The Kolkata International Book Fair will witness the release of important books on the revolutionary movement in Bengal. The Kolkata International Book Fair is scheduled to be inaugurated on Thursday by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Some heads of the publishing houses having offices on College Street said there has been a renewed interest among the youths about the revolutionaries many of whom had sacrificed their lives to free India.
Kalimayer Boma, a book written by Ashokkumar Mukhopadhyay is an interesting book on the revolutionary movement. The book will be published by Sahitya Samsad. Mr Mukhopadhyay has dealt in details on Swadeshi Gan(patriotic songs) whose references are found in police reports.
It may be mentioned that Swami Vivekananda had great influence on the revolutionaries. His clarion call to the youths on his return to India in 1897 that let ‘Motherland be your only object of worship for the next 50 years’ had great influence on the youths. Many of the revolutionaries who had been given capital punishment were found to recite the letters written by Swamiji in the condemned cells.Bramhabadhab Upadhaya, the editor of Sandhya had urged that every family should produce at least one revolutionary who will deal with bombs.
The British administration became scared after a series of bomb throwing incidents took place in Bengal. Aurobindo Ghosh was arrested in connection with the Alipore Bomb case. Young researcher Soumabrata DasGupta has written a book in Bengali, British Pulisher File e Bengal Volunteers o Subhaschandra. Bengal volunteers had played an important role in the freedom movement. Saikat Neogy, another young researcher has written a book titled Agnijuger Candannagar.
Chandannagar, then a French colony, was a hotbed of revolutionary activities. Sri Aurobindo took shelter in Chandannagar on his way to Puducherry. Rashbehari Basu had carried on secret revolutionary activities in Chandannagar. It is interesting to note that Chandannagore College is the only educational institution in the country that had remained closed from 1908 to 1931 because of the alleged connection of the students with the freedom fighters