Suhasini Ganguly (3 February 1909 – 23 March 1965) was an Indian woman freedom fighter who participated 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 ...

Early life

Ganguly was born on 3 February 1909 in

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to Abinashchandra Ganguly and Sarala Sundara Devi. Their family was from

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 Es ...

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 passed matriculation in 1924 from Dhaka Eden School. While studying

Intermediate of Arts Intermediate Arts (IA) is an academic diploma awarded by a high school or junior college after the completion of 12th grade or equivalent in some countries like India and Nepal. However, as for Nepal, the usage of IA, ISc, and the like has become ...

, she got a teacher's job at a deaf and dumb school and went to

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

Revolutionary activities

Beginning

While staying in Kolkata, she got in touch with Kalyani Das and Kamala Dasgupta. They introduced her to the

Jugantar Party Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...

. She became a member of ''

Chhatri Sangha The Chhatri Sangha (Girls' Students' Association) was an Indian women's student organization. It recruited and trained women revolutionaries, organized study circles and gave lessons in cycling, driving and armed warfare. It functioned as the girls' ...

''. Under Kalyani Das and Kamala Dasgupta's management, Ganguly, on behalf of the Chhatri Sangha, taught swimming in Raja Srish Chandra Nandy's garden. There she became acquainted with the revolutionary Rashik Das in 1929. When the British government discovered her activities she took refuge in

Chandannagar Chandannagar french: Chandernagor ), also known by its former name Chandernagore and French name Chandernagor, is a city in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is headquarter of the Chandannagore subdivision and is ...

, which was a

French territory Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolon ...

Chittagong armoury raid

After the

Chittagong armoury raid The Chittagong armoury raid, also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Bangladesh) b ...

on 18 April 1930, at the instruction of the leaders of the Chhatri Sangha, Sashadhar Acharya and Ganguly in a disguise of husband and wife gave shelter in May 1930 to

Ananta Singh Ananta Lal Singh (1 December 1903 - 25 January 1979) was an Indian revolutionary, who participated in the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahit ...

Lokenath Bal Lokenath Bal ( bn, লোকনাথ বল) (8 March 1908 – 4 September 1964) was an Indian independence activist and a member of the armed resistance movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930.Chandra, ...

, Ananda Gupta,

Jiban Ghoshal Jiban Ghoshal alias Makhanlal (26 June 1912 — 1 September 1930) was an Indian independence activist and a member of the armed resistance movement led by ''Masterda'' Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930. Revolutiona ...

(Makhan) and others in

. On 1 September 1930, the British police raided their house and a skirmish followed. Jiban Ghoshal alias died in the gunfight and the other revolutionaries, including Smt. Ganguly were captured. But they were soon released.

Other activities

She was associated to

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 Ka ...

, who attempted to assassinate the Bengal Governor

Stanley Jackson Sir Francis Stanley Jackson Jackson's obituary in the 1948 ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. This gives his full name as ''Francis'' Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as ''Frank'' Stanley Jackson. This ...

in 1932. Under the Bengal Criminal Law Amendment (BCLA) Act, Ganguly was held captive in

Hijli Detention Camp Hijli Detention Camp (now called Shaheed Bhavan, IIT Kharagpur), is a former detention camp operated during the period of British colonial rule in India. Located in Hijli, beside Kharagpur, (a part of former Hijli Kingdom) in the district of M ...

from 1932 to 1938. and after her release, she participated in India's Communist movement. She was attached to the women's front of the Communist Part of India. Although she did not participate 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 ...

as the Communist Party of India did not participate, but she helped her Congress colleagues. She was again detained in jail between 1942 and 1945 as she gave shelter to Hemanta Tarafdar, an activist of the

. Ganguly was imprisoned for several months in 1948 and 1949 under the West Bengal Security Act of 1948 for her attachments to

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

Later life and death

Ganguly was involved in social struggle throughout her life. Due to a road accident in 1965, she was admitted to P. G. Hospital of

. But due to negligence, she became infected with

tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by '' Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usuall ...

and died on 23 March 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganguly, Suhasini 1909 births 1965 deaths People from Khulna Indian nationalists Indian revolutionaries 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Bengali activists Eden Mohila College alumni Indian independence activists from West Bengal