Manindra Nath Banerjee: A Great Freedom Fighter and Unsung Hero

India is the land of festivals. On January 13, in different places in India, one celebration is held under various names: Makar Sankranti, Bhogali Bihu, Bhogi, Uruka, Lohri, Pongal, etc. But on January 13, 1909, a great freedom fighter, a youth of unsung heroes, was born. He sacrificed his life for the freedom of India from the British Gulami. We enjoy different types of foods through our festivals on January 13, but few people know about the sacrifice of Manindra Nath Banerjee. Revolutionary Banerjee was born on January 13, 1909, in the Pandeyghat area of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He joined the Hindustan Republican Army and considered Rajendra Nath Lahiri (freedom fighter) his guru. He had a total of eight brothers dedicated to the country's freedom. Anyway, police officer (Manindra Nath Banerjee’s uncle) Jitendra Nath Banerjee of the Intelligence Department tried to hang Rajendra Nath Lahiri, Thakur Roshan Singh, Pandit Ram Prasad 'Bismil,' Ashfaqulla Khan in the Kakori Conspiracy is also known as Kakori Kand by preparing police case. The British Government awarded police officer Jitendra Nath Banerjee the titles Rai Saheb and Rai Bahadur. Manindra Nath of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) considered Rajendra Nath Lahiri his guru. For this reason, he had made up his mind to kill the police officer, his uncle.

To fulfill his objective, he came in contact with the revolutionaries. In this sequence, he came to Prayagraj on January 11, 1928, and returned to Varanasi the next day. His 19th birthday was January 13, 1928. His mother prepared sweets and various foods. He informed his mother that he was going for some urgent work, and Manindra Nath Banerjee left his house. He met the police officer Jitendra Nath Banerjee near Marwari Hospital in Varanasi. He said to Jitendra Nath, "I will reward you for getting Rajendra Nath Lahiri hanged." He took out his revolver and shot Jitendra Nath Banerjee (his uncle) with three bullets and surrendered himself to the police. The food plate remained decorated in the same way at home. Manindra Nath Banerjee was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and three years of solitary confinement. First, he was kept in Varanasi jail and then sent to Farrukhabad Central Jail (March 20, 1928), known as ‘Kalapani’ in that area. The jailer, Ledley, was known as "Executioner" by the people. The freedom fighters started a hunger strike against the discrimination and inhuman treatment meted out to them in jail. Manindra Nath Banerjee participated in this hunger strike for better treatment of the prisoners, and after 66 days, he died on June 20, 1934, in the lap of fellow prisoner Manmath Nath Gupta.

A grand salute to Manindra Nath Banerjee on his birthday, January 13, 2025. Because of the sacrifice of such youths and many others, we have been living in an independent country.

Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

References: 1) amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm, 2) https://deepak-indianhistory.blogspot.com/2021/02/manindra-nath-banerjee-unsung.html and 3)cmsadmin.amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?382