Documents, photos of Alipore bomb conspiracy case draw large crowds

Book lovers in the city mostly youth showed great enthusiasm to see the documents and photographs of Alipore bomb conspiracy case, which took place in 1908. They were in display at stall number 131 of New House at Kolkata International Book Fair.            

Prominent revolutionaries Aurobindo Ghosh, Barindranath Ghosh, Aurobindo’s younger brother, Ullshkar Dutta, Nalinikanta Gupta, Kanailal  Bose and Satyen were arrested in connection with the case.

The case was prominently reported by almost all newspapers of that era. Later Aurobindo was acquitted. Kanai and Satyen were hanged to death after they were found guilty. 

Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das was the counsel of the revolutionaries. The verdict was declared by judge Charles Proten Beachcroft. 

He said the writings of Aurobindo were not found to be ‘inciting people’ and he could not be called ‘seditious’.  

Beachcroft and Aurobindo had together appeared for the Indian Civil Service Examination where Aurobindo stood first in Greek while Beachcroft got highest marks in Bengali. 

Changes occurred in Aurobindo’s mind while he was in jail. After Aurobindo was released, he gave a couple of speeches, the most famous being the one he delivered at Utterpara.  

The police planned to arrest Aurobindo once again. However, a police officer informed the matter to Ma Sarada who immediately asked Swami Saradananda, general secretary of Ramakrishna Mission, to take some steps. Saradananda sent Bramhachari Ganen to inform the matter to Aurobindo. 

Initially, he refused to leave the city but later agreed after Sister Nivedita was ready to become the editor of Karmayogin. After getting assurance from Nivedita, Aurobindo went to Chandannagore from where he moved to Pondicherry. 

“It is fascinating to see the photographs and go through the write ups of that era which is an important period in Indian history,” said Sayak Banerjee, a student of History, Calcutta University.  

“Aurobindo’s contribution in Indian freedom struggle needs re-assessment,” said Manimala Sengupta, an M Phil student.