Pritilata Waddedar (5 May 1911 – 24 September 1932) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

revolutionary nationalist from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

who was influential in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. After completing her education in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

and

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, she attended

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. ...

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 ...

. She graduated in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

with distinction and became a school teacher. She is praised as "Bengal's first woman martyr". Pritilata joined a revolutionary group headed by

Surya Sen Surya Sen, also called Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary who was influential in the Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury ...

. She is known for leading fifteen revolutionaries in the 1932 armed attack on the Pahartali European Club, during which one person was killed and eleven injured. The revolutionaries torched the club and were later caught by the

colonial police Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

. To escape arrest, Pritilata committed suicide by

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

Early life

Pritilata was born in a middle-class Vaidya Brahmin family on 5 May 1911 in Dhalghat village in Patiya ''upazila'' of

(now in Bangladesh). ''Waddedar'' was a title conferred to an ancestor of the family who originally had the surname Dasgupta. Her father Jagabandhu Waddedar was a clerk in the Chittagong Municipality. Her mother Pratibhamayi Devi was a housewife. The couple had six children – Madhusduan, Pritilata, Kanaklata, Shantilata, Ashalata and Santosh. Pritilata was nicknamed Rani. Jagabandhu tried to arrange the best possible education for their children. He got Pritilata admitted in Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School of Chittagong. Pritilata was a meritorious student. A teacher in the school, whom students affectionately used called ''Usha Di'', used stories of

Rani Lakshmibai Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi (; 19 November 1828 — 18 June 1858),Though the day of the month is regarded as certain historians disagree about the year: among those suggested are 1827 and 1835. was an Indian queen, the Maharani consort of ...

to inspire nationalism in her students.

Kalpana Datta Kalpana Datta (27 July 1913 – 8 February 1995), also Kalpana Joshi, was an Indian independence movement activist and a member of the armed independence movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930. Later sh ...

, a classmate of Pritilata, writes in the biography ''Chittagong Armoury Raiders''– "We had no clear idea in our school days about our future. Then the Rani of Jhansi fired our imagination with her example. Sometimes we used to think of ourselves as fearless...". Arts and literature were Pritilata's favourite subjects. She passed out of Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' School in 1928 and in 1929, got admitted to the Eden College,

. In the Intermediate examinations, she stood first among all students who appeared in that year's examination from the Dhaka Board. As a student in Eden College, she participated in various social activities. She joined the group ''Sree Sangha'', headed by

Leela Nag Leela Roy (2 October 1900 – 11 June 1970), was a radical leftist Indian woman politician and reformer, and a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. She was born in Goalpara, Assam to Girish Chandra Naag, who was a deputy magistrate, ...

, under the banner ''Deepali Sangha'' (''Dipali Sangha)''.

In Calcutta

To pursue higher education, Pritilata went to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and got admitted to the

. Two years later, she graduated in philosophy from the college with a distinction. However, her degree was withheld by the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

administration. In 2012, she (and

Bina Das Bina Das (24 August 1911—1986) was an Indian revolutionary and nationalist from West Bengal. Biography Early life and education Das was the daughter of a Brahmo teacher, Beni Madhab Das and a social worker, Sarala Devi. Her elder sister K ...

) were conferred their certificates of merit posthumously.

As a school teacher

After completing her education in Calcutta, Pritilata returned to Chittagong. In Chittagong, she took up the job of headmistress at a local English medium secondary school called Nandankanan Aparnacharan School.

Revolutionary activities

Joining Surjo Sen's revolutionary group

Pritilata decided to join the Indian independence movement. Surjo Sen had heard about her and wanted her to join their revolutionary group. On 13 June 1932, Pritilata met Surjo Sen and Nirmal Sen in their Dhalghat camp. A contemporary revolutionary,

Binod Bihari Chowdhury Binod Bihari Chowdhury ( bn, বিনোদ বিহারী চৌধুরী; 10 January 1911 – 10 April 2013) was a Bangladeshi social worker and an anti-colonial revolutionary. He was influential in the Indian independence movement and ...

, objected that they did not allow women to join their group. However, Pritalata was allowed to join the group because the revolutionaries reasoned that women transporting weapons would not attract as much suspicious as men.

Inspiration from Ramkrishna Biswas

Surjo Sen and his revolutionary group decided to kill Mr. Craig, Inspector General of Chittagong.

Ramakrishna Biswas Ramkrishna Biswas (16 January 1910 – 4 August 1931) was an Indian revolutionary and martyr. He was an active member of Surya Sen's revolutionary group. Early life Biswas was born in Saroatali, Chittagong in British India. His father's name w ...

and Kalipada Chakravarty were assigned for this task. But they mistakenly killed SP of Chandpur and Tarini Mukherjee instead of Craig. Ramakrishna Biswas and Kalipada Chakravarty were arrested on 2 December 1930. After the trial Biswas was ordered to be hanged until death and Chakravarty to be

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

d to

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...

. The family and friends lacked the amount of money required to travel to Chittagong to Alipore Jail of Calcutta. Since at that time Pritilata was staying in Kolkata, she was asked to go to

Alipore Jail The Alipore Jail or Alipore Central Jail, also known as Presidency Correctional Home, is a prison in Alipore, Kolkata, where political prisoners were kept under British rule, among them Subhas Chandra Bose. It also housed the Alipore Jail Press ...

and meet Ramkrishna Biswas.

Activities in Surjo Sen's group

Along with the revolutionary group of Surjo Sen, Pritilata took part in many raids like attacks on the Telephone & Telegraph offices and the capture of the reserve police line. In the Jalalabad battle, she took the responsibility to supply explosives to the revolutionaries.

Pahartali European Club attack (1932)

In 1932, Surjo Sen planned to attack the Pahartali European Club which had a signboard that read "Dogs and Indians not allowed". Surjo Sen decided to appoint a woman leader for this mission. Kalpana Datta was arrested seven days before the event. Because of this, Pritilata was assigned the leadership of the attack. Pritilata went to Kotowali Sea Side for arms training and made the plan of their attack there. They decided to attack the club on 24 September 1932. The members of the group were given

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 includ ...

and were told to swallow it if they were caught. On the day of the attack, Pritilata dressed herself as a

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

male. Her associates Kalishankar Dey, Bireshwar Roy, Prafulla Das, Shanti Chakraborty wore ''

dhoti The dhoti, also known as veshti, vetti, dhuti, mardani, chaadra, dhotar, jaiñboh, panchey, is a type of sarong, tied in a manner that outwardly resembles "loose trousers". It is a lower garment forming part of the ethnic costume for men in the I ...

'' and shirt. Mahendra Chowdhury, Sushil Dey and Panna Sen wore ''

lungi The lungi is a type of sarong that originated in the Indian Subcontinent. The Lungi, which usually multicoloured, is a men's skirt usually tied around the lower waist below the navel. it can be worn as casual wear and night wear, in places an ...

'' and shirt. They reached the club at around 10:45 PM and launched their attack. There were around 40 people inside the club then. The revolutionaries divided themselves into three separate groups for the attack; the building was set alight before they started shooting into it. In the club, a few police officers who had revolvers started shooting. Pritilata incurred a single bullet wound. According to the police report, in this attack, one woman with a surname of Sullivan died and four men and seven women were injured. Sahid Srimati Pritilata Waddedar

Death

An injured Pritilata was trapped by the

. She swallowed cyanide to avoid getting arrested. The next day, the police found her body and identified her. On searching her dead body, the police found a few leaflets, photograph of Ramkrishna Biswas, bullets, whistle and the draft of their plan of attack. During the

post-mortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...

it was found that the bullet injury was not very serious and that cyanide poisoning was the cause of her death. The chief secretary of Bengal sent a report to British authorities in London. In the report it was written that Pritilata:

Influence

Bangladeshi writer

Selina Hossain Selina Hossain (born 14 June 1947) is a Bangladeshi novelist and the current president of Bangla Academy since February 2022. Her major works include ''Hangor Nodi Grenade'' (1976) and ''Poka Makorer Ghor Boshoti'' (1996). She earned all major nat ...

calls Pritilata an ideal for every woman. A trust named ''Birkannya Pritilata Trust'' (''Brave lady Pritilata Trust'') has been founded in her memory. Pritilata's birthday is celebrated by the trust in different places of Bangladesh and India every year. The trust considers her to be "a beacon of light for women". The last end of Sahid Abdus Sabur Road to Mukunda Ram Hat of Boalkhali upazila in Chittagong has been named as Pritilata Waddedar Road. In 2012, a bronze sculpture of Pritilata Waddedar was erected in front of the Pahartali Railway School, adjacent to the historical European Club. Waddedar's great-grandniece is British journalist and activist,

Ash Sarkar Ashna Sarkar (born 1992) is a British journalist and libertarian communist political activist. She is a senior editor at Novara Media and teaches at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Sarkar is a contributor to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Ind ...

Legacy

* Pritilata Waddedar Mahavidyalaya, a degree college at Panikhali in

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...

. * Pritilata Shaheed Minar * Pritilata Hall,

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, caṭṭagram bishwabidyalay) is a public research university with multidisciplinary faculties situated across a 1754-acres hilly landmas ...

* Pritilata Hall,

Jahangirnagar University Jahangirnagar University ( JU) is a publicly funded university located in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the only fully residential university in Bangladesh. It operated as a project until 1973, when the 'Jahangirnagar Muslim University Act' w ...

* Pritilata Waddedar Primary School, Chittagong * Pritilata Chhatrinivas, a girl's hostel of

Kalyani Government Engineering College Kalyani Government Engineering College (KGEC), Kalyani, West Bengal, India offers undergraduate (B.Tech.) and postgraduate (M.Tech., M.C.A.) engineering degree courses affiliated to the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology(MAKAUT) ...

, Nadia, West Bengal * Khantura Pritilata Shiksha Niketan (Boys' (H.S.), Girls' (H.S.) and Primary section), three schools, Gobardanga, West Bengal, India * Pritilata Waddedar hall of residence (girls hostel) in

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur National Institute of Technology Durgapur (also known as NIT Durgapur or NITDGP), formerly known as Regional Engineering College, Durgapur (also known as REC Durgapur or RECDGP), is a public technical university in the city of Durgapur in We ...

, West Bengal, India

In popular media

* 2010 Bollywood 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 Manini ...

'' was based on Chittagong Uprising where

Vishakha Singh Vishakha Singh is an Indian actress, producer and entrepreneur who is best known for her role as Neetu Singh, Zafar's girlfriend, in Fukrey Series. She appeared in many South Indian language films before starring in Bollywood projects with ...

played the character of Pritilata. * In 2012, the Hindi film

was released based on the uprising.

Vega Tamotia Vega Tamotia (born 7 May 1985 in Chhattisgarh, India) is an Indian actress and producer, who has appeared in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is probably best known for her performances as Saroja in the film of the same name, and Sobikannu i ...

played the role of Waddedar. * In 2018,

Kiran Sonia Sawar Kiran Sonia Sawar is a Scottish actress best known for her role in the one-off drama ''Murdered by My Father''. In 2017, Sawar appeared in "Crocodile", an episode of the fourth season of anthology series ''Black Mirror''. Early life Sawar is of ...

delivered a monologue Waddedar in 'Pritilata', a short film in the BBC series " Snatches: Moment's From Women's Lives" to mark the hundredth anniversary of women's suffrage and as part of the 'Hear Her' season. The film was written by

Tanika Gupta Tanika Gupta (born 1 December 1963) is a British playwright. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television, film and radio plays. Early life Tanika Gupta was born in London to immigrant parents from Kolkata, ...

* A Bangladeshi film is in production starring

Pori Moni Shamsunnahar Smrity (born 24 October 1992), known by her stage name Pori Moni, is a Bangladeshi film actress. Her notable works includes ''Aro Bhalobashbo Tomay'', ''Rokto'', and '' Swapnajaal''. She was listed in Forbes Asia’s "100 Digital St ...

Gallery

File:Pritilata.jpg, Statue at Maidan,

File:Bust of Pritilata Waddedar.JPG, Bust of Pritilata File:Pritilata Shohid Minar.jpg, Pritilata Shohid Minar File:Pritilata Hall at University of Chittagong (04).jpg, Pritilata Hall,

File:Pritilata-hallju.jpg, Pritilata Hall,