Sunday, August 18, 2013

Contai(Kanthi), Pichabani & Salt Satyagraha, কাঁথি, পিছাবনী, এবং লবণ সত্যাগ্রহ

গুগল বুক্স থেকে যত টুকু পাওয়া গিয়েছে-

Another area on Midnapur active in the civil disobedience movement was Contai. About 30 subcentres were at Contai subdivision on 26th april 1930 under the direction pf Prafulla Chandra Sen. The centre at Contai was directly under the control of civil disobedience committee. By the end of the season about 60 centres were opted in the subdivision where thousands of people gathered to manufacture and export salt. The civil disobedience committee of the provincial Congress committee promised to help such centres opened by the district Congress Committees. The movement in Contai was strengthened by volunteers from other provinces. For example Satyagrahis from landlocked regions like Ram Nagore in Bihar’s Jallesore thana participated in the salt satyagraha in Contai. A remarkable feature of the salt satyagraha of Contai was that here the people participated of their own violation, even when there was no effort by the leaders to involve them. A committee comprising of J N Bose, P Mukherjee, Member of the Legisletive Council, P R Sen, Professor of Calcutta University, Khitish Neogy and B N Sasmal visited Contai in the midst of the campaign. As the committee arrived, crowed of villagers gathered to make salt. The committee also received registered letter from Behuna, Subarnadighi and Pichaboni carrying the message of the people that they wished to break the salt law.
Narendia Khal in Ramnagore had been centre of illicit salt making for a long time. On 21 May, some volunteers arrived at Ramnagore and gave a call to make salt openly. On 6 June,  1930, between 800 and 1,000men gathered on bath the sides of the Narendia Khal to make salt. The sub-inspector who crossed the canal where salt was being made, broke the salt chulas and handis and asked the crowed to disperse. When the crowed refused to obey, he arrested a local volunteer who was leading the protesters. The crowed immediately flew into action trying to rescue him. They attacked the police with brickbats, stones, clods of earth and lathis which they kept hidden in the canal. The Pratapdighi, Contai subdivision, on 31 May some volunteers arrives at the Pratapdighi hat to manufacture salt. The volunteers erected tin shed with the help of the villagers. The daroga who appeared in the sceneexplein to the villagers the illegality of this action and asked them to leave. Some relented but most refused. As the sub-inspector was leading the volunteers away one villager, Laksmi Narayan Das of Mazna, shouted ‘I have all along hid my opinions. I now come out in the open to do…

From

Congress Politics in Bengal 1919-1939  By Srilata Chatterjee

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