Rameshwar Banerjee ( bn, রামেশ্বর বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়; 8 February 1925 – 21 November 1945) was a

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

of 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 ...

. He participated in the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in 1942. In November 1945, the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

of a number of officers of the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

began. Throughout India, widespread demonstrations were held. In

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 ...

, students led the movement. On 21 November during the rally organized by the students against British rule and for release of the officers of

, he was killed by police firing. Abdul Salam was also killed and more than 60 people were injured. Rameshwar Banerjee Student Martyr

After his death, a two-mile-long procession was organized in the streets of Calcutta on 22 November. At least 25,000 students marched, and the whole city was shut down by

Hartal Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...

. The students marching along gave the anti-colonial slogans of "''Dilli chalo'' (March to Delhi), ''Lal-Kila tod do'' (Break down the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...

)", and then "''Rameshwar Banerjee Zindabad''". Although initially they were denied to march through

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 ...

(the seat of power of the Bengal Government at that time), they were ultimately successful in parading through there. The colonial government's police had fired on the unarmed youths several times - 13 students were killed and at least 125 were injured. Among the killed was educationist Jyotirmayee Gangopadhyay. From 21 to 23 November, at least 50 protesters were killed and more than 300 were injured from police brutality. The Bengali poet Nirendranath Chakravarty wrote a poem eulogizing Rameshwar.

Birth

Rameshwar Banerjee was born in Baghra of

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 ...

. His father's name is Shailendramohan Bandopadhyay.

References

{{Reflist 1925 births 1945 deaths Revolutionaries from British India Indian independence movement Indian independence activists Indian independence activists from Bengal