BAGHA JATIN -- FORGOTTEN, BUT WHY ?

BAGHA JATIN -- FORGOTTEN, BUT WHY ?

The early revolutionaries from the prewar [World War 1] era must not be forgotten as we trace out the path of India's revolutionary struggle for freedom. Netaji was the climactic personality in this long line of seminal leaders who had paved for India 'the road to freedom'. Jatindranath Mukherjee [Bagha Jatin] and Rash Behari Bose were the preeminent personalities of this early struggle who had almost brought off the revolution in the second decade of the 20th century.

Rash Behari Bose lived on to deliver the coup de grace in the final assault of the Indian National Army in 1944 but Jatindranath had laid down his life in his titanic struggle at Balasore in 1915 which we are prone to forgetting quite easily these days. This must not be. This gallant leader's life and struggle must be recounted over and over again till its essence enters the life-blood of our younger generations and inspires them unto the rarest of love for the motherland which the hero possessed and injected into his comrades-in-arms for the freedom of the country. The Government of India must forthwith start highlighting the career and achievements of Bagha Jatin and his immortal associates.

Written by Sugata Bose