1:12 PM
 |
|
Jatindranath Mukherjee was one of the most valiant revolutionary philosophers and freedom fighters the British rule in India. His heroic struggle against the colonial rulers earned him the moniker Bagha Jatin (Tiger Jatin). Gandhi respectrd him as 'a divine personality' and a British officer called Sir Charles Tegart said, "If Jatin were an Englishman, the English people would have build his statue next to Nelson's at Trafalgar Sqaure." We remember the heroic sacrifice of this brave son of Bangladesh. Jatin was Born in a village in Kushtia district of Bangladesh (then East Bengal) in 1879. After passing the Entrance examination in 1895, Jatin joined the Calcutta Central Collage to study Fine Arts. Jatin used to visit Swami Vivekananda whose vision of politically independent India influenced him a lot. Fed up with the colonial education, Jatin left for Muzaffarpore in 1899, as secretary of barrister Pringle Kennedy. Jatin was one of the founders of the revolutionary group Anushilan Samiti. Jatin together with Barindra Ghosh, set up a bomb factory near Deoghar. After the partition of Bengal in 1905 Jatin issued several daring raids against British officials. Notable among them were India Bank robbery, an attempt to assassinate the Lt Governor of Bengal, assassinations of the prosecutor Ashutosh Biswas and the Deputy Superintendent of police, Samsul Alam and Haorah Shibpurgang case. Jatin established another revolutionary group called Jugantor to collaborate with the German army during the World War 1 to liberate India. They planned to organise an armed revolt all over India. This international network conceived by Jatin came to be known as the Hindu-German Conspiracy or Zimmerman Plan. The plot leaked out through Czech revolutionaries who revealed the plan to the US intelligence officers in 1915. As soon as the information reached the British authorities, the police started a combing operation to arrest Jatin. Being surrounded by police during a 75 minute long gunfight, Jatin was captured seriously wounded. Bagha Jatin died in Balasore hospital on September 10, 1915. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Jatin expressed his ideals in simple words. "We shall die to awaken the nation."
