379. Prafulla Chaki (1888-1908)

 In a village of the present Sibgonge sub-division is situated in Bogra (Bangladesh) of North Bengal, Prafulla chaki was born on 10.12.1888 (27 Agrhayan)He was the youngest son of Rajnarayan and Swarnamayee.Their original residence was in Chankia of Pabna District. Prafulla lost his father when was only two years old. His body was well built. He was calm and less spoken one.But his coutenance reflects the sign of his determination. He was believer of "deeds without looking for its result" as in Gita.Once he promised not to put on shoes, shirts till the  freedom is attained. He was the First Martyr of the Revolutionary Bengal in the freedom struggle of Bengal. A neglected hero in the history of Freedom Movement.
Prafulla Chaki  (1888–1908) was a Bengali revolutionary associated with the Jugantar group of revolutionaries who carried out assassinations against British colonial officials in an attempt to secure Indian independence.

Early life

Prafulla Chaki was born on 10 December 1888 in the Bihari village of Bogra district,Bengal Presidency, British India now in Bangladesh. His education started in an English middle-primary school in a village about one mile off from his residence.He was admitted in Class VI at the age of 14 in Rangpur Zila School.He was longing for freedon in his school days.The whole country was then fired with Swadeshi Movement.For the offence of attending a meeting of Swadeshi group he along with several students were fined. He was expelled from Rangpur Zilla School when studying in Class 9 for taking part in a students' demonstration that violated East Bengal law. Then he along with two hundred students joined Rangpur National School where he came in contact with revolutionaries and became a believer and practitioner of the revolutionary philosophies. There he met the devotee Prof Brajasunder Roy as his teacher. He used to tell stories of Mazzini, Garibaldi ( Garibaldi, Giuseppe (1807-1882) The foremost military figure and popular hero of the age of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento with Cavour and Mazzini he is deemed one of the makers of Modern Italy. Cavour is considered the "brain of unification," Mazzini the "soul," and Garibaldi the "sword." For his battles on behalf of freedom in Latin America, Italy, and later France, he has been dubbed the "Hero of Two Worlds." Born in Nice, when the city was controlled by France, to Domenico Garibaldi and Rosa Raimondi, his family was involved in the coastal trade. A sailor in the Mediterranean Sea, he was certified a merchant captain in 1832. During a journey to Taganrog in the Black Sea, he was initiated into the Italian national movement by a fellow Ligurian, Giovanni Battista Cuneo. In 1833 he ventured to Marseilles where he met Mazzini (top lt.) and enrolled in his Giovane Italia or Young Italy. Mazzini had a profound impact on Garibaldi (top rt), who would always acknowledge this patriot as "the master.") Prafulla , from his boyhood,was expert in organising clubs, libraries, sword fighting, stick fighting. He became a member of  a secret organisation "Bandhab Samity" in 1903.In this organisation he took a knife cut his hand and touching his own blood he took oath of  freeing India. Prafulla joined in a Charn Dal of the Muslim Nationalist leader Moulavi Liaquat Hussain and conducted rallies with shouting slogans of Bandemataram to promote to quit foreign goods aand get countries goods.He came to Calcutta and became a volunteer of Sivaji Utsab  

 Revolutionary activities

Barin Ghosh brought Prafulla to Kolkata and he was enlisted in Jugantar party. His first assignment was to kill Sir Joseph Bampfylde Fuller (1854-1935), the first Lieutenant Governor of the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. However, the plan did not materialize.

Next, Prafulla, along with Khudiram Bose was chosen for the murdering of Kingsford, the magistrate of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Kingsford during his previous tenure as the Chief the Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta was unpopular for passing heavy sentences on young political workers of Bengal. He was also noted for inflicting corporal punishments on such workers. This led to the planning of his murder, and Chaki and Bose were selected and sent to Muzaffarpur to execute this task.

The Muzaffarpur killing

Khudiram and Prafulla watched the usual movements of Kingsford and prepared a plan to kill him. In the evening of 30 April 1908, the duo waited in front of the gate of European Club for the carriage of Kingsford to come. When a vehicle came out of the gate, a bomb was thrown into the carriage. There was a mistake of identification by them, as the vehicle was not carrying Kingsford, but wife and daughter of Mr Pringle Kennedy, a leading pleader of Muzaffarpur Bar. The daughter died soon and his wife succumbed to her injuries. The revolutionaries fled.

The manhunt and suicide

Prafulla and Khudiram decided for separate routes to escape. Prafulla reached Samastipur where he was given shelter and clothing by a railway staff Triguna Charan Ghosh. Ghosh also provided him an inter class ticket in the night train for Mokama.Nandalal Banerjee, a Sub-Inspector of Police, in the same compartment who was returning from his leave suspected Prafulla at Samastipur Railway station. The sub inspector sent telegraphic message to Magistrate Mr Udman at Muzaffarpur and was allowed to arrest Prafulla Chaki. At Mokama Ghat railway station commotion and a short chase ensued. Prafulla was soon cornered when he was about to get arrested he took his own life by firing two shots one at the forehead and the other on the left side of his chest at the head. His head was then severed from his body and sent to Calcutta for further identification by Khudiram who was captured. Khudiram was later arrested and was hanged to death.After their formal procedure they put the head, cut off from  the body, in a dig near the Dunlop Company.
But the revolutionaries did not spare Nandalal Banerjee . They assassinated him on 9th Nov in Calcutta and sent the news to his house.Barin Ghosh put the golden Helmet on the head of Prafulla as he is the first martyr.
Neglected Hero
But he is not honoured properly by the state Govt. It was said that the Mokama Junction would be renamed in the name of Prafulla Chaki which was not done. There is no Street earmarked in his name even after about 84 years of his sacrifice, in his 104th Birth anniversary. In 1880 a park near  Kankur Gachi was proposed to earmarked in the name of Prafulla Chaki. But actually in 1992 after the Park was constructed it was named Kshudiram-Prafulla Udyan" instead of Prafulla Kshudiram Udyan.