“If you can sacrifice your lives for the country, so can your women”— this was the life motto of Dukari Bala Devi, one of the most prominent members of the armed freedom struggle against the British in pre-Independence India. She had been the first female fighter to be arrested and convicted under the infamous Arms Act.
Born in Nalhati village of Birbhum, Dukari Bala’s life was nothing short of a fable. Her brother-in-law Nibaran Ghatak had been associated with the armed rebellion for quite a long time. She was inducted into it by Bipin Behari Ganguly, a renowned freedom fighter.
In one of the most memorable incidents from Dukari Bala’s life, some arms being carried to Fort William by cattle-drawn carriages were smuggled into her house by another freedom fighter. After conducting a raid in some places, the British authorities recovered a letter where it was hinted that eight guns and two boxes of cartridges were hidden in Dukari Bala’s house.
On January 7, 1917, the police forces surrounded her house and demanded that she let them search it. Dukari Bala sent all the guns and ammunition to her neighbour Suradhuni Mollani through her house help. However, a local overheard the scheme and got both Suradhuni and Dukaribala arrested.
While Suradhuni was able to secure a bail later, Dukari Bala was kept in judicial custody at the Nalhati police station, where she refused to divulge anything despite the inhuman torture inflicted on her. Later, she was convicted by a Special Tribunal Court under the Arms Act and sentenced to imprisonment for two years and six months on March 8, 1917. She was shifted to the Presidency Jail where she remained strong and steadfast in her resolve to not open up about the whereabouts of her comrades or arms shipments.
Upon being released two years later, she turned to philanthropy and social work. She died on April 28, 1970.
A whole century has passed since Dukaribala Devi was jailed and suffered for the sake of the nation. But unfortunately, there are still no visible signs to commemorate her in her home ground.
Her descendants Ashok Kumar and Saurav Kumar Chakraborty say that they are trying to persuade the government to install a bust of the great revolutionary in Nalhati or Rampurhat.They also want a bridge to be constructed in her honour on the Tirpita river between Erangi and Jhaupara.
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