Labanya Prabha Ghosh (1897–2003), also called Labanya Devi, a

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalis ...

, was a prominent personality of the Indian freedom movement, from

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average elev ...

District of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. She lived for almost 106 years and during later part of her life, was forced to live in a poverty-stricken

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Atul Chandra Ghosh, another important personality of Indian freedom movement from

district. She never went to school but was taught by her father. Her father, Risi Nabarun Chandra was also a freedom fighter, who along with his son-in-law, established "Shilpashram", at Telkalpara, Purulia, which was a place of gathering for several freedom fighters including

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperi ...

, Chittaranjan das and on certain occasions, Mahatma Gandhi also visited this ashram. She was the first woman MLA from Purulia who was elected representing Lok sevak Sangha. She was an active member of "Shilpashram", an important center of freedom struggle movement of Manbhum region. She wrote several article in

Mukti Mukti () is the concept of spiritual liberation ( Moksha or Nirvana) in Indian religions, including jivan mukti, para mukti. Mukti may also refer to: Film * ''Mukti'' (1937 film), a Hindi- and Bengali-language Indian film * ''Mukti'' (1960 ...

,a weekly periodical from established by her husband at Purulia and she continued as editor of the periodical after his death in 1961. She was a leading lady for several protests in Purulia during British Raj and she was recognised as an important freedom fighter of the area. Her son Arun Chandra Gosh and daughter Urmila Majumdar were also freedom fighters and lived with her in Shilpashrama, Purulia.

Salt March

She played a major role in

Salt March 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 ...

(1930) and Pataka Satyagraha (1945) and was arrested several times by British Government. She also undertook individual Satyagraha and was arrested by British during 1941. Labanya Prabha Ghosh along with her daughter Kamala Ghosh organised protest in Shilpa Ashrama, Purulia as a part of

Quit India movement 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 in ...

called by Mahatma Gandhi during 1942 and both were arrested. After India's Independence, she participated in '' Bhasa Andolon'' in Bihar, for which she was arrested and later, because of this agitation,

was separated from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and merged with

on linguistic lines. Again, in emergency period, she was arrested during 1975. She died on 11 April 2003 at the age of 106.

Recognitions

*She was felicitated by

Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his m ...

in February 2003, on behalf of Bhasha Sahid Smarak Samity for her Contribution to the language movement ( Bhasa Andolon).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Labanya Prabha 1897 births 2003 deaths Bengali politicians Indian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of British India Indian independence activists from Bengal People from Purulia district Women Indian independence activists 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people

Salt March

Recognitions

See also

References