On March 24, 1902, Anushilon Somiti was formally instituted in Calcutta at the behest of Sri Pramatha Nath Mitra and his close associates including Sri Satish Chandra Basu, Sm. Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and a host of others and with the blessings of Sister Nivedita and Swami Saradananda. Initially deemed as a mere exercise club, the founding principles proved the future otherwise. Being ardent admirers of both Banik Chandra Chatterjee and Swami Vivekananda, Sri Mitra based his doctrine on Bankim’s Anushilan Tatva (Theory of Discipline) and the Vedic mantra of “Atmano Mokshartham Jagat Hitaya Cha” meaning “for one’s own liberation and for the welfare of the world,” as spoken by Swamiji in scores of his lectures. Thus, through the mantra of extinguishing effeminacy the objective to attain national freedom through force got evident across Bengal province.
No event can be devoid of a prelude. Masculine Hinduism & ‘Back to Basics’ had been the clarion call of Bengal Renaissance in the 19th century; ‘Hindu Mela’, led by Rajnarain Bose and Tagores, along with the exponential growth of press comprising articles of Mazzini, Garibaldi and not to speak of the sacrifices of Chapekar brothers in Maharashtra left an indelible impact on Bengali psyche, youth in particular. to add to this, the fervent article of Sri Pramatha Nath Mitra on ‘Lathi’ in “The Bengalee”, acclaimed newspaper of Sri Surendranath Bannerji shaped the youth a lot. The article stated sharply, “The lathi is the national weapon of Bengal. A Bengalee lathial, properly trained, can with his single lathi keep a dozen of swordsmen at bay…It is a healthy outdoor exercise. As an art of offence and defence it combines in itself the skill required, in the bayonet exercise and the sword exercise. It gives full play to the exercise of muscles. It necessitates the cultivation of the quickness of the eye and quickness of the movement of every limb, which is a very favourable growth of the resourcefulness, activity of the body, strength of muscle and sinew and keenness of the observation and above all, it inspires confidence in its possessor. It is a purely national art and inexpensive. We should be unwise if we allow it to die away from our midst”..it resonated once more in Dhaka when discussing of pros and cons of Somiti, Sri Mitra stated, “”The sword has been drawn. Now it must be thrust into our enemy’ chest or that of ours.”
What proved to be an impetus to the inexplicable growth of Somiti and its burgeoning acceptance among Bengalis was the partition of Bengal in 1905. The sinister mechanism to spite Bengali Hindus more than ever was dissented strongly and the British response to the same counted on state-sponsored brutality only. Anushilon Somiti adopted the stratagem duly expressed by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh in ‘Bandemataram’: “30 crores of Indians must raise their 60 crores of hands to stop this curse of oppression.. Force must be stopped by Force”.. To stop the vehement outcry, British bureaucracy employed Islamists to barge in, persecute Hindus that led to innumerous riots across East Bengal – devastations in Mymensingh and Coomilla in 1908, in particular. What took place in both areas was no less to a civil war; Islamists enjoying British endorsement clashed with Hindu youths, precisely members of Anushilon Somiti that expanded the organization further. No less than 500 branches of Dhaka Anushilon Somiti, led by legendary revolutionary Sri Pulin Behari Das opened across East Bengal and upsurges followed soon. Whether it’s the Alipore Bomb Case or the Rodda Arms Heist or the Hindu – German Conspiracy Case, specter of Anushilon Somiti could be perceived ubiquitously. What’s most striking, several expeditions were conducted through coordination with compatible revolutionary societies like Jugantar, Atmonnati Somiti and Mukti Sangha (Bengal Volunteers). Dhaka Anushilon Somiti was termed in Rowlatt Committee Report (1919) as “The object of Pulin Behari Das as plainly to create an ‘imperium in imperio’ with himself as the leader”.
Last but not least, anarchism has often been ascribed to Anushilon Somiti but this dastardly allegation has been squashed by Sri Aurobindo himself – ‘Secret societies did not include terrorism in its program but this element grew in Bengal as a result of the strong repression and reaction to it in that province’ (‘Aurobindo Himself and Mother’ P:44)..the same valiance sprang up definitively in the Great Calcutta Riot, 1946 when Somiti revolutionaries and their scions got involved in the arduous battle to save India.
শ্রী অনিমিত্র চক্রবর্তী হলেন একজন সাংবাদিক ও বিভাগীয় লেখক (columnist) এবং বেঙ্গল ভলান্টিয়ার্সের এক সক্রিয় কর্মী।
