Freedom fighter passes away in Kolkata

Freedom fighter Sudhansu Jiban Ganguly, who accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on his peace mission to Noakhali after the 1946 communal riots, died here on Thursday following a heart attack, family sources said.

Ganguly, 99, leaves behind two sons and three daughters. He suffered a heart attack at his younger son's residence in Durganagar of North 24 Parganas.

Born at Bikrampur in Dhaka district (now in Bangladesh), Ganguly joined the freedom movement against the British masters when he was only 13.

He was assigned the task of a messenger by freedom fighter Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, and carried letters for revolutionaries.

A student of the government-aided Bikrampur Paikpara Union School, Ganguly opted to work as gardener of the institution after Ghosh told him: "Look, you are studying for free. That means you are taking free education from the British. So you must do something to pay them back."

At the age of 15, he spent 15 days in Munshiganj jail under Dhaka district for picketing against English tea.

He was again jailed for two years for laying siege on Tangluberia police station in the mid 1930s.

He took part in the 1942 Quit India movement and was imprisoned in Dhaka Central Jail for three years.

In 1946, when Kolkata and Noakhali were synged by communal riots, Ganguy accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on his peace mission in both the areas following Ghosh's instructions.

Till death, he was chairman of Government of West Bengal's State Advisory Committee for Freedom Fighters' Pension, and attended office even on Wednesday.

--IANS

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