The story of three young boys and the gun battle at the Writer’s building

Friday, December 12, 2008

8 Dec 1930. Calcutta Writer’s building, the administrative powerhouse of Bengal, was abuzz with daily activities. As usual there were a lot of people- British Officers, Gentry, Bengali gentlemen and clerks and the day looked like just any other day. One could hardly imagine on such an ordinary day that something extraordinary was just about to happen…

All of a sudden, the usually monotonous day was disturbed by mayhem. Three young men in their early twenties, dressed in smart European clothes, appear from nowhere and start firing a barrage of bullets from their revolvers. The target was Col. N.S Simpson, IG Prison-Calcutta, infamous for the brutal oppression of political prisoners. Col. Simpson died on spot and the three men were surrounded by British Indian Police. A brief gun battle, made famous as the ‘Gun battle in verandah’, ensued in which three police officers were injured. As the drama drew to a close and deeming it impossible to escape, one of the assailants Badal Gupta consumed Potassium Cyanide. The other two, Binoy Basu and Dinesh Gupta shot themselves. While Binoy died of the injuries after a few days, Dinesh survived only to be hanged later.

Binoy, the leader, was 22 years old; Dinesh was 20 while Badal had just turned 18. They were the members of ‘Bengal Volunteers’ an organization started by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose which aimed to “punish” the oppressive officers of the British regime in Bengal.

78 years later, looking at their innocent faces, my heart fills with wonder at the grit and determination of the generation for whom, one’s own life was the easiest thing to give away in order to attain freedom for Mother India. This post is my salute to the generation which was so precious and which is lost forever…



17 comments:

Rinzu said...

thanks...never knew this part of history...

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing it man. gweat read.

Scheherazade said...

Thanks for being a regular reader of my blog. I enjoy your comments.

Anonymous said...

interesting

Balvinder Balli said...

Hey, great blog and thanks for an insight into what B.B.D. stands for. In fact BBD Baug is the new name given to Dalhousey area around the Writers' Building.

Eternal Rebel said...

Yes Balvinder, B.B.D baug is nothing but Binoy Badal Dinesh Baug, a tribute to the three young guns of Indian revolutionary movement who remained unsung.

Indian Home Maker said...

Loved the line on your profile, "If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine."

I am a comrade of yours then :)

Balvinder Balli said...

I have put a link to this post in my blog post "B.B.D. Baugh at Calcutta" where i have posted the pictures of BBD Baugh with a small discription of the place.

Indyeah said...

thank you for sharing this ..and as IHM says...count me in as a comrade of yours...
''If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine."
words that each human being should live by..

Indyeah said...

got here through Balvinder Sir's link:)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this incident from the past. I love the line on your profile as well. "If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine."

Mampi said...

Came from Balvinder's.
Great information.
I am going to work on a project concerning 1857.
Perhaps you could suggest me some good links on that/

Eternal Rebel said...

Hi Mampi,
Thanks, I have replied back to you

Unknown said...

I some times wonder, what and how high the motivation can be where an 18 year old young doesn't care about his life. How strong could have been their will power?

Dr Debashis Deb said...

Hi, Eternal Rebel
I have written a novel on 1947 partition of India. Would you be interested to read the manuscript? You seem to to have read about armed struggle for Independence by Bengal Volunteers, a breakaway faction of Congress raised by Netaji Subhas Bose.
My e mail is drdebashisdeb@gmail.com.
I am a published writer, had won an award at TATA LITFEST 2016, Mumbai

SSam said...

Thank you for the great post. More and more people need to be aware of the great sacrifice made by our freedom fighters ..

here is a great book on Bagha Jatin .. another great freedom fighter that too many people do not know of

https://www.amazon.in/BAGHA-JATIN-Indian-Freedom-Fighters-ebook/dp/B07H74D7KR/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1537587225&sr=8-2&keywords=Bagha+Jatin

Unknown said...

Excellent!!