Suhasini Das
{{Short description|Bengali activist, social worker and politician}}
{{infobox person
| name = Suhasini Das
| image =
| birth_date = 1915
| birth_place = Jagannathpur, Sunamganj
| death_date = 30 May 2009
| death_place = Sylhet
| citizenship = Bangladesh
| occupation = Social worker, activist
| party = Indian National Congress
}}
Suhasini Das ({{Langx|bn|সুহাসিনী দাস}}; 1915 - 30 May 2009) was an anti-British activist, social worker and politician from Bangladesh. She was a member of the Indian National Congress and an important figure in East Bengal, before, during and after Partition.
Biography
Das was born in 1915 in Jagannathpur village in Sunamganj, Sylhet district, Assam Province.{{Cite book |last1=Bagchi |first1=Jasodhara |last2=Ghosh |first2=Subhasri |title=The trauma and the triumph : gender and partition in eastern India |year=2009 |location=Kolkata |publisher=Stree |pages=168 |isbn=978-81-85604-55-8}} Her parents were Parimohan and Shobha Roy; she had two younger brothers and two younger sisters.{{Cite news |script-title=bn:ব্রিটিশ বিরোধী আন্দোলনের নেত্রী সুহাসিনী দাস মারা গেছেন|url=https://bangla.bdnews24.com/bangladesh/article436027.bdnews|access-date=2020-08-02|work=bdnews24.com|language=bn}} She was married aged 18 to a businessman, Kumud Chandra Das, who owned the Kuti-Chand Press.
Career
She turned her house into a centre for thread-making and charkha. In order to fund this she used the wealth inherited after the death of her husband. The charkha became a symbol of Indian independence and on 20 January 1940, Das announced that she would only wear khaddar clothes for the rest of her life.
Das was a supporter of Gandhi.{{Cite journal|last=Hossain|first=Ashfaque|date=2013|title=The Making and Unmaking of Assam-Bengal Borders and the Sylhet Referendum*|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/making-and-unmaking-of-assambengal-borders-and-the-sylhet-referendum/A75509398FB7B75CF274CA11A399B581|journal=Modern Asian Studies|language=en|volume=47|issue=1|pages=250–287|doi=10.1017/S0026749X1200056X|s2cid=145546471|issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription}} In 1942, she joined the Quit India Movement, which was under Gandhi's leadership; Das was imprisoned alongside other members.{{Cite news |script-title=bn:সুহাসিনী দাস ও তাঁর 'দেশ বিভাগের ডায়েরি' {{!}} দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক ঈদ সংখ্যা |url=http://archive1.ittefaq.com.bd/print-edition/eid-magazine/2015/07/16/60928.html|access-date=2020-08-02|work=The Daily Ittefaq}} In 1943, Suhasini Das was released from jail.{{Cite web|title=Quit India Movement: Sylhet experience {{!}} Bangladesh on Record|url=https://bangladeshonrecord.com/collection/suhasini-das-quit-india-sylhet/#.YgDNb-pByUk|access-date=2022-02-07}} She was also a supporter of the Non-Cooperation Movement.{{Cite web|title=510 Suhasini Das, A partition diary|url=https://www.india-seminar.com/2002/510/510%20suhasini%20das.htm|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.india-seminar.com}} She later joined the Indian National Congress.
During Partition in 1947, Das travelled widely in the Sylhet area, encouraging Hindu people to stay at home and tried to calm their fears.{{Cite book|last=Khan |first=Yasmin |title=The great Partition : the making of India and Pakistan |year=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=146 |isbn=978-0-300-12078-3}} From 1946 to 1947, Das worked in a relief camp in Noakhali, one of seventeen set up by Leela Roy, following the riots which took place there.{{Cite journal|last=Ghosh|first=Biswaroop|title=Religion and Politics in Bengal: The Noakhali Carnage 1946-47|date=2011|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44146785|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=72|pages=944|jstor=44146785|issn=2249-1937}} Whilst working there she contracted smallpox, and was visited by Gandhi whilst recovering.
After Partition, Das was instrumental in establishing the Rangirkul Ashram, which she ultimately became leader of.
During the war for independence in 1971, it was Das' leadership which protected the ashram. After independence, Das left politics to concentrate on her social and religious work. However, in 1973, she still attended a conference of anti-British freedom fighters in Delhi, where she highlighted to role of people from East Bengal in the struggle.
In 1986, Das attended the World Hindu Congress in Nepal. Religious tolerance and understanding was very important to her and in 1990 worked to restore faith between Hindus and Muslims after attacks on mosques and temples.
= Awards =
= Death =
Das died on 30 May 2009 in Sylhet.{{Cite web|date=2011-06-23|script-title=bn:বিখ্যাত ব্যক্তিত্ব|url=http://www.dcsylhet.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=88|access-date=2020-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623052545/http://www.dcsylhet.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=88|archive-date=2011-06-23}}{{Cite web|script-title=bn:সুহাসিনী দাস - Golden Femina|url=http://www.goldenfeminabd.com/eminentPeople/55.html|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.goldenfeminabd.com}} She had fallen whilst taking a bath on 25 May and was admitted to hospital. At the news of her death, crowds gathered in a vigil outside the hospital.
Legacy
Das published her memoirs under the title Sekaler Sylhet (Sylhet during the British Raj: Memories of Suhasini Das) in 2005. These are a vital resource for understanding Partition in East Bengal, particularly from a female perspective.{{Cite book |last1=Baragohāñi |first1=Nirupamā |last2=Borgohain |first2=Pradipta |title=Abhiyatri = One life many rivers |year=1999 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |page=168 |isbn=81-260-0688-9}} These diaries recorded the rising dominance of the Muslim League and the pressures the Hindu minority felt.{{Cite web|date=2012-11-22|title=Recovering Sylhet|url=https://www.himalmag.com/recovering-sylhet/|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Himal Southasian|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|last=Dutta|first=Binayak|date=2016|title=In the Shadows of Violence: Migration, Perceptions of Security and Tales of Horror in Post-Partition North East India |url=https://www.asianconfluence.org/pdf/1500880192Binayak%20Dutta%20In%20The%20Shadows%20of%20Violence.pdf}} One of the halls at Sylhet Agricultural University is named after her.{{Cite web|title=SAU::Sylhet Agricultural University|url=http://www.sau.ac.bd/pages/view/235|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.sau.ac.bd}}
References
{{Feminism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Suhasini}}
Category:Bangladeshi women's rights activists
Category:Bangladeshi activists