Down Memory Lane-Hunger Strike

It all happened during summer of 1967.
It is more than four decades now and I do not remember the exact date and month .

To attend some occasion at home I extended my weekend and remained away from my Hostel.Yes. I am talking about our days at BE College. I was then a student of second year class and staying in hostel number 10.In the evening, while I was all set to start for hostel, my father summoned me.All India Radio just announced that a student agitation in BE College against police atrocities had started right then. He promptly rang up and talked to the Proctor,Shri.SK Chakravorty at length.The Proctor advised my father to keep me confined at home till the situation was controlled by the authorities.My father summarily instructed me to stay back and not to start for hostel.

It never was a custom in my family to ask father much about his decisions.He,too,being a busy doctor,never found much time for explanation .In effect, I swallowed his words but just could not digest.

From the radio broadcast, we learned that the students were complaining about indiscriminate lathi charges by the police on a large group of students on the south Howrah streets and the subsequent arrest of quite a number of fellow students .By then,I stayed in the campus with so many boys for more than a year and the college turned a second home.How could I be sure who among my good friends were arrested or injured? I found it difficult to visualize.As time passed I was getting sure that numbers must be more than I could imagine.Throughout the night lot many well known faces appeared to disturb my sleep.Early in the next morning,I took my first ever independent decision to go to my college pals and join the agitation.I seldom did anything before hand against the wishes of my elders.This time, concern for my fellow students compelled me to deviate from the norm.I just informed my brother,immediately elder to me and proceeded for Sibpur.


I received a warm welcome from my friends on my arrival.By then, our students union ,lead by Twisam da ( Shri.Twisampati Dutta) and Bhomra da ( Forgot the real name)with the consent of the general assembly of students took a decision to resort to hunger strike for indefinite period by all the college students until the Government penalized the police personnel responsible for this.So the hunger strike by around 2000 students started.In the all the hostels, the mess employees,filled large tubs with lemon waters.This were meant for the students to drink frequently to arrest dehydration.

What really happened on that fateful day? The incident was actually an outburst of envy nurtured for long.During that period BE College was among the best Institutions of the country.Being the students of the august Institution the BEC boys were a matter of envy to the local boys.They used to consider our boys as a privileged group.South Howrah during those days was not developed enough to offer either civic facilities or higher education. The local boys had reasons to suffer from some sort of inferiority complex.On the other hand,BEC boys also were immature enough to express their superiority whenever occasions arose.On that day,perhaps two groups of BEC students were roaming on the streets of nearby Betaitola and chatterjee hat area after spending a movie time in Jharna cinema hall.A group of boys from a local club took a plea that BEC boys were disturbing the local girls and picked up a fight with the small group of BEC boys.Most of BEC boys were not cut to be street fighters to match and they were vastly out numbered.Most were chased away but few were confined at the local club.While the news reached the campus most of the hostel boys came out on the street to rescue the fellow students.But by then, the local boys with the assistance of the local MLA ( who happened to be a minister in the state cabinet)organized police assistance.So our friends were surrounded by police forces assisted by the local Dadas. They were mercilessly beaten and some were arrested.The day I arrived on the scene,some eminent professors contacted the local police station and arranged to release our friends on personal risk bonds.Our injured friends were being treated at the college hospital. None of the local boys was taken to custody and police declared openly that BEC boys were creating trouble in the nearby locality and registered cases against some of the students.

Our leaders of the student's union tried to meet the custodian of the locality, the local MLA but he preferred to refuse audience.Even the daily news papers stood by the statements given by the police and did not bother to visit the campus before reporting.Our leaders explained the situation to the general assembly of students at our first lobby who unanimously took the decision to protest in the form of a mass hunger strike for indefinite period.Even after this announcement none from the Government authorities cared to attend to the matter.Perhaps they believed it to be a childish action and would be subsided soon.But that was not to be.

Our non-violent agitation continued for three continuous days and nights.We only drank lemon water prepared by our mess employees.They had all the sympathy for us.Parents and Guardians of many students appeared on the scene.The college campus became full of outsiders and cars.The guardians held meetings among themselves.They approached college authorities and Government too.Meanwhile quite a number of our fellow students fell sick and were admitted to the hospital.But none of the fellow students, irrespective of their age and class, were found to deviate from the directives given by the leaders.With each passing day, we are turning weaker and weaker.We found reporters of the news papers talking to guardians and students.With the passing days, their tunes changed.They appeared sympathetic to the cause of students and their reports started accusing police personnel for the sad incident.

Ultimately, on the fourth day our leaders were called to attend a meeting at Writer's Building.Throughout the day we anxiously were waiting for the outcome. In the afternoon,the jubilant leaders came back.The minister promised to withdraw all the police cases registered against the students.He also promised to conduct an investigation and penalize the police personnel responsible for the unwarranted lathi charge.The leaders announced the closure of the hunger strike.We all were dog tired and weak but cheered to the top of our voices.A group went ahead to lift Twisam da and Bhomra da on their shoulders and we went around the campus.After all, we could do it and did not break down!

The non-violent movement of the BE College boys could not produce much tangible results.The minister, like all hard core politicians , promised but did not care to keep them.After all, BE College students were not much of a vote bank then.Apart from the withdrawal of police cases, nothing more happened.No inquiry was made.None of the police personnel was moved.But to all of us, who took part in it, it was an unique display of solidarity of students.It was an unique way to show the affected fellow students that we all cared.

During the last four decades after the movement I never again heard of a similar non-violent agitation of this magnitude by the students of any Institute of eminence in the country .I feel proud that I was one among the team who once fought against injustice to the students.