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Remembering Batukeshwar Dutt: Unsung Indian socialist revolutionary and freedom fighter

Dutt along with Bhagat Singh threw bombs in the central assembly, to protest the Trade Disputes Bill and Public Safety Bill introduced by the British government to curtail working class politics in India.

By Newsd
Published on :
Remembering an unsung Indian socialist revolutionary and independence fighter: Batukeshwar Dutta

History often has the habit of relegating the number ‘2s’ to the margins, away from public memory. One such victim of history has been the HSRA revolutionary Batukeshwar Dutt, who is popularly known as the ‘associate’ of Bhagat Singh in the Assembly Bombing Case of 1929.

Dutt along with Bhagat Singh threw bombs in the central assembly (now parliament), to protest the Trade Disputes Bill and Public Safety Bill introduced by the British government to curtail working class politics in India. The Meerut Conspiracy Case, whereby three British communist activists were arrested along with 27 Indian trade union leaders, had alerted British authorities about the collaboration between Indian leaders who leaned towards socialism, and the Communist International.

The aforementioned bills were thus aimed at curtailing the activities of socialists and communists amongst the Indian working class.

He was also a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. Here are some lesser-known facts about the revolutionary:

  • Batukeshwar Dutt, born on November 18, 1910 in Oari village, Burdwan district, was the son of Goshtha Bihari Dutt. He graduated from PPN high school in Kanpur, and was also known as BK Dutt, Battu, and Mohan.
  • He was a close associate of freedom fighters such as Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh who taught him the art of bomb-making while working for the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
  • The British Government introduced the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill in the Central Legislative Assembly which gave them more power. To protest against the bill the revolutionaries planned an attack on the officials.
  • Batukeshwar Dutt was an Indian revolutionary who along with Bhagat Singh exploded a few bombs in Legislative Assembly.
  • He took part in the bomb explosion along with Bhagat Singh, in the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi on April 8, 1929.
  • During his jail term, Dutt and Bhagat Singh staged a hunger strike to protest against the abusive treatment of Indian political prisoners. They were successful in restoring fundamental rights of prisoners.
  • After his release from prison, he contracted tuberculosis. He nonetheless participated in the Quit India Movement of Mahatma Gandhi and was again jailed for four years.
  • Batukeshwar Dutt outlived all his comrades and died on 20 July 1965 in AIIMS in Delhi after a long illness.
  • The BK Dutt Colony in New Delhi, located in a prime location opposite Safdarjung Airport and adjacent to Jor Bagh, is named after Batukeshwar Dutt.

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