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{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter (1870-1942)}}
{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter (1870-1942)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Matangini Hazra
| name = Matangini Hazra
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|birth_name = Matangini Maity
|birth_name = Matangini Maity
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1870|10|19}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1870|10|19}}
| birth_place = [[Tamluk]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| birth_place = [[Tamluk]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]] (now [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
|movement = [[Salt March|Civil Disobedience movement]]<br />Chowkidari tax bandha movement<br />[[Quit India movement]]
|movement = [[Salt March|Civil Disobedience movement]]<br />Chowkidari tax bandha movement<br />[[Quit India movement]]
|death_cause = Shot thrice by the British police
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|9|29|1869|11|17}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1942|9|29|1869|11|17}}
| death_place = Tamluk, Bengal Presidency, British India
| death_place = Tamluk, Bengal Presidency, British India
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}}
}}


'''Matangini Hazra''' (19 October 1870 – 29 September 1942<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2010/09/29/46101 |title=মাতঙ্গিনী হাজরা |publisher=Amardeshonline.com |date=2010-09-29 |access-date=2012-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120001023/http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2010/09/29/46101 |archive-date=20 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the [[Indian independence movement]] until she was shot dead by the [[British Raj|British Indian]] police in front of the [[Tamluk]] Police Station (of erstwhile [[Midnapore District]]) on 29 September 1942. She was affectionately known as ''Gandhi buri'', [[Bengali language|Bengali]] for ''old lady Gandhi.''<ref name="Banglapedia">{{cite book
'''Matangini Hazra''' (19 October 1870 – 29 September 1942<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2010/09/29/46101 |title=মাতঙ্গিনী হাজরা |publisher=Amardeshonline.com |date=2010-09-29 |access-date=2012-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120001023/http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2010/09/29/46101 |archive-date=20 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the [[Indian independence movement]]. She was leading one of the five batches of volunteers (of the ''Vidyut Bahini''), constituted by the ''Samar Parisad'' (War Council), at Tamluk to capture the Tamluk Police Station on 29 September 1942, when she was shot dead by the [[British Raj|British Indian]] police in front of the Police Station, becoming the first "Quit India" movement martyr in [[Midnapore district|Midnapore]]. She was a staunch [[Gandhism|Gandhian]] and was fondly called as ''Gandhi buri'', [[Bengali language|Bengali]] for "''old lady Gandhi''".<ref name="Banglapedia">{{cite book
|last=Amin
|last=Amin
|first=Sonia
|first=Sonia
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[[File:Stamp of India - 2002 - Colnect 158283 - Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar - Matangini Hazra.jpeg|thumb|Matangini Hazra on a stamp of India celebrating 60 years of [[Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar]]]]
[[File:Stamp of India - 2002 - Colnect 158283 - Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar - Matangini Hazra.jpeg|thumb|Matangini Hazra on a stamp of India celebrating 60 years of [[Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar]]]]


==Early life and involvement in the freedom movement==
==Early life==
Not much is known of her early life apart from that she was born in the small village of Hogla, near [[Tamluk]] in 1869, and that because she was the daughter of a poor peasant, she did not receive a formal education.<ref name="Freedom">{{cite book
Not much is known of her early life apart from that she was born in a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] [[Mahishya]] family of village Hogla, near [[Tamluk]] in 1870,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) vol. 4 |publisher=Indian Council of Historical Research |year=2018 |location=New Delhi |pages=254 |language=English}}</ref> and that because she was the daughter of a poor peasant, she did not receive a formal education.<ref name="Freedom">{{cite book
| last = Maity
| last = Maity
| first = Sachindra
| first = Sachindra
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| location = Calcutta
| location = Calcutta
| pages = 112–113
| pages = 112–113
}}</ref> She was married early (at the age of 12) and became widowed at the age of eighteen without bearing any offspring.<ref name="Banglapedia"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Maya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5aYvBs7iGIC |title=Encyclopaedia of Gender Equality Through Women Empowerment |date=2005 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-548-6 |pages=231 |language=en}}</ref>
}}</ref> She was married early (at the age of 12) and her husband name Trilochan Hazra and she became widowed at the age of eighteen without bearing any offspring. Her father-in-law's village was Alinan, of Tamluk thana.<ref name="Banglapedia"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Maya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5aYvBs7iGIC |title=Encyclopaedia of Gender Equality Through Women Empowerment |date=2005 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-548-6 |pages=231 |language=en}}</ref>


== Participation in the freedom movement ==
She became actively interested in the Indian independence movement as a [[Gandhian]].<ref name="Freedom"/> A notable feature of the freedom struggle in Midnapore was the participation of women.<ref name="Local">{{cite book
Matangini Hazra became actively interested in the Indian independence movement as a [[Gandhian]].<ref name="Freedom" /> A notable feature of the freedom struggle in Midnapore was the participation of women.<ref name="Local">{{cite book
| last = Chakrabarty
| last = Chakrabarty
| first = Bidyut
| first = Bidyut
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| location = New Delhi
| location = New Delhi
| pages =
| pages =
}}</ref> In 1930, she took part in the [[Salt March|Civil Disobedience movement]] and was arrested for breaking the [[Salt Satyagraha|Salt Act]]. She was promptly released, but then participated in the 'Chowkidari Tax Bandha' (abolition of chowkidari tax) movement and while marching towards the court building chanting slogan to protest against the illegal constitution of a court by the governor to punish those who participated in the movement, Matangini was arrested again. She was sentenced to six months imprisonment and sent to Baharampur jail. Again, she was incarcerated for six months at [[Baharampur]].<ref name="Banglapedia"/> After being released, she became an active member of the [[Indian National Congress]] and took to spinning her own ''[[Khadi]]''. In 1933, she attended the subdivisional Congress conference at [[Serampore]] and was injured in the ensuing [[baton charge]] by the police.<ref name="Banglapedia"/>
}}</ref> In 1930, she took part in the [[Salt March|Civil Disobedience movement]] and was arrested for breaking the [[Salt Satyagraha|Salt Act]]. She was promptly released, but then participated in the 'Chowkidari Tax Bandha' (abolition of chowkidari tax) movement and while marching towards the court building chanting slogan to protest against the illegal constitution of a court by the governor to punish those who participated in the movement, Matangini was arrested again. She was sentenced to six months imprisonment and sent to Baharampur jail. Again, she was incarcerated for six months at [[Baharampur]].<ref name="Banglapedia" /> After being released, she became an active member of the [[Indian National Congress]] and took to spinning her own ''[[Khadi]]''. In 1933, she attended the subdivisional Congress conference at [[Serampore]] and was injured in the ensuing [[baton charge]] by the police.<ref name="Banglapedia" />


== Social work ==
== Social work ==
Line 56: Line 56:


==Involvement in the Quit India Movement==
==Involvement in the Quit India Movement==
As part of the [[Quit India Movement]], members of the Congress planned to take over the various police stations of Medinipore district and other government offices.<ref name="Banglapedia"/> This was to be a step in overthrowing the British government in the district and establishing an independent Indian state. Hazra, who was 72 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station.<ref name="Freedom"/><ref name="Local"/> When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under [[Unlawful assembly|Section 144]] of the [[Indian Penal Code]] by the [[Crown colony|Crown police]].<ref name="Freedom"/> As she stepped forward, Hazra was shot once.<ref name="Freedom"/> Apparently, she had stepped forward and appealed to the police not to open fire at the crowd.<ref name="Banglapedia"/>
As part of the [[Quit India Movement]], members of the Congress planned to take over the various police stations of Medinipore district and other government offices.<ref name="Banglapedia"/> This was to be a step in overthrowing the British government in the district and establishing an independent Indian state. Hazra, who was 72 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station.<ref name="Freedom"/><ref name="Local"/> When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under [[Unlawful assembly|Section 144]] of the [[Indian Penal Code]] by the [[Crown colony|Crown police]].<ref name="Freedom"/> As she stepped forward, Hazra was shot once.<ref name="Freedom"/> Apparently, she had stepped forward and appealed to the police not to open fire at the crowd.

The ''Biplabi'' newspaper of the parallel [[Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar|Tamluk National Government]] commented:
The ''Biplabi'' newspaper of the parallel [[Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar|Tamluk National Government]] commented:


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|access-date=2006-09-29
|access-date=2006-09-29
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031054728/http://www.hdaindia.com/tourism.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031054728/http://www.hdaindia.com/tourism.htm
|archive-date=31 October 2007
|archive-date=31 October 2006

|url-status=dead
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
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[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Women Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Revolutionaries from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Revolutionaries from West Bengal]]
⚫
[[Category:Indian independence activists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:People from Tamluk]]
[[Category:People from Tamluk]]
⚫
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Bengal]]

Revision as of 02:43, 2 August 2024

Matangini Hazra
Born
Matangini Maity

(1870-10-19)19 October 1870
Tamluk, Bengal Presidency, British India (now West Bengal, India)
Died29 September 1942(1942-09-29) (aged 72)
Tamluk, Bengal Presidency, British India
Known forHumanitarian
Activist and Martyr in the Indian independence movement
MovementCivil Disobedience movement
Chowkidari tax bandha movement
Quit India movement

Matangini Hazra (19 October 1870 – 29 September 1942[1]) was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the Indian independence movement. She was leading one of the five batches of volunteers (of the Vidyut Bahini), constituted by the Samar Parisad (War Council), at Tamluk to capture the Tamluk Police Station on 29 September 1942, when she was shot dead by the British Indian police in front of the Police Station, becoming the first "Quit India" movement martyr in Midnapore. She was a staunch Gandhian and was fondly called as Gandhi buri, Bengali for "old lady Gandhi".[2][3][4]

Matangini Hazra on a stamp of India celebrating 60 years of Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar

Early life

Not much is known of her early life apart from that she was born in a Bengali Mahishya family of village Hogla, near Tamluk in 1870,[5] and that because she was the daughter of a poor peasant, she did not receive a formal education.[6] She was married early (at the age of 12) and her husband name Trilochan Hazra and she became widowed at the age of eighteen without bearing any offspring. Her father-in-law's village was Alinan, of Tamluk thana.[2][7]

Participation in the freedom movement

Matangini Hazra became actively interested in the Indian independence movement as a Gandhian.[6] A notable feature of the freedom struggle in Midnapore was the participation of women.[8] In 1930, she took part in the Civil Disobedience movement and was arrested for breaking the Salt Act. She was promptly released, but then participated in the 'Chowkidari Tax Bandha' (abolition of chowkidari tax) movement and while marching towards the court building chanting slogan to protest against the illegal constitution of a court by the governor to punish those who participated in the movement, Matangini was arrested again. She was sentenced to six months imprisonment and sent to Baharampur jail. Again, she was incarcerated for six months at Baharampur.[2] After being released, she became an active member of the Indian National Congress and took to spinning her own Khadi. In 1933, she attended the subdivisional Congress conference at Serampore and was injured in the ensuing baton charge by the police.[2]

Social work

In 1930s, despite her meager physical state, Hazra went back to her social work immediately after her release from prison to help untouchables.[9] Always engaged in humanitarian causes, she worked among affected men, women and children when smallpox in epidemic form broke out in the region.[2]

Involvement in the Quit India Movement

As part of the Quit India Movement, members of the Congress planned to take over the various police stations of Medinipore district and other government offices.[2] This was to be a step in overthrowing the British government in the district and establishing an independent Indian state. Hazra, who was 72 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station.[6][8] When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code by the Crown police.[6] As she stepped forward, Hazra was shot once.[6] Apparently, she had stepped forward and appealed to the police not to open fire at the crowd. The Biplabi newspaper of the parallel Tamluk National Government commented:

Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind. The police shot her three times. She continued marching despite wounds to the forehead and both hands.[8]

As she was repeatedly shot, she kept chanting Vande Mataram, "hail to the Motherland". She died with the Indian national flag held high and still flying.[2][6][10][11][12]

Legacy

Statue of Hazra on the Maidan at Kolkata

The parallel Tamluk government incited open rebellion by praising her "martyrdom for her country" and was able to function for two more years, until it was disbanded in 1944, at Gandhi's request.[10]

India earned Independence in 1947 and numerous schools, colonies, and streets, including the long stretch of Hazra Road in Kolkata,[9] were named after Hazra. The first statue of a woman put up in Kolkata, in independent India, was Hazra's in 1977.[13] A statue now stands at the spot where she was killed in Tamluk.[14] In 2002, as part of a series of postage stamps commemorating sixty years of the Quit India Movement and the formation of the Tamluk National Government, the Department of Posts of India issued a five rupee postage stamp with Matangini Hazra's portrait. In 2015, the Shahid Matangini Hazra Government College for Women was established in Tamluk, Purba Medinipur, after this very well-known revolutionary figure.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "মাতঙ্গিনী হাজরা". Amardeshonline.com. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Amin, Sonia (2012). "Hazra, Matangini". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ^ Simlandy, Sagar; Mandal, Ganesh Kr (7 July 2021). History of India & Abroad. BFC Publications. p. 169. ISBN 978-93-90880-20-1.
  4. ^ Bhowal, Sayantika (29 September 2021). "The Story Of Matangini Hazra, Fondly Known As 'Gandhi Buri'". www.digpu.com. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  5. ^ Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) vol. 4. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research. 2018. p. 254.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Maity, Sachindra (1975). Freedom Movement in Midnapore. Calcutta: Firma, K.L. pp. 112–113.
  7. ^ Majumdar, Maya (2005). Encyclopaedia of Gender Equality Through Women Empowerment. Sarup & Sons. p. 231. ISBN 978-81-7625-548-6.
  8. ^ a b c Chakrabarty, Bidyut (1997). Local Politics and Indian Nationalism: Midnapur (1919-1944). New Delhi: Manohar.
  9. ^ a b c "Matangini Hazra: Flag in hand, the 73-year-old walked into a barrage of bullets". The Indian Express. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b Chakrabarty, Bidyut (1997). Local Politics and Indian Nationalism: Midnapur (1919-1944). New Delhi: Manohar. p. 167.
  11. ^ Hallegua, Madhur Zakir (28 May 2018). 100 Desi Stories Series. Jaico Publishing House. ISBN 978-93-86867-14-8.
  12. ^ Vashishth, Himankshi (6 May 2022). Mist of the Forbidden Forest. True Dreamster. p. 71.
  13. ^ catchcal.com (2006). "At first in Kolkata". Retrieved 29 September 2006.
  14. ^ Haldia Development Authority (2006). "Haldia Development Authority". Archived from the original on 31 October 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
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