Bela Mitra, née Bose (1920 – 31 July 1952) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

revolutionary involved with the Jhansi Rani Regiment, the Women's Regiment of the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA, sometimes Second INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Empire of Japan, Japanese-allied and -supported armed force constituted in Southeast Asia during World War II and led by Indian Nationalism#An ...

, and a social worker.

Family

Mitra was born as Amita or Bela Bose in Kolkata in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Her father was Suresh Chandra Bose. She was the niece of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

. She married freedom fighter

Haridas Mitra Haridas Mitra (24 February 1914 – 20 April 1992) was an Indian independence activist, politician, spy, trade unionist and educator. He was an organiser of the secret service of the Indian National Army during World War II and was sentenced to d ...

in 1936. Haridas later became the deputy Speaker of West Bengal Assembly. Their son

Amit Mitra Amit Mitra is an Indian economist and politician and the current Special Advisor to Chief Minister of West Bengal on Finance. Previously he was the Finance, Commerce & Industries Minister of the government of Indian state of West Bengal. He w ...

is an economist and present finance Minister of the State of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Activities

Mitra took active part in anti British movement since 1940 while Subhas Chandra Bose left Ramgarh Session of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. Her husband Haridas Mitra was a member of secret service team of

Azad Hind Fauj The Indian National Army (INA, sometimes Second INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Japanese-allied and -supported armed force constituted in Southeast Asia during World War II and led by Indian anti-colonial nationalist Subh ...

. Smt. Mitra joined in Indian National Army and worked in Jhansi Rani Brigade. She gave shelters to the revolutionaries came outside of India, operated transmitter of

Azad Hind Radio Azad Hind Radio () was a radio service that was started under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1942 to encourage Indians to fight against the British. Though initially based in Nazi Germany, its headquarters were shifted to Japanese occup ...

and sent information to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

since January to October in 1944. When her husband Haridas Mitra was arrested and sentenced to death on 21 June 1945, she went to

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, and prayed to

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

to pursue for her husband's acquittal to the British Government. Gandhi wrote letters to the then

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

Lord Wavell Field Marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World Wa ...

to commute the death sentence, and subsequently Haridas Mitra got released along with three other freedom fighters Jyotish Basu, Amar Singh Gill, and Pabitra Roy. In 1947 Smt. Mitra formed a social organisation, Jhansir Rani Relief Team. In 1950 she started worked in Abhaynagar near

Dankuni Dankuni is a city and a municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Positioned strategically near Kolkata, it has emerged as an import ...

for the development of refugees came from

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

Legacy

Smt Mitra died in 1952. Belanagar railway station in

Howrah district Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. It has thousands of years of rich heritage in the form of the great Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut. ...

on the Howrah-Bardhaman Chord line, is named after her in 1958. This was the first Railway station in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

named after any Indian woman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Bela 1920 births 1952 deaths Indian independence activists from Bengal Indian National Army personnel Indian women in World War II Indian revolutionaries People from Kolkata Social workers from West Bengal Women Indian independence activists