Untold story of two teen age girls who avenged Bhagat Singh s hanging

Anupama Nair

www.mediaeyenews.com

The girls were taken into custody and imprisoned in a local British jail. In spite of all the difficulties, Choudhury and Ghosh never lost their calm and cheerfulness throughout their trial days in prison and in the court. “They expected to die martyr’s death”. However, when Ghosh and Choudhury appeared in court in Calcutta, both of them were sentenced to imprisonment for ten years as they were minors. They were not happy with the judgment and they stated, it is better to die than live in a horse’s stable.” Suniti was held captive in Hijli Detention Camp as a ‘third class prisoner’.

Due to Suniti’s actions, her family had to suffer. Her father’s government pension was stopped, and her two elder brothers were held in custody without trial. Her younger brother died from ‘consumption, exacerbated by years of malnutrition. Both the young girls were released in 1939, after having served seven years of her sentence, because of the amnesty negotiations between M.K Gandhi and the British government.

Contemporary Western periodicals characterized the assassination of Stevens as a sign of “Indians’ outrage against an ordinance by the Earl of Wellingdon (Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936) that suppressed the Civil Rights of Indians, including that of free speech.” Indian sources portrayed the assassination as the “misbehavior of the British district magistrates” who had abused their positions of power to treat Indian’s fairly. 

After the verdict was announced, a flyer was found by the Intelligence Branch of police in the Rajshahi district portraying the girls as nationalist heroines. The poster read, “thou art freedom and fame” and displayed photographs of the two girls alongside lines from Robert Burns’ poem

“Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty’s in every blow!”

After seven years,  Suniti got an early release and got out of prison with a fearless spirit. She again faced a life full of struggle. She resumed her studies and became a doctor. In 1947, she married Pradyot Kumar Ghose. She died in 1994. “Her heart was always bleeding at the sufferings of millions of her dear countrymen, and ill-at-ease for not being able to do all that she wanted to do for them”.

After her release, Shanti attended the Bengali Women's College and participated in India's Communist movement. She later joined the  Congress. In 1942, she married Professor Chittaranjan Das. She became a member of the West Bengal Legislative Council from 1952–62 and 1967–68. She also served on the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1962–64. She wrote and published a book called  Arun Bahni.

What brave girls they were. Like Bina Das they were also inspired by Netaji and his ideals.