The year was 1893. Swami Vivekananda, a great Bengali, had given a famous lecture in the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago in the United States of America.

Many revolutionary groups like The Jugantar and The Anushilan Samiti were formed. Newspapers like The Yuganthar, Vande Mataram (started in 1889), and Amrit Bazar Patrika of 1891 had sown the ideas of revolution in the youth, which the British tried to muzzle through the Press Acts of 1908 and 1910 like they did with the Rowlatt Act.

The spread of the ideas of revolution was curbed by the Dramatic Performance Act in 1876. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s Anand Math (‘Vande Mataram’) was very inspirational. In 1905, Bengal was partitioned by Lord Curzon. Rabindranath Tagore wrote patriotic songs. Meanwhile, there was the impact of World War I and the Rowlatt Act of 1917.

Surjyo Sen, also widely known as Surya Sen or Surjya Sen, was born on the March 22 in 1894 at Noapara in Chattogram (‘Chittagong’ as called by the British) in Bharat, which was ruled by the British imperialists at that time. After India-Pakistan partition and Independence, Chittagong became part of East Pakistan (Post 1971, now Bangladesh). His father was Ramniranjan Sen, a School Teacher. His father died young and he was raised by his kind uncle. Surjyo da had many siblings. He completed his primary education at Dayamayi Primary School in Noapara. Surjyo Sen was enrolled in Harsh Chandra Dutt’s National High School in Chattogram’s Nandankanan. In 1913, Surya Sen passed his Matriculation Exam in 1st division.

Later, he went to study at Chittagong College, where he first pursued his Intermediary and which he completed successfully. However, due to a certain misfortune, he could not complete his BA degree at Chittagong College. He continued his BA at Krishnath College in Behrampore (now a town in Murshidabad in free India’s West Bengal). He came back to Chittagong and became a Maths teacher at a high school in Nandankanan, Chittagong. He was an excellent Teacher. He became famous as ‘Masterda’. ‘Master’ means ‘Teacher’. ‘Da’ is a term of respect for elders or seniors in Bengali language.

He married Pushpa Kuntla but did not involve in family life. His mind was set on obtaining freedom for India from the British.

Surya Sen was a good organiser and strategist. He was both soft-spoken and sincere. He had both charm and charisma. Surya Sen, like Bhagat Singh, was influenced by the revolutionaries in Europe and Russia. He soon created an army of young students.

Surjya da learnt about India’s freedom struggle from a teacher in Krishnath College. Initially, Surjyo was greatly attracted by Gandhi’s Ahimsa philosophy or the policy of non-violence. He became close to Deshbandu Chittaranjan Das. He was a part of Gandhiji’s Non-Violent Non-Cooperation movement but was later disillusioned by Gandhiji’s policies when Gandhi ji called off the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922 because of a lone incident at Chauri-Chaura, a place in present-day Bihar. The same kind of disillusionment happened with freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, too.

Bhagat Singh, Surjyo Sen, and some other revolutionaries fighting for independence from India began to obsess with violence as a means of revolution in order to secure independence for India after they had witnessed the failure of the ‘Ahimsa’ or Non-Violence weapon brandished by Gandhiji to obtain independence from the extremely cunning and cruel British imperialists. Surjyo Sen was disappointed with the Indian National Congress’s acceptance of Dominion Status for India as a Goal. Meanwhile, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre happened on the April 13th of 1919. The cruelty of the British disturbed Surjyo Sen and Bhagat Singh. It was then that they thought of taking up arms against the British. The British had meanwhile passed the draconian Rowlatt Act of 1919, according to which anybody could be arrested and could even be jailed without trial.

Masterda was a contemporary of Bhagat Singh – both influenced by the World Wars, Russian Revolution, Lenin, ideas of Karl Marx and Engels.

There were many who influenced Surya Sen. Jatindranath Das was around twenty-three years old when he died for Bharat Mata. Persons like Jatin Da, Deshbandu Chittaranjan Das, RB Bose were all already doing much for Bharat Mata. We must remember how on March 23, 1931, three freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar were all executed by the British.

Surjyo Sen was especially influenced by the actions of the Irish Republican Army. The Irish Republican Army was established in 1919 to halt British rule in Ireland. The Irish Republican Army demanded the withdrawal of the British from Ireland. Later, the Irish Republican Army split into two factions – Officials and Provisionals. The........

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