416. Batukeshwar Dutt (1908-1965)

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Born	18 November 1910 Kanpur, British India
Died	July 20, 1965 (aged 54) New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Organization	Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, Naujawan Bharat Sabha
Known for	Indian freedom fighter

Batukeshwar Dutt  was an Indian revolutionary and a freedom fighter in the early 1900s. He is best known for having exploded a few bombs, along with Bhagat Singh, in the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi on 8 April 1929. After they were arrested, tried and imprisoned for life, he and Bhagat Singh initiated a historic hunger strike protesting against the abusive treatment of Indian political prisoners, and eventually secured some rights for them. He was also a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

Batukeshwar Dutt, also known as B. K. Dutt, Battu and Mohan, son of Goshtha Bihari Dutt, a Brahmin, was born on 18 November, 1910 in a village Oaria in Burdwan district; police station :khandaghosh nearest busstop: khajurhati :, and also lived in Khanda and Mausu in Burdwan district in Bengal. He lived with his father at his working place in Kanpur. He graduated from P.P.N. High School in Kanpur. He was a close associate of freedom fighters such as Chandrashekhar Azadand Bhagat Singh. He met Bhagat Singh in Kanpur in 1924 and joined Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. This Association was inspired with Russian Revolution, Calcutta-Bombay and Kanpur Strike.  He learned about making bomb while working for the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in Kanpur.

1929 Assembly bomb throwing incident

To subdue the rise of revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh in the country, the British government decided to implement the Defence of India Act 1915, which gave the police a free hand. Influenced by a French anarchist who bombed the French Chamber of Deputies, Singh proposed to the HSRA his plan to explode a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly, which was agreed to. Initially it was decided that Batukeshwar Dutt and Sukhdev would plant the bomb while Bhagat Singh would travel to the USSR. However later the plan was changed. He entrusted Dutt to plant the bomb. On 8 April 1929, Singh and Dutt threw two bombs inside the assembly rushing from Visitor's Gallery. The smoke from the bomb filled the Hall and they shouted slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad!" (Hindi-Urdu: "Long Live the Revolution!") and showered leaflets. The leaflet claimed that the act was done to oppose the Trade Disputes and the Public Safety Bill ( India Act of 1915)being presented in the Central Assembly and the death of Lala Lajapath Rai.( When the Commission visited Lahore on 30 October 1928, Lajpat Rai led silent march in protest against it. The superintendent of police, James A. Scott, ordered the police to lathi charge the protesters and personally assaulted Rai. Despite being injured, Rai subsequently addressed the crowd and said that "I declare that the blows struck at me today will be the last nails in the coffin of British rule in India". He did not fully recover from his injuries and died on 17 November 1928 of a heart attack. Doctors thought that Scott's blows had hastened his death.) Few sustained injuries in the explosion but there were no deaths; Singh and Dutt claimed that the act was intentional. Singh and Dutt were arrested, as planned.

The Tribune reported the incident as:

When Mr Patel from India got up to give his ruling on the Public Safety Bill, two bombs were thrown from a gallery near the seat of George Schuster. The whole House was dispersed in the panic caused. Seorge Schuster and B. Dalal were injured while few other members received minor injuries. Bhagat Singh and Dutt were arrested by the British.

Ten minutes later the Assembly got reassembled. The Chamber was filled with smoke. Mr Patel adjourned the House till next Thursday. A red pamphlet "Hindustan Socialist Republican Army" signed by Bal Raj, Hony. Chief, was thrown into the blazing fire.

The police locked the Council House and prevented the movement of the visitors. J. Simon was also in the President's Gallery when the bomb fell. Sir G. Schuster, Sir B. Dalal, Mr Raghavendra Rao and Mr Shanker Rao were among the injured.

Butukeswara Datta from Bengal and Bhagat Singh from the Punjab were arrested.^[13]

Trial

Along with his comrades Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar, Batukeshwar Dutt was tried in the Central Assembly Bomb Case, and was sentenced in 1929 to life imprisonment by the Sessions Judge of Delhi under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code & Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. He was deported to the Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Last days

After his release from prison Batukeshwar Dutt contracted tuberculosis. He nonetheless participated in the Quit India Movement of Mahatma Gandhi and was again jailed for four years. He was lodged in Motihari Jail (In Champaran district of Bihar). After India gained independence, he married Anjali in November 1947 and lived on some business.. It is sad that independent India did not accord him any recognition, and he spent his remaining life in penury away from political limelight, a forgotten hero. Batukeshwar Dutt outlived all his comrades and died on 20 July 1965 in the AIIMS in Delhi after his long illness. He was cremated in Hussainiwala near Firozepur in Punjab where the bodies of his comrades Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were also cremated many years ago. He was survived by his only daughter, Mrs. Bharti Bagchi, in Patna where his house was situated in the Jakkanpur area.

Trivia

The B.K. Dutt Colony in New Delhi located on a prime location opposite Safdarjung Airport and adjacent to Jor Bagh is named after Batukeshwar Dutt death in AIIMS. This is the nearest private residential colony near to AIIMS in NDMC area.

Book

Famous writer Anil Verma (Judge) wrote a book "Batukeshwar Dutt: Bhagat Singh ke Sahyogi" released on Dutt's birth centenary. It was published by Govt. of India's publication, National Book Trust,it is the first book published on Batukeshwar Dutt in any language..