kolkata he married his childhood friend Lila,[5] daughter of Bipin Chandra Pal at that time she was a physically challenged widow woman and went to Silchar, the district town of Cachar District of Assam and spent his later life there. He died on 17 May 1965 in Kolkata, West Bengal.[6] Recently, two roads in Kolkata and Silchar were named after him.

Works

  • Dvipantarer Katha (The Tale of Deportation)
  • Amar Karajiban (lit. 'My Prison Life') (translated into English as Twelve Years of Prison Life in 1924).

References

  1. ↑ Heehs, Peter (1993). The Bomb in Bengal: The Rise of Revolutionary Terrorism in India, 1900-1910. Oxford University Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-19-563350-4.
  2. ↑ Mukherjee, Soumyendra Nath (1977). Calcutta: Myths and History. Subarnarekha. ISBN 978-0-8364-0202-5. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Datta, Ullaskar – Banglapedia". Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Sanyal, Sanjeev (10 January 2023). Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-93-5629-595-7. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Sundari Mohan". Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  6. ↑ Official Report, Assam Legislative Assembly
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