That village still cries with emotion

Khudiram is one of those names from the history of Indian independence that cannot be forgotten for any reason. The youngest freedom fighter who never compromised in the goal of freeing India from the hands of white rulers.
In today’s article, we will remember Khudiram Bose and discuss many more things about his 14-year life.

Kshudiram Bose early life

Khudiram has been described as a Bengali revolutionary in India, who wanted to see India move towards the freedom movement without compromise. Khudiram was born in the village of Mohbani in the Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal on 3 December 1889.
At that time it was part of the British Presidency of India.
The people of Bengal probably never imagined that this little boy, born into a Bengali Kayastha family, would one day leave his mark on the pages of Indian history.

His father Trailokyanath Bose was a Tahsilder at Narajola and his mother Laxmipriya Devi was a simple housewife. He is the 4th child of his parents after three elder sisters. Khudiram’s two brothers died prematurely. Fearing that something might happen to Khudiram too, Khudiram’s mother sold him to his elder sister in exchange for two handfuls of Khud or brittle rice. That is why he was later named Khudiram.

Mohaboni village the birthplace of revolutionary Khudiram Bose

Khudiram’s patriotism from childhood

Since his childhood, he had a deep love for his country. He was against using any foreign products, starting from foreign clothes. Khudiram always believed in wearing local clothes and would also tell everyone around him to abandon foreign products.
Khudi became part of Aurobindo and Bhagini Nivedita’s visit to Medinipur around 1902 or 1903 and their patriotic discussions. Later, he joined the Anushilan Samiti and came in contact with Barindranath, and from there his patriotic work began.

Khudi started declaring war against the British government and its officers from behind the scenes at the age of just 16. He stockpiled bombs outside the police station and started throwing bombs at British officers one by one.

Khudi’s educational life

Khudi completed his education from Hamilton School in Tamluk and then studied at Collegiate School in Midnapore.
His educational career began at a school in Anandpur, where he studied till the 4th grade.

Kingsford assassination and Khudiram

Khudiram’s revolutionary life began in Medinipur. There he joined the new arena built for revolutionaries. Kingsford was the Chief Judge of the Alipore Presidency Court at that time. He was handling the cases of several people, including the editor of Jugantar. From then on, the plan to kill Kingsford began. Kingsford had imposed severe punishments on them. And although it caused a huge financial loss to Jugantor at one time, it later proved to be a kind of profit for the newspaper. More and more people started reading Jugantor and this helps to promote the nationalist revolutionary ideology of the Anushilan Samiti.

The first attempt to assassinate Kingsford was made with a book bomb made by Hemchandra.
The British government realized that the security of Kingsford was increasing. Then in March 1908, the government promoted Kingsford and transferred him to the post of judge of Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. With him went furniture, a library and book bombs.
A team from Anushilan Samiti set out to visit Muzaffarpur to implement the Kingsford murder plan. There was Prafulla Chaki and a new boy named Khudiram Basu.

Meanwhile, as police suspicions grew about the activities of Arvind Ghosh, Barindra Ghosh, and their associates, the Kolkata Police became vigilant in saving Kingsford’s life.
They managed to hide their identities for about three weeks by changing their identities. On the evening of April 29, Khudiram and Prafulla arrived at the location to execute their plan.

Kingsford and his wife were playing bridge with the daughter and wife of a British barrister named Pringle Kennedy that day. They planned to return home at 8:30 p.m. Kingsford and his wife were in a car that looked exactly like the one Kennedy and his family had.
Khudiram and Prafulla Chaki ran towards Kingsford’s car and threw a bomb. A huge explosion occurred. But unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy were in that car. Ms. Kennedy died on the spot and Mrs. Kennedy was killed on May 2nd.
As soon as the incident became known overnight, both Khudiram and Prafulla fled. But they could not escape for long. On the one hand, Khudi was caught by a police constable at Waini railway station. On the other hand, Prafulla was caught by the British at Chakki and committed suicide by shooting himself before being sentenced.

Khudiram’s trial and execution

Then came the day when Khudiram left this world forever. Khudiram’s trial began on 21 May 1908 in what became known as the Alipore Bomb Case. The judges were a British man, Mr. Corndoff, and two Indians, Lathuniprasad and Janakiprasad.
When Khudiram was sentenced to death, he looked on with a sweet smile on his face. The judge asked him if he understood that he would have to die by hanging. Then Khudi said only one word, Vande Mataram.

The empty residence of Khudiram

The place where Khudi was born still exists today. There was a small house in that place. In which Khudi spent his childhood with his parents, siblings and grandparents, although he is no longer in that place. Over time, the place became dilapidated and was moved.
Now a beautiful park has been built there. So that tourists can come and go. Every year, the birth anniversary and death anniversary of Khudiram or Martyr’s Day is celebrated here. There is a library. All in all, the people of Mohbani are still keeping Khudiram alive there.