Dipankar Das
Volume-XI, Issue-IV, July 2023
Volume-XI, Issue-IV, July 2023 | ||
Published Online: 31.07.2023 | Page No: 187-195 | |||
Satishchandra Samanta
in Civil Disobedience Movement
Dipankar Das, Research Scholar, Department of
History, Bankura University, Bankura, West Bengal, India | |
When Gandhiji started the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, almost every part of India supported the movement and even the coastal areas of Midnapore, a district in West Bengal started the Salt Satyagraha with great enthusiasm. Among the five Sub-divisions of this district Tamluk, Contai, Midnapore Sadar, Ghatal and Jhargram, Tamluk, and Contai Sub-divisions took the foremost role. The foremost widespread role of violation of the salt law was the Norghat Salt Centre in Tamluk and Pichhabani Salt Centre in Contai. However, in breaking the salt law at Narghat Salt Centre, there was a special reflection of the skillful leadership and thinking of Satishchandra Samanta, a prominent Congress leader of Tamluk Sub-division Mahishadal police station. Apart from the satyagrahis of Tamluk Sub-division or other Sub-division of the district, many volunteers from outside the district like 24 Parganas, Calcutta, Dhaka, Chittagong, Faridpur, Barisal, Mymensingh etc. joined in this salt centre. Therefore, in terms of salt preparation and its prevalence in Narghat Salt Centre, this salt centre is known as the 'Dandi of Tamluk Sub-division'. Also, Satishchandra Samanta and the Sub-divisional leaders of Tamluk Sub-division gave an extraordinary form to the Salt Satyagraha by opening salt law disobedience centres at different places. But the British government, under the Emergency Act, arrested prominent leaders of the Tamluk and Contai Sub-division earlier. It should be noted that despite the arrest of the leaders and indescribable police brutality, the salt law disobedience movement did not stop. On the other hand, the whole of Midnapore including Tamluk became intoxicated and joined the salt law disobedience movement. At that time, the British government detained Satishchandra Samanta in Midnapore Central Jail, Rajshahi Central Jail and Dumdum Special Jail. But despite this, it was not possible to suppress Satishchandra Samanta. Not only was he in jail as a political prisoner, but his many aspects of human service became evident, and he also thought ahead to plan and implement a larger movement. It is to be noted that during the Civil Disobedience Movement, the leaders of Midnapore, Tamluk and Contai Sub-Divisional along with Satishchandra Samanta on one side held on to the ideal of non-violent satyagraha. On the other hand, the tyrannical three district magistrates were killed by the revolutionaries. Thus, the revolutionaries of Midnapore proved - life is very insignificant compared to freedom. In spite of this, the Civil Disobedience Movement was rampant throughout the Tamluk Sub-division. For this reason, a comprehensive discussion and interpretation of Satishchandra Samanta based on local information is absolutely necessary. The paper highlights the role of Satish Samanta in the civil disobedience movement and the salt Satyagraha which was successful only in the Contai region of Midnapore | |
Keywords: Satyagrahi, Bandemataram, Strike, Sarbadhinayak, Satyagraha, Camp, Volunteer, Ordinance, Distillation, Chowkidari, Diploma, Engineering, Revolutionary, Gandhian, Extremist, Constructive, Dandi. |