Jatindra Nath Das-the Immortal Martyr of India`s Freedom Struggle

Jatindra Nath Das

   

‘When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction; and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be.’

Patanjali

These deep words that came from Patanjali, the author of Yoga Sutras, illuminates one’s intellect and irradiates

the limitless possibilities that one can accomplish when driven by a great purpose that can transcend all limitations. Perhaps, Jathindranth Das of Bengal was one of those brave souls, driven by just one pure purpose, one fierce desire of assuaging the pains of his fellow countrymen, suffering under a handful of foreign rulers. Popularly known as Jatin Das, nicknamed as 'khendu'  by his parents, Jatin Das was born into a middle-class Bengali family on 27th October 1904.

Deprived of his mother`s love at the tender age of nine by her untimely demise, he grew up to be a young lad whose heart was filled with righteousness, love and kindness. His rare-air patriotism set him apart from others of his age and has made him ‘The Immortal Martyr Jatin Das’. He worked persistently, relentlessly till his very last breath towards the accomplishment of just one goal, the liberation of his motherland from the clutches of a few foreigners.

An ardent supporter of Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhiji, Jatin das quit his studies, much against the wishes of his father. The implications of which led to him being expelled from home. How could a patriot whose heart impassioned nothing but pure love for his country and people, remain quiet at this clarion call for the freedom of the country?

He began to take shelter in the Congress office at Bhavanipur. Life became harder, a tumbler of water being his only food for several days and utterly penniless but no impediment could daunt his iron will and indomitable spirit, nothing could deviate him from the path he had taken for himself.

Working as a tutor, he earned enough for mere subsistence. Such a noble soul he was that he never accepted a pie for Congress work because he considered it a sin to take any money for National Work. Jatin Das worked selflessly for the people affected by the deluge of 1921 in Bengal. He was arrested thrice, when he was not even seventeen years old, for picketing and disobedience. He was also the victim of Bengal Ordinance. In defiance to the unjust practices meted out to the prisoners, he began a hunger strike which continued for twenty days, until the Jail Superintendent apologized. In 1924, he was elected as the assistant secretary to the South Congress Committee. He did exemplary

work in spite of terrible resistance and worked immensely for the rehabilitation of the victims of the floods.

He helped Bhagat Singh and Comrades in bomb making, which he had learnt from Sachindranath Sanyal. He was arrested for revolutionary activities and incarcerated in connection to Lahore conspiracy case. The abhorrible condition of Indian prisoners in the Lahore Jail and the starkly different treatment given to the British prisoners forced Das to undertake a hunger strike on 13th July 1929, which lasted for 63 days till he breathed his last.  Reinforced with this earlier experience of fasting, he fasted without consuming a single drop of water. The Jail officials had tried so hard to force feed him by shoving tubes into his nostrils and forcing milk through the tubes, that he fell unconscious, leading to the collapse of his pulse, contracted pneumonia and his health aggravated more than before. He breathed his last on 13th September 1929, when he was only 24 years old. Such impeccable and unimpeachable a Man he was that he etched an indelible mark on the pages of Indian History. The Funeral procession of Jatindranth das, was an unprecedented one, two hundred thousand countrymen paying obeisance to his departed soul, with the air swollen with slogans of ‘Bande Mataram ‘and ‘Jatindranth ki Jai’.

His dauntless courage, spirit of Self-sacrifice, truthfulness, steadfastness, incorruptibility, unwavering love for his country, unflinching patriotism even in the face of death and invincible will, is an epitome of what a true Nationalist should be made of. The Nation should never forget the sacrifice made by this brave soul.

“Perhaps I shall not come back, but keep the volunteer movement alive and see that it does not collapse”.

These were the last parting words of Jatindranth to his friends and co-workers when he was arrested in 1929, the words proved to be true to every letter, every syllable.  

But no imperialism could crush his idea, no incarceration could weaken his beliefs, His ideas live on, even after his mortal departure.

Long Live Jathindranath!

Vande Mataram!