AMRIT FESTIVAL OF INDEPENDENCE "A Tribute to Heroes of Indian Freedom Struggle"

                  India's Forgotten ...? Freedom Fighter...?

                                        Gopinath Saha

March 1 - Sacrifice Day Krantiveer Gopimohan Saha, after the hanging of this warrior, the alleged priest of non-violence did not even take his dead body, only Subhash Chandra Bose had reached.

The heart of a man who does not have love for his country is like a stone. The same thing has been written by a famous Bengali poet in one of his poems like this A man who does not have the love of the country in his heart, he is like an animal while being a human. Gopinath Saha was a revolutionary. He believed in violence, not in non-violence. During the day he kept on walking diligently on his way, even in his sleep during the night he used to cry out - I killed that Englishman. I will not breathe a sigh of satisfaction until I remove the British rule. There was nothing in his mind other than the independence of the country. While eating, drinking, sleeping and waking up, he was constantly immersed in the meditation of freedom. Saha was very fearless in his childhood. He was not afraid of anyone. He also hit the target well. His aim was accurate. In his childhood, he used to read the stories of patriots and revolutionaries with love. Saha did not get the opportunity to do any other work other than the country in his life. He was on the gallows when he was a teenager. It can be said that he was born for the freedom of the country, to climb the gallows.

The brutal and tyrannical British police officer Charles Tegart inflicted heavy damage on the revolutionary movement of Bengal with his strategy. Major revolutionaries were either hanged or were rotting in prisons. Many of them were even sent to Kalapani. Even at such a time, a revolutionary named Gopimohan Saha was born on the brave land of Bengal, Gopinath Saha, an immortal name that was not allowed to come forward by the fake contractors of independence who tried to take revenge on Tegart. However, unfortunately his attempt was not successful. Gopimohan started the practice of targeting as soon as he decided to send the cruel Tegart to Yamlok. He wanted his work to be completed in just one bullet. He saw Tegart several times, so that there was no confusion while killing. Now he started looking for opportunities.

When the non-cooperation movement stopped in 1922, there was despair all around. After the Satyagraha was stopped, the British police officers began to punish such people by imprisoning them, who had helped the non-cooperation movement or had joined that movement. Due to the repression cycle of the British government, the fire of dissatisfaction ignited in the whole country. The revolutionary movement of Bengal was the result of that discontent. Like in other cities, when the arrests started in Calcutta, the revolutionaries became aware. They organized themselves and started trying to overthrow the British government.

In the month of August 1923, the postmaster of Sankhai Tola was robbed and his postmaster was murdered. This post was put by the people of the post office and the revolutionaries only. The money that the revolutionaries received from such works, they used to spend on the purchase of weapons and the organization of the party. The ears of the government were raised by the robbery. She got angry and started running the cycle of repression. Many revolutionaries were taken prisoner. Some of them were let off for lack of evidence, some were sentenced to death and some were imprisoned. Those who were imprisoned were burnt in the fire of torture. They were stripped naked for the purpose of distinguishing. Buckets filled with toilets were poured over them and they were made to sleep on ingots of ice. All these diabolical acts were done under the orders of Police Commissioner Tegert.

Charles Tegart was famous for atrocities against patriots and revolutionaries. He had punished many patriots. And he had also given death sentences to dozens of revolutionary youths. The abuses were on his tongue. He didn't hesitate to even kick boots.

Gopimohan Saha studied in college, but joined the revolutionaries. The stories of Tegart's atrocities used to reverberate in his ears. Eventually, he vowed in a fit of rage that he would take Tegart to Yamlok. To fulfill his promise, Saha started searching for the right opportunity. Gopimohan started the practice of hitting the target. He wanted his work to be completed in just one bullet. He saw Tegart several times, so that there was no confusion while killing. Now he started looking for opportunities.

It was seven o'clock in the morning on January 2, 1924. There was heavy fog in Kolkata due to winter. It was difficult to recognize anyone from afar. In such a situation, Gopimohan was roaming in search of Tegart in his tune. Near the intersection of Charingee Road and Park Street, he saw a man exactly like Tegart. What was it then, the time had come for the fulfillment of the resolution he had cherished for so long. He didn't even notice, he opened fire on the man; But this bullet missed. The man turned and pounced on Gopimohan. Seeing this, Gopi fired another shot. The bullet hit the man on the head. Saha was very happy in his heart that he had done all the work of Tegart, but it was the Englishman Ernest Day, he was a businessman. When Saha came to know about this, he was very sad, but what could have happened now? Saha was taken prisoner on the spot.

The raid was carried out. He was sentenced to death in the trial. Hearing the sentence of death, he said, "I am sorry that an innocent man was murdered at my hands. I wanted to kill Tagert, who is the enemy of my country. While giving his statement in court, he sarcastically told Tegart that you considered yourself safe; But do not forget that the work which I could not do, some of my brother will soon complete it. Several criminal sections were imposed on him. On this, he told the alleged judge who did injustice that why do you skimp, put two-four more sections.

He was sentenced to death on 16 February 1924. Hearing the sentence, he proudly said, "I wish that every drop of my blood sow the seeds of freedom in every household of India. As long as there are incidents like Jallianwala Bagh and Chandpur, our struggle will continue. One day the British rule will definitely get the fruits of its actions.

On March 1, 1924, the immortal son of Mother India, Gopimohan Saha, kissed the noose of the gallows. Due to no fear of death, by that time his weight had increased by two kilos. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose along with Gopi's brother also went to jail to take his dead body after the execution. The question is, what were the rest of the so-called non-violence priests doing then?