Dhirendranath Datta (2 November 1886 – disappeared 29 March 1971) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

lawyer by profession who was also active in the politics of 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 ...

in pre-partition India, and later in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

(1947–1971).

Early life

Datta was born on 2 November 1886 in Ramrail, in

Brahmanbaria District Brahmanbaria ( bn, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, translit=Brahmôṇbaṛiya) is a district in eastern Bangladesh located in the Chittagong Division. Geographically, it is mostly farmland and is topographically part of the Ga ...

, Bengal Province (in today's Bangladesh). His father Jagabandhu Datta was a lawyer and introduced Dhirendranath to the legal profession from an early age. Dhirendranath was educated at Nabinagar High School, Comilla Zilla School and Ripon College in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Early career

Datta began his career as a school teacher, eventually becoming assistant headmaster of the Bangora High school in

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

. He was very active in the local community and was a leader of the relief effort following devastating floods in 1915. He formed the ''Mukti Sangha'', a welfare organization, after becoming inspired by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. Datta's relief work continued up to the

Bengal Famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 0.8 to 3.8 million Bengalis perished, out of a population of 60.3 millio ...

. He joined the Comilla District Bar in 1911 and continued to practice until he was advised to give up his profession in favor of politics by his political comrade

Chittaranjan Das Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swar ...

Political activism

Along with many politically active Bengalis of his time, Datta took a firm stand following the

Bengal Partition of 1905 The first Partition of Bengal (1905) was a territorial reorganization of the Bengal Presidency implemented by the authorities of the British Raj. The reorganization separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western are ...

. He chose to vehemently oppose partition, working closely with other anti-partition activists such as

Surendranath Banerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nati ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

. Datta joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

from

Mymensingh District Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netr ...

and was first elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1937. He was arrested by the British rulers of India for his participation in the

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

movement of 1942. Datta firmly opposed the creation of Pakistan and partition of India on religious lines; but when it became clear that partition of Bengal was inevitable and that his home district of Comilla would be in the new Muslim majority state, he opted to remain in

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

(unlike many other Hindu leaders), and as a result, was invited to be part of the constitutional committee to draft the legislative framework of the new country before the actual independence of Pakistan. 300px, Dhirendranath Datta addressing a meeting at the Fine Arts Institute, Dhaka, 1957

The Pakistan era

Datta continued to represent his constituency as a Hindu member of the renamed

Pakistan National Congress The Pakistan National Congress (PNC), later known as the Bangladesh National Congress, was a political party that mainly represented the Hindus and other religious minorities in Pakistan. The party championed secularism in the Muslim-dominated st ...

(seats were allocated by a quota according to religion). On 23 February 1948 in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, he made a speech calling for Bengali to be made one of the official languages of Pakistan, in what was to become the action he will be most remembered for by his compatriots. In 1954, he moved an adjournment motion against the declaration of Governor's Rule in East Pakistan, and was seen as the ''de facto'' face of protest and democracy. He served as the Minister of Health and Social Welfare (East Pakistan) in

Ataur Rahman Khan Ataur Rahman Khan ( bn, আতাউর রহমান খান; 1 July 1907 – 7 December 1991) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, and served as Chief Minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the P ...

's cabinet (1956. because of his alleged links to the emerging underground Bengali Nationalist movement, supposed members of which included

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 ...

. After this, he refrained from active politics but kept on supporting the rising nationalist movement from behind.

Assassination by the Pakistan Army

Due to Datta's continued defiance of state discrimination and authoritarianism in Pakistan, at the onset of the

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 ...

, three days after the arrest of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Datta was arrested at his house in Comilla on 29 March 1971, and taken with his son, Dilip Kumar Datta, to Moynamoti Cantonment and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d to death. For this reason, he is often referred to as "Shaheed" (martyr) as a sign of respect.

Personal life

Datta had a son Dilip Kumar Datta.