Kalpana Datta (27 July 1913 – 8 February 1995), also Kalpana Joshi, was an

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

activist and a member of the armed independence movement led by

Surya Sen Surya Sen, also known as Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary and played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British rule. He is best known for leading the Chittagong Armoury ...

, which carried out the

Chittagong armoury raid The Chittagong Uprising termed by the British as Chittagong Armoury Raid, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury of Bengal Province in British India (now in Bangladesh) ...

in 1930. Later she joined the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

and married Puran Chand Joshi, the general secretary of the party in 1943.

Early life

Kalpana Datta (also commonly spelled Dutta) was born at Sripur, a village of

Chittagong District Chittagong District (), ( Chatgaiya: Sitang/Chatga), officially Chattogram District, is a district located in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. Due to its geographical location, Chittagong is classified as a s ...

in the Bengal Province of

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 ...

(Sripur is now located in

Boalkhali Upazila Boalkhali () is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Boalkhali is located at . It had 44108 households and its total area is 126.46 km2. According to the 2001 Bangladesh Census, there were 36,588 ...

in Bangladesh). Her father Binod Behari Dattagupta was a government employee. After passing her

matriculation examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a School leaving qualification, school leaving ce ...

in 1929 in Chittagong, she went to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and joined the

Bethune College Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879. ...

to study science. Soon, she joined the '' Chhatri Sangha'' (Women Students Association), a semi-revolutionary organization in which

Bina Das Bina Das (24 August 1911 – 1986) was an Indian revolutionary and nationalist from West Bengal. Biography Participation in India's freedom struggle Das was a member of '' Chhatri Sangha'', a semi-revolutionary organisation for women in Ko ...

and

Pritilata Waddedar Pritilata Waddedar (5 May 1911 – 24 September 1932) was a Bengalis, Bengali Revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary nationalist who was influential in the Indian independence movement, independence movement. After completing her education in ...

were also active members.

Armed independence movement

The Chittagong armoury raid was carried out on 18 April 1930. Kalpana joined the " Indian Republican Army, Chattagram branch," the armed resistance group led by Surya Sen, in May 1931. In September 1931 Surya Sen entrusted her along with

to attack the European Club in Chittagong. A week before the attack, she was arrested while carrying out reconnaissance of the area. She went into hiding after her release on bail. On 16 February 1933, the police encircled their hiding place in Gairala village. During this raid, Surya Sen was arrested but Kalpana managed to escape. To free Surya she tried to bomb the jail but failed. Kalpana was finally arrested on 19 May 1933. In the second supplementary trial of the Chittagong armoury raid case, Kalpana was sentenced to

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

for life. She was released in 1939.

Later life

Kalpana Datta graduated from the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1940 and joined the

. She served as a relief worker during the

1943 Bengal famine The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 800,000–3.8 million people died, in the Bengal region (present-day Ban ...

and during the Partition of Bengal. She wrote an autobiographical book in Bengali "চট্টগ্রাম অস্ত্রাগার আক্রমণকারীদের স্মৃতিকথা" which was translated into English by Arun Bose & Nikhil Chakraborty with a preface by her husband Com. P. C. Joshi, a communist leader, as "Chittagong Armoury Raiders: Reminiscences," published in English in October 1945. In 1946, she contested in the elections for the Bengal Legislative Assembly as a Communist Party of India candidate from Chittagong but could not win. Later, she joined the

Indian Statistical Institute The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a public research university headquartered in Kolkata, India with centers in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tezpur. It was declared an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India und ...

where she worked until her retirement. She died in

on 8 February 1995. Nikhil Chakravartty, Kalpana Dutt's obituary in Mainstream, 18 February 1995.

Personal life

In 1943, she married the then general secretary of the

, Puran Chand Joshi. They had two sons: Chand and Suraj. Chand Joshi (1946–2000) was a noted journalist, who worked for the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

''. He was also known for his work, ''Bhindranwale: Myth and Reality'' (1984). Chand's wife Manini (née Chatterjee) penned a book on the Chattagram armoury raid, titled'', ''Do and Die: The Chattagram Uprising 1930-34''.''

Artistic depictions

In 2010,

Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...

starred as Kalpana Datta and

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (; born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. From 2012 to 2016, Bachchan appeared in ...

starred as Surya Sen, in a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

movie, ''

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey ''Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey'' () is an Indian Hindi-language historical action-adventure film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and released on 3 December 2010. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Sikandar Kher, it was based on Mani ...

'', which dealt with the

and its aftermath. Another movie, ''

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

'', was released on 12 October 2012, based on the uprising. It was produced and directed by

Bedabrata Pain Bedabrata Pain (; born 27 March 1963) is an Indian scientist turned film director, producer and screenwriter. Bedabrata Pain was also a member of the team that invented the CMOS image sensor. Bedabrata Pain has also won National Film Award for ...

, an ex-NASA scientist.

References

External links

Women in India and Pakistan: The Struggle for Independence from British Rule (Part 3)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Datta, Kalpana 1913 births 1995 deaths Anti-British establishment revolutionaries from East Bengal People from Chittagong District Indian revolutionaries Communist Party of India politicians from West Bengal Bethune College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Women in West Bengal politics Women in war 1900–1945 Indian women in World War II 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Indian independence activists from Bengal Women Indian independence activists Female politicians of the Communist Party of India Female revolutionaries