Having visited Chittagong a hundred times, I decided during our recent visit to trace the legacy of Pritilata Waddedar, one of the most valiant patriots of the soil. After about three hours of exploration, searching and probing, I finally spotted the legendary patriot, Pritilata on a road island close to the notorious European Club at Pahartali – the site of the daring armory raid that shook the British Raj in 1932. The elegant red-painted bungalow is in a shambles amidst a huge area. The bungalow is under lock and key and in a desolate condition. The caretaker does not know when the bungalow was last opened, and about its future.
Pritilata was born in a middle-class Vaidya-Brahmin family on May 5, 1911, in Patiya Upazila of Chittagong. Her parents were Jagabandhu Waddedar (head clerk of Chittagong Municipality) and Pratibha Devi. Nicknamed Rani (Queen), Pritilata's original surname was Dasgupta. She was the second among six siblings.
She was a meritorious student and completed matriculation from Dr Khastagir Government Girls' High School in 1928, and then got admitted to Eden College, Dhaka. In the intermediate examinations, she stood first among all students who appeared in that year's examination from the Dhaka Board.
To pursue higher education, Pritilata went to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and graduated in philosophy from Bethune College. In 2012, Pritilata and Bina Das were awarded certificates of merit posthumously by Calcutta University, nearly 80 years after the British government withheld them.
After completing her education in Calcutta, Pritilata returned to Chittagong, where she took up the job of headmistress at a local English medium secondary school called Nandankanan Aparnacharan School.
Inspired by Master Da Surya Sen, Pritilata decided to join the Indian independence movement. Along with the revolutionary group of Surya Sen, Pritilata took part in many raids, including the Jalalabad battle.
In 1932, Surya Sen planned to attack the Pahartali European Club, which had a signboard that read "Dogs and Indians not allowed." Surya Sen decided to assign Pritilata to accomplish the daring mission. The group of revolutionaries attacked the club on September 24.
Courtesy The members of the group were given potassium cyanide and were told to swallow it if they were caught. On the day of the attack, Pritilata dressed as a Punjabi male. They reached the club around midnight and launched the attack. There were around 40 people inside the club at the time. After completing the raid, Pritilata asked her comrades to leave when a bullet hit her. She immediately swallowed a cyanide tablet to avoid getting arrested.
According to the police report, in this attack, one woman died and four men and seven women were injured. The next day, the police found her body and identified her.
Pritilata Waddedar was the first woman to sacrifice herself in the anti-British movement and Bengal's first woman martyr. Such sacrifice for the motherland should not go in vain. Her act of courage and bravery, driven by the sheer determination to liberate the country from British hegemony, is part of our glorious history that must be upheld.
Chittagong has a Pritilata Waddedar Road. In 2012, a bronze sculpture of her was erected in front of the school where she taught, adjacent to the European Club. Two female dormitories at Chittagong University and Jahangirnagar University have been named after Pritilata.
Unless some immediate steps are taken to restore the Pahartali European Club, this bungalow too will pass into oblivion. It will be a shame for us if that happens. All that is needed is a cafeteria, a souvenir shop, toilet facilities and an audio-video display of the history and an enactment of the actual gallant raid. The Boston Tea Party documentation in Chicago is worth following. With minimum cost, the club could be turned into a prime tourist destination.
I would request the city authorities to restore the club and the government to consider naming roads, avenues and educational establishments across the country after the revolutionary leader. Valiant patriots like Pritilata should be honoured in Dhaka and elsewhere. Why not erect sculptures of Surya Sen and Pritilata on the National Museum premises? Moreover, Pritilata's birth and death anniversaries should be observed at the state level.
Dr Shamim Ahmed is a senior public health and nutrition specialist, passionate traveller and photographer.