Martyr Khudiram Bose and his Comrade Abhiram

 

The most difficult part of the prisoner's physical labor was to churn oil out of copra (dried coconut). Here the prisoner was harnessed to the pestle connected with the central shaft and they had to go round and round to extract oil by grinding the copra with the above explained inhuman labor which otherwise was done by oxen. The revolutionary youth would be exhausted like hell after such a grueling day's work and targets fixed for them were always very high and unattainable. They had to undergo physical torture for not achieving the target. Ullaskar would always raise his protest against such cruelty shown by the jail wardens and their superiors including the Jailor. So the Jailor decided to teach him a lesson. On one of such occasions when Ullaskar raised his voice at a high pitch the Jailor ordered him to be taken to the torture room. His hands were tied to the ceiling and legs to the floor in such a way that he was unable to move. He was left there like that for three days and when he was released from that position, he fell on the ground motionless and unconscious. After treatment, he returned to his senses but was off-balance.

What followed is pathetic. Such s Great Hero of our land would never be his normal self again. He would often faint. The seizures would make him weak. Sometimes he started behaving abnormally. Gone was his revolutionary spirits. He started receiving treatments which was not of any quality in the Andamans. For a period he was sent to Madras for Psychiatric treatment and finally in 1920 he was released on health ground. He returned to Calcutta. The British police kept a check on him and he had to report to the police from time to time. He was still not normal. At times he was sick, behaving abnormally, and having seizures and hallucinations. At other times he was okay. When he was having better days he tried to associate himself with the anti-British movement though the fire in him was much less than earlier. Still, he could not forget his love for the motherland and also his love for Lila. It is said that once he even made a trip to the French enclave of Pondicherry to bring Sri Aurobindo Ghosh their leader and a co-accused of the Alipore Bomb case(Aurobindo escaped any punishment like 16 others out of 36 accused) back to revolutionary activity.

Aurobindo had by then abandoned such activities and turned to meditation. So Ullaskar came back empty-handed. He remained active in political activities when his health allowed. He divided his time between Kalikachchha and Calcutta. While in Kalikachchha he would spend time singing, playing on Flute, and Dotara. He used to tell stories of his prison life to his simple villager friends. He has written two books on his political and jail life. He has translated one into English. In 1931 he was arrested once more for involving himself in political activities and had to serve another 18 months in prison. Thus his life was spent in illness, writing, political activities, and spending passive days in a village home. This continued till the British colonizers left partitioning the subcontinent in 1947. He was utterly dissatisfied with the leadership for agreeing to the partition.

He deemed them as traitors by agreeing to partition bringing misery to millions of refugees He refused to accept any honor or financial benefit offered to the Revolutionaries by the Government of India. He decided to come back to live a solitary life in Kalikachchha instead. Some time passed that way. He was approaching 70 when he came to know that Lila has lost her husband and she was severely sick. All these years, it seems, Ullaskar treasured his romance in a deep corner of his heart. He rushed to Calcutta, met Lila, and offered to marry her. She was already paralyzed. It was a union of souls. There were no ceremonies. Few close friends attended. They had no means to live in Calcutta. Some relatives of Pal family and a few of Ullaskar's friends persuaded them to shift to Silchar where the couple spent their last few years together. He still refused to take any help from the Government and their ultimate days were not comfortable.

Lila Dutta expired in 1962 and Ullaskar breathed his last in 1965. As the song says.........John Brown's body lies........but his soul goes marching on...... Our deepest respect to Abhiram....our own Ullaskar Dutta. In Kolkata, there is a statue established in Alipore in his memory. Kolkata and Silchar have named streets after Ullaskar. Alas,Dhaka, Cumillah or Brahmanbaria have none. In Kalikachchha (which has become important now because of the BGB Sector HQ) there is a Road and a couple of small organizations have been established in the recent past honoring him. His ancestral home still stands there. The present occupants are very respectful to Ullaskar Dutta and are willing to cooperate with the Government to establish a museum and other memorial organizations in his name provided they are relocated. Something has to be done before it is too late.

Why Ullaskar and Lila wanted to shift to Shilchar has been stated earlier. There was another good reason. He did not want to live in a divided Bengal. He was convinced that none of the revolutionaries fought for or dreamt of a truncated Bengal or a divided country. He has written in later years that the Freedom Fighters fought not only for driving out the British from our soil. They also fought against British ideals of exploitation of our masses. They wanted a single independent country for the masses which will be free of all sorts of exploitation. Ullaskar was not happy with the fact that their goal was not achieved. So, he denounced repeated proposals of help from the Government. He fought for the people and the people looked after them in their days of agony. Their friends and relatives arranged living quarters for them and arranged for Lila's treatment. Though the arrangements were meager, Ullaskar had no complaints.

We get the reference of two different residences and a hotel where they lived all their last part of life journey. Even nurses and caregivers for paralyzed Lila were arranged. Ullas took great care of Lila during this period. When she felt a little better he used to play on his Flute or Dotara and sing. He used to spend time in the Brahmo Mandir at times. His Professor's father, mother, elder brother, and younger sister were not alive by that time. But his younger brother was. Sukhsagar Dutta, his younger brother had a British wife and lived in England. He once came during this period with his wife to meet his brother and offer help that was badly needed. But Ullaskar refused all the offers with dignity. From time to time Indian Central Government leaders and officials, as well as Assam State officials, visited him with offers of help. But he consistently refused all Government help. The political and social leaders of Shilchar used to visit him to show respect. He was okay with that. The Revolutionary enjoyed profound respect from the inhabitants of Shilchar.

The writer visited the Andaman and Nicobar islands about 10 years ago. The cellular Jail still stands which is a museum now. The guides tell many stories about notable revolutionaries while they show you around. They mention Ullaskar's courage and spirits to every visitor. Ullaskar is also mentioned in the narratives of the Light and Sound shows that are displayed there every evening. If he could be remembered in Shilchar, Kolkata, and even in the Andamans, why should we lag behind? (Concluded)

Reference:

" Taimoor Raja Chowdhury, Editor of Shamoyik Prashanga, the widest circulated Bangla Daily in Assam from Shilchar. He is my friend through Rotary and literary activities.

" Dr Sukhendu Bikash Talukdar. My friend from Brahmanbaria who helped me collecting facts about Kalikachchha.

"    Sourin Dutta, my cousin who inspired me to work on this subject
" Wikipedia

The writer is a travel enthusiast
and history buff.