Badal Gupta
{{short description|Indian revolutionary Hero (1912–1930)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Badal Gupta
| image = Freedom fighter Badal Gupta (Sudhir Gupta).tif
| image_size =
| birth_name = Sudhir Gupta
| birth_date = {{birth date text|1912}}
| birth_place = Bikrampur, Bengal, British India
| death_date = 8 December {{death year and age|1930|1912}}
| death_place = Writers' Building, Calcutta, Bengal, British India
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| known_for = Writers' Building attack
| mother = Amala Sundari devi
| father = Abani Kanta Gupta
| relatives =
}}
{{Benoy Badal Dinesh}}
Badal Gupta ({{langx|bn|বাদল গুপ্ত}}; born Sudhir Gupta; 1912 – 8 December 1930) was an Indian revolutionary and anti-colonial figure. He is best known for his participation in the attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Calcutta, along with Benoy Basu and Dinesh Gupta, in December 1930.
Early activities
Badal Gupta was born in the village Purba Shimulia (East Shimulia) in the Bikrampur region of Dhaka, now in Munshiganj District, Bangladesh.{{cite book |last=Mohanta |first=Sambaru Chandra |year=2012 |chapter=Gupta, Badal |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Gupta,_Badal |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Mahotsav |first=Amrit |title=Badal Gupta |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?23484 |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India |language=English}}
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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} 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.{{Citation needed|date= February 2022}}
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.{{Cite news |date=2022-05-21 |title=Bengali movie '8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh' to have its TV premiere |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/bengali/bengali-movie-8/12-binay-badal-dinesh-to-have-its-tv-premiere/articleshow/91705581.cms |access-date=2023-12-09 |issn=0971-8257}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Engineer |first=Rayomand |date=2018-08-04 |title=Benoy Badal Dinesh: The Story of Three Brave Boys Who Took The Battle to the British! |url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/154654/benoy-badal-dinesh-writers-building-kolkata-news/ |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=The Better India |language=en-US}}
Significance
After independence, the Dalhousie Square was named B. B. D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.{{Cite news |date=2022-05-21 |title=Bengali movie '8/12 Binay Badal Dinesh' to have its TV premiere |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/bengali/bengali-movie-8/12-binay-badal-dinesh-to-have-its-tv-premiere/articleshow/91705581.cms |access-date=2023-12-09 |issn=0971-8257}} In memory of their Writers' Building attack, a plate was engraved in the wall of the Writers' Building, on the first floor.{{cite sign |date=1980-12-08 |script-title= bn:৮ ই ডিসেম্বর, ১৯৩০ মৃত্যুঞ্জয়ী শহীদ |trans-title=8 December 1930 Martyred |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memory_of_martyrdom.jpg |type=Plaque on first floor |location=Writers' Building, Calcutta |publisher=Ministery of Works |access-date =2023-12-09}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Dasgupta |first=Hemendranath |title=Bharater Biplab Kahini |year=1948 |volume=II & III |location=Calcutta |publisher=Bhārata Buka Ejensi |oclc=498790225}}
- {{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. |author-link=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar |title=History of the Freedom Movement in India |year=1971 |orig-year=First published 1963 |edition=2nd |volume=III |location=Calcutta |publisher=Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay |oclc=2188820}}
- {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Ganganarayan |title=Abismaraniya |year=1966 |language=bn |oclc=20102051}}
- Aamar Mama Badal Gupta: A memoir by Biswanath Dasgupta 2020
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Badal}}
Category:Revolutionaries of Bengal during British Rule
Category:Anti-British establishment revolutionaries from East Bengal
Category:People from Bikrampur
Category:People from Munshiganj District
Category:Indian revolutionaries