Santosh Chandra Bhattacharyya ( bn, সন্তোষচন্দ্র ভট্টাচার্য) (30 August 1915 – 14 December 1971) was a senior lecturer of the department of history at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

, who was killed by an

Al Badr Al-Badr ( ar, البدر, ' "the full moon") is a militant group operating in the Kashmir region. The group was allegedly formed by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in June 1998. It is believed the group was encouraged by the ...

squad on 14 December 1971.

Early life

Bhattacharya came from a

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...

Brahmin family known for the tradition of studying Sanskrit. He was born on 30 August 1915 in the village of Jantrail on other side of the Buriganga opposite to Dhaka. His birthplace is now under Nawabganj Upazila of

Dhaka District Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...

. Bhattacharya graduated in history with honours from

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. In 1938, he completed his master's degree in history from

Career

In 1938, Bhattacharya started his career as a lecturer of history at the

Jagannath College Jagannath University (JnU) ( bn, জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ''Jagannātha biśbabidyālaẏa'', University Acrostic : জবি or JnU) is a state-funded public university at 9–10, Chittaranjan Avenue in Sa ...

. In 1949, he joined the

as lecturer in history. A few years later he was promoted to the position of senior lecturer. Bhattacharya's area of expertise was the Mauryan period of the Indian history, with special expertise on the works of

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

Assassination

On 25 March 1971, when the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

launched

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the opera ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, Bhattacharya escaped to his ancestral village in Jantrail. However, he had to join the university under the directive of the army. He refused to leave

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 ...

and take refuge in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. On 14 December 1971, a squad of

militia abducted him from his Isa Khan residence in Dhaka. His dead body was discovered from

Rayer Bazaar Rayer Bazaar is a well-known thoroughfare in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It is generally regarded as one of the historical areas of the city. Rayer Bazaar was founded during the colonial period most probably in the 19th century. It ...

killing field.

References

{{Authority control 1915 births 1971 deaths People from Dhaka People killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War