Badal Gupta ( bn, বাদল গুপ্ত ''Badol Gupto''), real name Sudhir Gupta (1912 – 8 December 1930), was an Indian revolutionary against

British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...

, who is noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the

Writers' Building The Writers' Buildings, often shortened to just Writers, is the official secretariat building of the state government of West Bengal in Kolkata, India. The 150-meter long building covers the entire northern stretch of the iconic Lal Dighi pond a ...

in the

Dalhousie square B. B. D. Bagh, formerly called Tank Square and then Dalhousie Square (1847 to 1856), is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the state government, as well as the central business district of Kolkata in ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, along with Benoy Basu and

Dinesh Gupta Dinesh Chandra Gupta ( bn, দিনেশ চন্দ্র গুপ্ত ''Dinesh Chôndro Gupto'') or Dinesh Gupta (6 December 1911 – 7 July 1931) was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an ...

Early activities

Badal Gupta was born in the village Purba Shimulia (East Shimulia) in the

Bikrampur Bikrampur ("City of Courage") was a pargana situated south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal ...

region of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

, now in

Munshiganj District Munshiganj ( bn, মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District. Geography Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

. 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. He had also known Kanailal Bhattacharjee, who too was a Bengal Volunteer.

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. 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

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. On 8 December 1930, Badal along with

and

Benoy Benoy is an international firm of architects, master planners, interior architects and graphic designers working from design studios in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The company is primarily known for its glob ...

, 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. Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal took

Potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications inc ...

, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own

revolvers A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ro ...

. Badal died on the spot. He was only 18 years old during when this incident took place.

Significance

After

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

, the Dalhousie Square was named B. B. D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio. In memory of their Writers' Building attack, a plate was engraved in the wall of Writers' Building, first floor. Memory of Binoy Badal Dinesh.jpg, Memory of Binoy Badal Dinesh

References

Bibliography

* Hemendranath Dasgupta, Bharater Biplab Kahini, II & III, Calcutta, 1948; *

Ramesh Chandra Majumdar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was a historian and professor of Indian history. Majumdar is a noted historian of modern India. He was a former Sheriff of Kolkata. Early life and educati ...

, History of the Freedom Movement in India, III, Calcutta 1963; * Ganganarayan Chandra, Abismaraniya, Calcutta, 1966. * Aamar Mama Badal Gupta: A memoir by Biswanath Dasgupta 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Badal 1912 births 1930 deaths Revolutionaries of Bengal during British Rule Anti-British establishment revolutionaries from East Bengal People from Munshiganj District Indian revolutionaries People from Kolkata Revolutionary movement for Indian independence People from Bikrampur Indian independence activists from West Bengal