Correct Cellular Jail ‘bias’, mark Bengal martyrs’ contribution, say researchers
Times of India | 11 January 2026
Kolkata: A research group named after revolutionary, Ullaskar Dutta, demanded that cells at the Cellular Jail in Port Blair be named after 12 revolutionaries from Bengal, who were the first batch of political prisoners there.
They were associated with the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy Case, in which Khudiram Bose, Kanailal Dutta and Satyendranath Bose were hanged.
Thegroup wrote a letter citing their demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Andaman and Nicobar administration.
At present, two cells at the Cellular Jail are dedicated to former inmates Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Sachindra Nath Sanyal. The British govt arrested Aurobindo Ghosh, a prominent nationalist leader, his brother Barindra Kumar Ghosh, and many young revolutionaries, including Ullaskar Dutta, Hem Chandra Das, Upendra Nath Banerjee and Indubhushan Roy, in the Alipore Bomb Case in 1908. After a year-long trial, Aurobindo Ghosh was acquitted of all charges. However, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, as the head of the secret society of revolutionaries, and Ullaskar Dutta, as the maker of bombs, were given death penalty. Later, on appeal, the verdict was reduced to transportation for life, and they were sent to the Cellular Jail.
Among several others who were sentenced to life imprisonment or long-term rigorous imprisonment, Hem Chandra Das, Abinash Chandra Bhattacharya, Upendra Nath Banerjee, Bibhuti Bhushan Sarkar, Indubhushan Roy, Paresh Chandra Moulik, Hrishikesh Kanjilal, Biren Chandra Sen, Sudhir Kumar Sarkar and Nirapada Roy were also sent to the Cellular Jail.
"The 12 political prisoners, including Ullaskar Dutta, Hem Chandra Das and Barindra Kumar Ghosh, were the first large group to be convicted for politically motivated crimes. They were sent to Kalapani to suffer rigorous imprisonment and cruelty. In their isolated cells, they were made to do gruelling chores, and disobedience was met with the harshest torture," said Subhra Gupta, managing trustee of Ullaskar Dutta Academy.
"These revolutionaries are an integral part of India's freedom struggle, and their contributions are wiped out from the pages of history. Just as separate cells are dedicated in the name of Savarkar and Sanyal, it is time we recognise the struggle of the 12 revolutionaries and preserve their memories," he added.
Advisor to the academy Prasanta Paul said, "It is time we reassess the history of the freedom movement by focusing on Bengali revolutionaries." The ministry of culture and tourism, in a response to a question by Trinamool MP Ritabrata Banerjee, stated that 585 revolutionaries were jailed in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans from 1909 to 1938, out of which 398 were from undivided Bengal.