Lockdown: Freedom fighter Prafulla Chaki's grandniece goes

Madhabi Talukdar, the grandniece of freedom fighter Prafulla Chaki, said she is spending her days in hunger in a shanty near Gangarampur police station in West Bengal's South Dinajpur district due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Recalling the days of struggle for independence from the British rule, Talukdar said she used to visit the hideouts of the freedom fighters as a 10-year-old and perform movement-related work assigned by Prafulla Chaki, the youngest brother of her grandfather Pratap Chaki.

Along with Khudiram Bose, Chaki had attempted to assassinate the then Muzaffarpur District Judge, Douglas Kingsford in 1908. While Bose was nabbed and hanged, Chaki evaded arrest by committing suicide.

More than 70 years after Independence, Talukdar works as a cleaner at a temple in the nondescript West Bengal town.

The religious institution is shut due to the lockdown.

Her 23-year-old son runs a small eatery which is also closed due to the lockdown.

"Despite participating in the freedom struggle according to my capacity, I don't get freedom fighter's pension. With the imposition of the lockdown, I have to survive on the scant relief materials distributed by some people," Talukdar told PTI.

"I was married to a well-to-do businessman in Gangarampur. But after his death, we lost everything and for many years, we live in the shanty," she said.

Gangarampur MLA Goutam Das said he was unaware of Talukdar's misery and promised to extend aid to her.