Batukeshwar Dutt

Also Known As : B.K. Dutt

Born On : 18 November 1910 at Village Oari in Burdwan district

Died On : 20 July 1965 at AIIMS in Delhi

A revolutionary freedom fighter, was born on 18th November 1910 in a village called Oari located in District Purba Bardhaman in West Bengal.

He shifted to Kanpur to study in the PPN High school, from where he graduated.

He met the legendary revolutionary leader Bhagat Singh in Kanpur in 1924. Dutt was also friends with another great freedom fighter Chandrasekhar Azad.

He joined the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and learnt how to make bombs.

Dutt is most remembered for his role as Bhagat Singh’s associate in the Central Assembly Bombing Case.

The plan, which was proposed by Bhagat Singh, was that Dutt and Singh would explode a bomb in the Central Assembly in Delhi.

This was planned in response to the British decision to pass the Defence of India Act 1915 which widely increased the powers of the police.

On 8th April, 1929, Singh and Dutt threw 2 bombs from the Visitor’s Gallery.

The British Government introduced the Public Safety Bill & the Trade Dispute Bill in the Central Legislative Assembly. They gave more power to the British Government and the police against Indian revolutionaries and freedom fighters. The bills were defeated in the Assembly by one vote. However, they were enacted by an ordinance, claiming that the ordinance was in the best interest of the public. To protest against this ordinance, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association decided to explode a few bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly. Chandrashekhar Azad, the leader of that revolutionary movement, was not in favor of exploding bombs. However, others in the party persuaded Azad to accept Bhagat Singh’s plan, and Azad selected Batukeshwar Dutt to accompany Bhagat Singh and throw the bombs in the Assembly.

As smoke filled the hall, both the young radicals shouted ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (Long live the revolution). They also threw pamphlets which stated that the incident was done to prevent the Trade Disputes and the Public Safety Bill which was being presented in the Assembly.

Apart from a few injuries, nobody was killed in the bombing which was as per plan. Both Singh and Dutt courted arrest. Their stated motive was to ‘make the deaf hear’.

Dutt’s trial started in May 1929. He was defended by lawyer Asaf Ali. The verdict was out in June.

Both Singh and Dutt were sentenced to life imprisonment and deported to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.

Bhagat Singh was also tried for his involvement in the murder of British police officer John Saunders, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev. He was sentenced to death and executed on 23rd March 1931.

After Dutt’s release, he took part in the freedom struggle notably in the Quit India Movement. He was jailed again for four years.

After 1947, he married a girl and started a transport business.

Despite being involved in one of the most illustrious episodes of the revolutionary freedom struggle, he led a non-political life afterwards.

He contracted an illness and died in a hospital in Delhi in 1965.

He was cremated beside the place where his comrades Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were cremated decades earlier.