Batukeshwar Dutt

Batukeshwar Dutt was an Indian revolutionary and a freedom fighter in the early 1900s. He is best known for having exploded a few bombs, along with Bhagat Singh, in the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi on 8 April 1929. After they were arrested, tried and imprisoned for life, he and Bhagat Singh initiated a historic hunger strike protesting against the abusive treatment of Indian political prisoners, and eventually secured some rights for them. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

Batukeshwar Dutt, also known as B.K. Dutt, Battu and Mohan, son of Goshtha Bihari Dutt, was born on 18 November 1910 in the village Oari in Burdwan district, and lived also in Khanda and Mausu in Burdwan district in Bengal. He graduated from P.P.N. High School in Kanpur. He was a close associate of freedom fighters Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh. He met Bhagat Singh in Kanpur in 1924. Working for the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in Kanpur, he learned how to make bombs.

Bombs in the Assembly

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.^{[citation needed]} The bills were defeated in the Assembly by one vote.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Trial

Along with Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt was tried in the Central Assembly Bomb Case, and was sentenced in 1929 to life imprisonment by the Sessions Judge of Delhi under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code & Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. He was deported to the Cellular Jail

Last Days

After his release from prison Batukeshwar Dutt contracted tuberculosis. He nonetheless participated in the Quit India Movement of Mahatma Gandhi and was again jailed for four years. After India gained independence, he married Anjali in November 1947. It is sad that independent India did not accord him any recognition, and he spent his remaining life in penury away from political limelight, a forgotten hero. Batukeshwar Dutt outlived all his comrades and died on 20 July 1965 in the AIIMS in Delhi after his long illness. He was cremated in Hussainiwala near Firozepur in Punjab where the bodies of his comrades Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were also cremated many years ago. He was survived by his only daughter, Mrs. Bharti Bagchi, in Patna where his house was situated in the Jakkanpur area.

Trivia

The B.K. Dutt Colony in New Delhi located on a prime location opposite Safdarjung Airport and adjacent to Jor Bagh is named after Batukeshwar Dutt death in AIIMS. This was nearest private residential colony near to AIIMS in NDMC area.

Book

Famous writer Anil Verma wrote a book"Batukeshwar Dutt: Bhagat Singh ke Shahyogi" released on Dutt's birth centenary published by Govt. of India's publication National Book Trust,its first book on B K Dutt in any language.