Durga Puja Special: Stree Shakti: Kalpana Dutta
As part of my seven-part series to celebrate the women’s spirit, today I bring to you the story of another Indian Freedom Fighter – Kalpana Dutta.
Kalpana Dutta
Kalpana Dutta was born on 27th August 1913 in the Chittagong District (which is now a part of Bangladesh). For her graduation, she came to Calcutta, and there she joined Chhatri Sangha – a revolutionary organisation that used to train young girls in arms and ammunition.
She joined the revolutionary group led by Surya Sen in 1931 and was entrusted with a role to attack the Pahartali European Club. But she was arrested while recceing the area. She got bail and promptly went underground. On 17th February 1933 the police found out the hiding place of the revolutionaries and Surya Sen was arrested but once again Kalpana Dutta was able to escape. She was finally caught in September and was jailed.
She was released in 1939 after which she joined the communist party and immersed herself in social work and relief activities during the Bengal famine in 1943 and the partition of 1947.
She married Puran Chand Joshi in 1943 who was at that time the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India. She wrote a book on the Chittagong Armoury Raid: “Chittagong Armoury Raiders: Reminiscences”.
Her daughter-in-law, Manini Chatterjee wrote a book called “Do and Die: The Chattagram Uprising” which was later adapted as a movie called “Khele hum Jee Jaan Se” – Deepika Padukone played the character of Kalpana Dutta.
Later on, Kalpana Dutta joined Indian Statistical Insititute and worked there till her retirement. She passed away on 8th February 1995 in Calcutta.
As we celebrate Stree Shakti this week, let’s remember this firebrand lady whom Master Da Surya Sen fondly called “Agni Kanya”.
Stay Safe Everyone. Let’s celebrate Durga Puja from home.
May Maa Durga bless us all.
The 4th Part of this Seven Part Series will release tomorrow where we will discuss another firebrand Bengali lady who left an indelible mark in Indian history.
The first part of the Stree Shakti series can be read here: https://souravsinha.com/2020/10/18/durga-puja-special-stree-shakti-begum-rokeya/ and the second part can be read here: https://souravsinha.com/2020/10/20/durga-puja-special-stree-shakti-bina-das/
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Beautifully written