Bimal Pramanik
(Part I)
There was a great commotion among the teaching community of West Bengal at the news of military crackdown by the Pakistani Army in Dhaka. On 27 March 1971 the Senate Committee of Calcutta University in its annual budget session adopted a resolution roundly condemning the wanton killing in Dhaka of students and teachers by the Pakistani Army. On 3 April the ‘Calcutta University Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti’ was constituted in a meeting attended by students, officers and teaching and non-teaching staff of the Calcutta University. The immediate object of the Samiti was to render all possible help to the freedom fighters and the intellectuals and teachers who came to India as refugees.
The office bearers of the Samiti were as follows :
President: Professor Satyendranath Sen, Vice-Chancellor of the
Calcutta University.
Working President: Professor Purnendu Kumar Basu, Pro-Vice Chancellor
(Education) of the Calcutta University.
Treasurer: Professor Hirendra Mohan Majumdar, Pro-Vice Chancellor
(Finance) of the Calcutta University.
Secretary: Professor Dilip Kumar Chakraborty, Member, Calcutta
University Senate Committee, Professor of Economics,
City College.
Joint Secretaries: (1) Professor Ila Mitra, MLA, CPI.
(2) Sourindra Nath Bhattacharya, Joint Secretary, RSP.
(3) Professor Santosh Kumar Mitra, Teachers’
Representative, CPI(M).
(4) Professor Sukamal Dasgupta, SUCI.
The office was located on the 1st floor of Darbhanga Building, and the office hours of the Samiti were between 11.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. and again from 600 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. on the first floor of the house of 14 Bidhan Sarani.
Apart from many ex-students of the University viz. Smt. Bina Bhowmik, Smt. Kamala Bose, Smt. Mrinmoyee Bose and Mira Sen and many other came forward to extend help on this great cause specially for distributing food, medicine and medical help among the refugees.
The day to day functions of the Samiti were looked after by Professors Aniruddha Roy, Anil Sarkar, Piyus Das, Anshuman Malik, Anil Basu, Gyanesh Patranabis, Jatin Chatterjee, Dipak Hazra, P. Sen Sharma attached to various departments of the University. The officials of Bangladesh Teachers Association also used the Samiti’s office for their purpose. They did a lot for this struggle along with the members of the Sahayak Samiti.
The letter which the Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University Professor S. N. Sen had sent to various organizations of India and abroad is reproduced below :
Calcutta University
Senate House
Calcutta
West Bengal, India
The 14th December, 1971.
CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY
BANGLADESH SAHAYAK SAMITI
An Appeal
We hope you are aware that the Calcutta University Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti of the teachers, students and others of the University and the Affiliated Colleges, founded in early April, 1971, has already served the cause of the patriots of Bangladesh by publishing a number of booklets and brochures revealing the truth about Bangladesh and circulated them all over the world. The Samiti has collected the bio-data of thousands of teachers of Bangladesh to help institutions willing to help them in any way. Moreover, the evacuee teachers need immediate financial help for their mere subsistence.
We have already distributed more than a lakh of rupees amongst the displaced teachers and intellectuals from Bangladesh apart from another lakh worth of subsidiary assistance to the Mukti Bahini youths. We have also distributed medicines worth nearly 80,000 rupees amongst the evacuees from Bangladesh sheltered on Indian soil apart from various other types of assistance which we received in kind that have been distributed among the people of Bangladesh.
We acknowledge with gratitude the massive contribution received through Dr. P.B. Gajendragadkar; the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Bombay and Professor Atin Majumdar of the Australian National University amongst others.
Should you suppose that with the recognition of the Bangladesh by the Indian Government, such help is no longer needed? May I stress that it is expected to be a long time before the refugees, in particular the displaced teachers amongst them, are again resettled and found regular employments in their own country. Many have lost their homes and their families in the fighting; and many of their school or college buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
As President of the Calcutta University Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti I address this appeal to all (3rd in the series) to send their contributions in cash or kind. The alumni of this century old University must be distributed all over India and the world. I am sure, the people will extend their generous help to us to help suffering humanity.
The Government of India has kindly accorded exemption to our donors from the payment of Income Tax to the extent of their donations.
The central office of the Samiti is located at the Darbhanga Building, Calcutta University, Calcutta 12, India.
S. N. Sen
Vice Chancellor
Calcutta University,
And
President,
Calcutta University Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti.
Contribution may kindly be sent by cheques issued in favour of “Calcutta University Bangladesh Sahayak Samiti.”
Source : The book entitled Indian People’s Response to Bangladesh Liberation War, is a ICSSR funded project report. It is published by CRIBR in February 2010.