Will prepare a thread about Haripada Bhattacharya, one of the bravest revolutionaries, who is known very little today, anywhere. He was a 14 year old boy of Chattogram who had shot dead a sadist police stooge of the Raj-Asanulla Khan
Asanulla Khan was known for brutally persecuting Indian freedom fighters, both violent and non-violent ones. The British decorated him with a title and moved him to Chattogram from Kumilla in the wake of the Armory Raid
Asanulla Khan launched a reign of terror on the Hindus of Chattogram that constituted the base of the revolutionaries. His assassination has been documented by none other than the assassin, Haripada, who had survived beyond 47, along with others of course.
Haripada Bhattacharya recalls, one day Asanulla picked him up randomly along with some other Hindu youth and thrashed and starved him for all day, to extract information about Surjo Sen. Affirming that he had no connection with Surjo didn’t bring any respite.
Another day while Asanulla driving by in Haripada’s neighborhood, he heard a young girl Parul sing Nazrul’s Durgam Giri Kantar Maru. He immediately entered their home, had his police thrash every one, men & women in Parul’s home, and beat up Parul to death. All for singing a song
One of the leaders of the Chattogram uprising, Ambika Chakraborty, had just been captured. He was then afflicted with tuberculosis and vomiting blood. That didn’t stop Asanulla from personally kicking Ambika with his boots on his face, head, chest.
After the assault, the sick Ambika asked for some water. Asanulla Khan immediately unzipped and urinated in Ambika’s mouth. This was the extent of his sadism.
There was public demand that Asanulla be punished. It was 1931. Masterda, Nirmal Sen and several other top Chattogram leadership were absconding. They planned the assassination of Asanulla from their shelters.
Haripada was sent to Chattogram town on a reconnaissance mission. He got back all the details about Asanulla’s daily routine. Asanulla was given heavy security at his home and in his car, he was inaccessible there.
Asanulla used to attend a football (soccer) match every afternoon whenever he was in Chattogram town. He also used to spend his nights with a prostitute in a market place whenever he was in town. The revolutionaries decided to target him in the football ground.
But, there would be a heavy cordon of army and police men around Asanulla Khan in the police ground. Masterda planned that Haripada would tail him, when he signaled a group of revolutionaries waiting for action would break the cordon by bombing, and another group would shoot him.
The revolutionaries went ready twice, just couldn’t succeed as one day the match was called off because of rain, another day it was inopportune to break the cordon. It was becoming dangerous to go with ammo more frequently as highest level vigilance existed in Chattogram then.
Haripada asked Masterda to assign him the responsibility alone. Masterda agreed but appointed his childhood friend to assist Haripada. The task was easier said than done though.
The road that one would have to walk to go to the football ground was heavily guarded by police and military Choukis at short distances. They body-searched all Hindu students and young men as a matter of course. Arms would be discovered during the searches.
Haripada went dressed as a country bumpkin. It was his lucky day. It was the day of the football finals. Asanulla’s team won. As soon as the Captain brought him the trophy. the elated Asanulla went outside the military cordon with the trophy, dancing.
Haripada had a very short time to act, while Asanulla was outside the cordon. But in that time, he pumped three bullets into the sadist stooge. That was the end of Asanulla Khan. Haripada was captured, brutally tortured, so were other Hindus of Chattogram. But they didn’t break
Source - Haripada Bhattacharya ‘s memoir in a book of essays and primary sources on Chattogram edited by Sharif Shamshir, Bangladeshi Communist. My homage to his scholarship too. Thread on aftermath of the assassination of Asanulla will continue, a bit later
