Khudiram Bose: Indian revolutionary

Khudiram Bose was born on December 3, 1889, in a village in Medinipur district of West Bengal. He was the youngest among four siblings. Khudiram Bose lost his parents early in life and he was brought up by his eldest sister.

Khudiram Bose came in contact with revolutionary freedom fighters like Aurobindo Ghosh and Barindra Ghosh at a young age. In 1902, Aurobindo Ghosh had visited Midnapore when Khudiram Bose was a teenager. He had keenly listened to talks on revolution and freedom movement. He was also part of the Anushilan Samiti in Kolkata.

Khudiram Bose was executed on August 11, 1908, for the Muzaffarpur conspiracy case, where he, along with freedom fighter Prafulla Chaki, attempted to assassinate Douglas Kingsford, a British judge.

Although the bombs they used did not hit Kingsford's carriage, it hit a different one and ended with the death of two people. Prafulla Chaki died by suicide before the police could arrest him. Khudiram Bose was arrested and later was sentenced to death. Khudiram was the youngest freedom fighter to be executed. He was only 18 when he was hanged to death at the Muzaffarpur Jail, which has since been renamed after him.

Khudiram Bose became a volunteer when he was just 15. He was arrested for distributing booklets and other literature among local residents against the British colonial rulers. When Khudiram Bose was hanged, reports in the then newspapers said that he went to the gallows with a smile on his face and the Bhagavad Gita in his hand.

Like Bose, many freedom fighters were deeply influenced by the Bhagavad Gita. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin Chandra Pal among others were deeply influenced by the Bhagavad Gita. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi turned to the Bhagavad Gita whenever he was disturbed.

Facts of Khudiram Bose

1. Khudiram bose was one of the youngest revolutionaries of the Indian revolutionary movement. When he was hanged by the british, he was only 18 years and 8 months, 8 days old.
2. Both sons born to his parents before hime had died prematurely. As a result on his birth, his parents followed the traditional belief and sold the new-born child symbolically to the eldest sister for three handful of food grains. This at the time was known as Khud locally. It was an attempt to save the child from dying young. That his how he ended up getting his name Khudiram as well.
3. Khudiram bose lost both his parents by the time he was seven years old and was raised by his elder sister after that.
4. He was inspired by Sri Aurobindo & Sister Nivedita when they held public lectures in Medinipur.
5. Khudiram bose had became a volunteer in Indian freedom movement when he was only 15 years old and got arrested while distributing pamphlets.
6. He also became a member of Anushilan Samiti and came into contact with Barindra Kumar Ghosh as well.
7. Khudiram bose was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Kingsford who was the Chief Magistrate of Calcutta Presidency and was very unpopular for passing harsh sentences on political workers. To carry out the assassination, Khudiram bose and Prafulla chaki followed Kingsford’s daily routine and activities. On the planned day, two women left the Station Club in Muzuffarpur in a carriage which was very similar in appearance to the carriage of Mr. Kingsford.  Both men attacked it by throwing a bomb at the carriage. Both ladies later died due to the attack.
8. Khudiram bose was arrested on Pusa Road Station after the attack when he was trying to escape. Prafulla chaki was also recognized by a sub-inspector Andalal Banerjee and shot himself to escape getting arrested.
9. When death sentence was pronounced to Khudiram bose, he actually smiled in the courtroom and told the judge that if he could be given more time, he would teach him the skill of making bombs.
10. An undergraduate college called Khudiram Bose Central College was established in 1965 in Kolkata in his honor.
11. Muzaffarpur Jail, where he was incarcerated and executed on August 11, 1908 has been named as the Khudiram Bose Memorial Central Jail.