THE BOY WHO BOMBED HARDINGE

Basanta Kumar Biswas, born 6 Feb, 1895, was a minor when he bombed Lord Hardinge on 23 Dec, 1912. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 5 Oct, 1914 but the British Government filed a fresh appeal in the Lahore High Court, tampered with the accused's birth records held at Ambala Central Jail to make him major as on the date of the bombing and Basanta Biswas was hanged on 11 May, 1915. This much for British fair play, justice and civilisation. All humbug, and Swami Vivekananda had seen through it. He, like none other, had exposed them long before other national stalwarts woke up to it.