Essays

A lot of blood was sacrificed from the heart of Bengal to make India free. Mothers lost their children and wive their husbands. But none had wept because the stake was too high the chances too great and the ultimate result too fabulous to dream. At his tender youth, when Khudi Ram Bose became a martyr everybody wept silently but were inspired by his courage and took up arms for a battle against all odds.

 Khudi Ram Bose was bom on 3rd Dec 1889 in Habibpur of Medinipur to Laxmipriya Devi and Trilokyanath Bose. He had to move on lo Tam look where he was admitted to Hamilton School. Like any other boy. he was interested in reading detective novels and loved to play flute. It was his schooldays when he was inspired by the activists. Satyedra nath and Gyanendranath Bose who headed a secret society to campaign and fight against British supremacy. He played the role of a savior when Kangsabati flooded and was responsible for saving a number of lives. In 16lh Oct. 1905 Bengal was divided by Lord Curzon and this further infuriated the activists. The radicals swore blood. Aurobindo Ghosh and Barin Ghosh, along with Raja Subodh Mallik together formed a secret extremist outfit called the Yugantar.

Meanwhile, in 1906, February, Khudi Ram Bose was running errands for the Medinipur based outfit of the extremists. He came to be known in those parts after hitting down a police officer and escaping after being arrested at the grounds of Medinipur old jail for distributing a nationalist propaganda called 'Sonar Bangia'. He also robbed mallbags to accumulate funds for the society's operations.

By that time, in Calcutta, the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford had 1,'ained notoriety by passing out stiff sentences against the nationalist activists. Things yet worse when he ordered to cane a youth called Sushil Sen held in contempt of the court. Sushil was left more dead than alive and this incident caused furors throughout Bengal. The Yugantar passed Kingsford's death sentence and Khudi Ram Bose and another youth, Prafulla Chaki was chosen for the job.

Khudi Ram Bose and Prafulla trailed Kingsford to Mujafferpur in Bihar where he had been transferred. They waited for his carriage near the European Club which he frequented. This was the fateful evening of 30th April. 1908. 7'liey saw a carriage approaching and thinking it of Kingsford's and hurled bombs at it. The carriage with Ks passengers was destroyed but it was not Kingsford who was killed but two European women, Mrs. and Miss Kennedy. A massive manhunt followed and while Khudi Ram Bose was arrested on 1st May 1908, Prafulla evaded arrest by shooting himself. Khudi Ram Bose was tried and was sentenced to be a need to death. On 11th August 1908, Khudi Ram Bose went to the gallows in a calm manner. He faced death like a true martyr. Khudi Ram Bose was just 18 years of age when he sacrificed himself on the altar of the Mother India. He became immortal in the annals of the Indian History.

Vocabulary

1. martyr—paragon, salt of the earth, godly person. 2. savior—deliverer, rescuer, preserver. 3. infuriated—furious, enraged, incensed. 4. errands—a job that you do for somebody that involves going somewhere to take -a message. 5. notoriety—repine, renown, fame for being bad in some way. 6. stiff— solid, rigid, congealed, prettified,    : 7. hurled—throw, cast, fling, heave. 8. gallows—gibbet, scaffold, yardarm. hangman's tree. 9. immortal—undying, eternal, permanent. 10. annals—chronicles, records, archives.