From where West Bengal was run for three decades-plus

 

The headline above may appear misleading. I am not here to praise or denounce the Left Front Government of West Bengal that was in power for so long through democratic popular elections. This was, in fact, one of the rarest examples of Communists or their allies winning elections time and again in a democratic country.

On this Alimuddin Street house number 31 bears the name of a legendary Communist leader. The building is named after Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed, fondly addressed Kaka Babu by most of his disciple communists. I think all of us know that this great leader hailed from our part of Bengal, namely Sandwip. This Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed Bhawan was and still remains as the headquarters of CPM, West Bengal State branch and also of the Left Front in West Bengal led by CPM. Today,I don't have on my agenda Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed too, though he is our pride. I can just mention that he was very closely associated with our national poet and a born rebel Kazi Nazrul Islam. Now please fasten your seatbelts for taking off to our topic today.

Has it occurred to anyone of us where the name Alimuddin Street comes from? Who was this Alimuddin? Why was he famous so that an important thoroughfare in Kolkata was named after him? Well, I was interested in this and have found a little bit of information about this great soul and have decided to share the same with my readers. We may again take pride in noting that Syed Alimuddin Ahmed was a son of our soil. He was a pure Dhakaiya, born in the old town (Ashik Jamadar Lane) in 1884. And why was he famous? Imagine, he was a revolutionary of the Agnijug.

Unfortunately, in independent Bangladesh we don't remember him but Kolkata does. They have named an important street in Taltola area of central Kolkata in his name. Alimuddin was born in a not so well to do family. His father's name is Aminuddin Ahmed, who tried to maintain the livelihood of the family by the meager profession of a tailor. Alim and his siblings got their basic education in primary school and then in madrasas. He liked his studies and at the same time took keen interest in the socio political scene of British India. Sri Hem Chandra Ghosh, a big name in the revolutionary line of the Agnijug, was also a Dhakaiya like Alim from the same locality and they were childhood friends. After secondary education Alimuddin got admitted in Dhaka College and by that time was being drawn into anti-British revolutionary activities influenced by his good friend Hem Chandra.

In 1901 Hem Chandra along with a few friends, including another revolutionary Srish Pal, met Swami Vivekananda during the Swami's Dhaka visit. There existed unrest in the society in those days. British exploitation and plundering of India's wealth was increasing. Protests by Indians were on the scene. British brutality in suppressing the protests was increasing too. The Indian National Congress had been formed. Energetic youth were uncompromising. They were not happy with the Congress' line of action, which they thought to be too mild. In 1897, the first underground revolutionary alliance, Attmonnoti Samity, was formed. It later was merged with Anushilan Samity (one of the duo, the other being Jugantor, both having the final goal of driving out the colonialist British Crown). Anyway, the young boys went to Swami Vivekananda in search of peace by meditation and his advice.

Swamiji instead gave them a sermon on revolution against the British oppression. He opined that it was the youth who should take the lead in liberating the mother (motherland). The group of young men were mesmerized and decided to go forthwith into underground revolutionary work. They started to recruit comrades in arms and Syed Alimuddin, being a confidante of Hem Chandra, was drawn into their cadres as one of the first recruits. In the meantime, the political situation in the country was worsening. In 1905, the divide and rule policy of the oppressors was brought into effect by the British and the Bengal Presidency was divided. Political upheaval was in the offing.

Meanwhile, in 1906 the Muslim League was also established in Dhaka to look to the interests of the Muslim population of the subcontinent. In short, Bengal became the hotspot of Indian politics and was virtually boiling. In between Hem Chandra and his associates came into interaction with leading revolutionaries like Ullaskar Dutta, Barin Ghosh and Pulin Das. These interactions enriched them and in 1905 Syed Alimuddin and party formed their own revolutionary group named Dhaka Mukti Sangha, Hem Chandra Ghosh being their leader.

One of their famed recruits was Benoy Bose, a student of Dhaka Mitford Medical School. This Benoy from Bikrampur later turned out to be one of the famous fighters of the Veranda Battle at the Writer's Building of Kolkata, in which IG Col Simpson was killed in his office. This legendary figure is Benoy of Benoy, Badal, Dinesh Bagh (BBD Bagh) in the heart of Kolkata. Earlier it was called Dalhousie Square. Benoy also gunned down several British police officers, including IG Lowman, in Dhaka. In 1906 Hem Chandra travelled to Kolkata again with Srish Pal to exchange views with the great revolutionaries Sri Aurobinda and Bipin Pal. Srish Pal stayed back in Kolkata to form a Kolkata branch of Mukti Sangha. Mukti Sangha was carrying on with underground armed attacks on the British and their agents. They made their presence felt in Kolkata by killing Nandalal Banerjee, the police officer responsible for the hanging of Shaheed Khudiram Bose.

In the meantime, while our budding revolutionary Syed Alimuddin was carrying on both with his college studies and revolutionary activities misery befell him. Unexpectedly, his father, who was the lone bread earner of the family, expired. He could no longer carry on with his studies. He needed money to look after his family. So, he started earning by imparting private tuition to children.

Being very sincere, soon he earned fame in his profession and became known as Mastersaab. All the while, though difficult, he kept his close links with his friend Hem Chandra and carried on with his revolutionary duties. Mukti Sangha's activities spread beyond Dhaka and Hem Chandra had to move from place to place to organise actions and to divert police attention. But the benign looking Mastersaab Syed Alimuddin stayed put in Dhaka and coordinated actions there. In 1914 the group was involved in the Rhoda case. A consignment of sophisticated arms was imported by M/s Rhoda & Co and was being transported from Kolkata Customs House to the company's godown.

The revolutionaries got themselves acquainted with some of the company staff and a few of them got places in the entourage escorting the goods. From midway, they took charge of a part of the consignment and disappeared. Eyebrows were raised and the British administration was embarassed beyond limits. An iron fist descended on the revolutionaries and many of them were rounded up. Some of the arms were recovered but not all.

A part came to the use of the revolutionary youth. Finally in 1914 Hem Chandra Ghosh was also apprehended. He was jailed in the Rhoda case and was tossed from prison to prison up to 1920. His friend Syed Alimuddin, however, continued with revolutionary activities in Dhaka. He took part in snatching government revenue to meet expenses of arms and other requirements, such as arranging safe shelters for revolutionaries. He established gymnasiums to train the youth and help them attain physical fitness to perform bold revolutionary work.

He trained them in Lathikhela and pistol shooting. The main part of his background activities was to imbibe the youth with Swadeshi ideas, to rise against British tyranny. He always had to maintain a low profile and always was able to stay beyond the eyes of the British police and their informers. To them, he could remain as a religious, peace loving Mastersaab. Religious he was, but was never carried away by factional politics. He was always there for unity amongst all religious faiths and treated everyone alike. Unfortunately his hard and difficult life demanded a high cost. He developed tuberculosis and succumbed to the disease at a very young age.

His comrades-in-arms lost him in 1920. Hem Chandra after coming out of prison had already lost his childhood associate. Nevertheless he carried on and later in 1928 his Mukti Sangha was transformed into Bengal Volunteers of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Hem Chandra continued with his anti-colonial struggle with Netaji.

Our Mastersaab was a close ally of the revolutionary Hem Chandra, who was one of the a vanguards of Netaji's Bengal Volunteers (that absorbed Hem Chandra and Alimuddin's Mukti Sangha). Netaji was a disciple of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das,the great secular leader of Bengal in those days. When the Calcutta Minicipal Corporation was formed and citizens voted to elect their first city father, it was none other than Deshbandhu. He was the first Mayor of KMC from 1924 to 1925. It was during his tenure that our Dhaka hero Syed Alimuddin Ahmed got his recognition.

Munshi Alimuddin's Lane was the first name given to a busy Taltola thoroughfare in Alimuddin's memory. Munshi was an honorific title of a teacher (Mastersaab). Later it was rechristened twice as Munshi Alimuddin Street and finally Alimuddin Street in the early 1950s of the twentieth century.

Kolkata has done its bit by turning our East Bengal hero Syed Alimuddin Ahmed immortal. As long as the street is there, people will know his name. Can we expect such a gesture from our City Fathers?

Reference:

*    Wikipedia.

*    Mr Debashish Bhowmick, a retired Income Tax Commissioner of Kolkata and my friend.(He helped me retrieve some information through famous writer Sri Samaresh Majumder and CPM leader Sri Biman Basu.

*   Prof (Dr) Anup Kumar Saha, another friend of mine who was MP in the Indian Lok Sabha from Burdwan on a CPM ticket.


The writer is a researcher and travel enthusiast