Balurghat: The 7th day of Falgun in the Bengali calendar, coinciding with February 20, marked a day of solemn remembrance at Khapur village under Patiram in South Dinajpur district. The date carries historic significance as villagers gathered to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1947 Tebhaga Movement.
On February 20, 1947, at Khapur near Patiram in the then undivided Dinajpur district, 22 farmers — according to some historians, 25 — were killed in police firing by the British administration.
They had raised the demand of “Tebhaga Chai,” seeking two-thirds of the harvested crop for sharecroppers instead of the prevailing adhi system under which landlords retained half. The movement, led by the then Communist Party and Kisan Sabha, spread across 19 districts including Dinajpur, Rangpur and Jalpaiguri during 1946–47, becoming a landmark in India’s peasant struggle.
However, decades later, many descendants of the martyrs now live in scattered pockets of Kumarganj and Kushmandi blocks in South Dinajpur and parts of Kaliaganj and Itahar in neighbouring Uttar Dinajpur. Their present condition tells a different story. Ratan Kol, grandson of martyr Kaushalya Kamarni, works as a daily wage labourer.
Mamata Kol, a family member of another grandson Hira Kol, alleged that their condition is “extremely miserable.” Despite being 35 years old, she has not received benefits under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme nor does she possess a Swasthya Sathi card or caste certificate. The family lives in a dilapidated tarpaulin-covered hut and has not received a government housing unit.
Niva Rani Sarkar, descendant of martyr Jashoda Rani Sarkar, recounted the horrors of that day, describing how her mother-in-law was shot in the chest and how her father-in-law, Nil Madhab Sarkar, hid atop a tree for a month to escape arrest.
Three years ago, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee handed over Rs 50,000 each to some martyr families during a district visit. Yet, Keya Das, another family member, said: “A one-time grant is not enough. A permanent job or pension would at least allow us to live with dignity.”