Pritilata Waddedar
Pritilata Waddedar was born on May 5, 1911, in Chittagong. For higher education, she moved to Calcutta and enrolled in Philosophy at Bethune College under the University of Calcutta. It was here that she met Masterda Surya Sen. Inspired by the revolutionary activities of Rani Laxmibai, Surya Sen, and Ramkrishna Biswas, she became a revolutionary nationalist in Masterda Surya Sen’s group.
Due to her revolutionary activities, the British authorities denied her graduation degree. Under Masterda’s guidance, Pritilata evolved from being a passive arms transporter to a trained martial arts expert. She also trained other girls to take up arms against the British. Pritilata participated in the Chittagong Armoury Raid on April 18, 1930, and managed to escape after some members were captured.
On September 23, 1932, Pritilata led an attack on the Pahartali European Club, a symbol of colonialism and racism. During the raid, she was wounded and chose to swallow cyanide to avoid arrest. Pritilata was only 21 years old at the time of the ‘Pahartali European Club’ attack.
Trivia : Pritilata is fondly remembered as ‘Birkanya’ or the iron lady of Bengal.
References:
- Pritilata Waddedar: The 21-Year-Old Revolutionary Who Chose to Die Rather Than Be Caught by the British - Indian Express
- Pritilata Waddedar - Unsung Heroes, Amrit Mahotsav
