Bishnu Chattopadhyay alias Bistu Thakur (April, 1910 – April 11, 1971) was a

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

i politician who was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation war. He was an

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

and leader of the peasant movement. He provided leadership to the

Tebhaga movement Tebhaga movement (1946–1947) was significant peasant agitation, initiated in Bengal by the All India Kisan Sabha of peasant front of the Communist Party of India. History At that time sharecroppers had contracted to give half of their harv ...

that developed in the 1940s in undivided

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

Early life

Chattopadhyay was born in a Bhadro lok family of

Khulna District Khulna District ( bn, খুলনা জেলা , ''Khulna Jela'' also ''Khulna Zila'') is a district of Bangladesh. It is located in the Khulna Division. It is bordered on the north by the Jessore District and the Narail District, on the south ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. His father was Radhacharan Chattopadhyay. While studying in Naihati village school he left home and attracted with ''Sannyas'' life. After few days he returned home and joined in revolutionary politics. His brother Narayan Chattopadhyay and sister Bhanu Devi were also connected with the secret anti British activities under the disguise of Jessore Khulna Youth Society.

Career

While working in Khalispur Swaraj Ashram, Chattopadhyay was first arrested in 1929 in connection with a case of political dacoity. But released without having evidences. He participated in

Civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

and detained in Bengal Criminal Case Act on 2 May 1930. In next three years of imprisonment he became influenced in

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

by the communist leaders like Bhabani Sen, Pramatha Bhaumik and

Abdur Rezzak Khan Abdur Rezzak Khan (1900–1984) Bengali anti-British freedom fighter, communist revolutionary and politician. He was a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1969. Background He was born in June 1900 at Hakimpur, 24 parganas of Beng ...

. Soon after the release he became a member of

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

and started work as a peasant organiser. Chattopadhyay constructed the Shovana dam over the Shakhabahi river and Nabeki dam organising thousands of farmers in front of the goons of landlords and police forces. In 1940 in his leadership 21 thousand acres land were distributed to the landless people. Chattopadhyay became a heroic figure of the

peasant uprising A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

Dumuria Dumuria is a village and a Gaon Panchayat in Barpeta district in the Indian state of Assam. History Dumuria served as the second capital of the Bijni kingdom, a branch of the Koch dynasty. The capital had been located in a village now known a ...

, Batiaghata area and

. His name itself became myth to the common people. He was popularly known as ''Bishtu Thakur.'' He organised peasants conference in 1939 and 1944 covering two districts. In Maubhag area a regional peasant conference was also organised by him in 1946. After and before

partition of Bengal (1947) The Partition of Bengal in 1947, part of the Partition of India, divided the British Indian province of Bengal based on the Radcliffe Line between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The Hindu-majority West Bengal became a stat ...

he remained under preventive detention and tortured for 24 years of his life. In

Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...

jail, one of his fellow inmates was

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

, the future

President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...

. Chattopadhyay was a man of versatile talents. He made night school for the peasants and adult education center, Lokshikkha Sansad under

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

. He had experience with agricultural science and veterinary treatments. In 1969 he also published a collection of his articles named ''Mehanati Manush''.

Death

On 11 April 1971, he was brutally murdered by the Rajakar and

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

agents at the time of

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chattopadhyay, Bishnu 1910 births 1971 deaths People killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War People from Khulna District Indian revolutionaries Revolutionary movement for Indian independence Peasant revolts Bangladeshi politicians Bengali Hindus Bangladeshi Hindus Prisoners and detainees of British India Pakistani Hindus Bangladeshi Marxists