Barindra Kumar Ghosh established Yugantar (also known as Jugantar). Sri Aurobindo's younger brother, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, was a revolutionary and journalist in India. Yugantar was one of the two major secret revolutionary movements fighting for Indian independence in Bengal. Like Anushilan Samiti, this organization began as a suburban fitness club. Many of its members were imprisoned, hanged, or deported to the Andaman Cellular Jail. In this article, we will discuss the Yugantar - Revolutionary Activity During the 1920s which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Barindra Kumar Ghosh

Yugantar Party - Background

• The Yugantar (Jugantar) Party was the most powerful revolutionary organization in colonial Bengal.
• In April 1906, an inner circle within the Calcutta anushilan samiti led by Barindrakumar Ghosh and Bhupendranath Datta (with the advice of Aurobindo Ghosh) launched the weekly Jugantar (New Era).
• The organization is named after the Jugantar, the mouthpiece of militant nationalists.
• Barindra vowed to liberate India from British colonial dominance through religious inspiration tempered by acts of violence, justifying murders by Ksatriyas in the name of human happiness.
• With revolutionary zeal, he launched a ferocious anti-Partition movement. He and his twenty-one followers gathered weapons and explosives and built bombs, laying the groundwork for the organization known as the Jugantar.
• Senior members of the first revolutionary generation, most notably Hemchandra Qanungo, traveled abroad for political and military training. Hemchandra received his training in Paris.
• When he returned home in January 1908, he established a combined religious school and bomb factory in a garden house in Calcutta's Maniktala suburb.
• However, the group was apprehended within hours of the Kennedy assassination (30 April 1908) by Khudiram Basu.
• In Berlin, the Jugantar Party collaborated with the Bolshevik revolutionary Manabendra Nath Roy alias Narendra Nath Bhattacharya. During the war, he was a key figure in what became known as the German plot, which was orchestrated by the Jugantar Party.
• The importation of 32 bore German automatic pistols made by Sauer and Suhl into India coincided with the visit to India of his disciple Abani Mukherji, a member of the Jugantar Party.
• Following World War I, the Soviet Government provided him with funds to instigate a revolution in India.
• In the late 1920s, the Jugantar group relaunched its violent campaign against government post offices, mails, and railway cash offices in Calcutta and its environs.
• The 'Red Bengal' leaflets first appeared in 1923. The funds were obtained by robbing and murdering wealthy citizens.

Yugantar - Activity

• Some of the group's senior members were sent abroad for political and military training.
• Surendra Mohan Bose, Tarak Nath Das, and Guran Ditt Kumar were among the first batch, and they had been extremely active among Hindu and Sikh immigrants on the Western coast of North America since 1907.
• These were the units that would make up the future Ghadar Party. Hemchandra Kanungo, alias Hem Das, and Pandurang M. Bapat received explosives training from Russian anarchist Nicholas Safranski in Paris.
• After returning to Kolkata, he enrolled in Barin Ghosh's combined 'self-culture' (anushilan) school and bomb factory in Maniktala, a Calcutta suburb.
• However, the attempted murder of Kingsford, the then-district Judge of Muzaffarpur, by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki on April 30, 1908, sparked a police investigation that resulted in the arrest of many of the revolutionaries.
• The prisoners were tried in the infamous Alipore bomb conspiracy case, in which several activists were sentenced to life in the Andaman Cellular Jail.
• As a next step, Jugantar chose to censure individuals involved in the arrest and trial of revolutionaries involved in the Alipore Bomb Case in 1908.
• On 10 February 1909, Ashutosh Biswas, who was prosecuting Kanai and Satyen for the murder of Naren Gosain (a revolutionary turned approver), was shot dead in the Calcutta High Court premises by Charu Basu.
• Biren Dutta Gupta shot and killed Samsul Alam, the Deputy Superintendent of Police who handled the Alipore case, on the stairs of the Calcutta High Court building on January 24, 1910. Charu Basu and Biren Dutta Gupta were later executed by hanging.
• Several people were arrested, including Jatindra Nath Mukherjee, in connection with the murder of Police Inspector Samsul Alam on January 24, 1910, in Calcutta, as well as other charges.
• Thus began the Howrah-Shibpur Conspiracy trial, in which the prisoners were charged with treason, waging war against the Crown, and tampering with the loyalty of Indian soldiers, including those from the Jat Regiment stationed in Fort William and soldiers from Upper Indian Cantonments.

About Barindra Kumar Ghosh

• Barindra Kumar Ghosh, also known as Barin Ghosh, was an Indian revolutionary and journalist who lived from 5 January 1880 to 18 April 1959.
• He was a founding member of the revolutionary Bengali weekly Yugantar Bengali. Barindra Ghosh was the younger brother of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh.
• In 1902, Barin returned to Kolkata and began organizing several revolutionary groups in Bengal with the assistance of Jatindranath Banerjee.
• He founded Yugantar, a Bengali weekly, in 1906, and a revolutionary organization named Yugantar soon followed.
• Yugantar was formed from the inner circle of Anushilan Samiti and began planning for armed militancy activities to drive the British off Indian soil.
• Barin and Jatindranath Mukherjee alias Bagha Jatin were instrumental in recruiting a large number of young revolutionaries from Bengal. In Maniktala, Kolkata, the revolutionaries formed the Maniktala group.
• It was a hidden location where they began manufacturing bombs and gathered arms and ammunition.
• Following the attempted assassination of Kingsford by two revolutionaries, Khudiram and Prafulla, on 30 April 1908, the police intensified their investigation, leading to the arrest of Barin and Aurobindo Ghosh, along with many of his comrades, on 2 May 1908.
• The Alipore Bomb Case trial initially sentenced Barin Ghosh and Ullaskar Datta to death. However, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, and Barin was deported to the Cellular Jail in Andaman in 1909.

Conclusion

By the end of 1923, many Yugantar leaders had moved into positions of responsibility in Bengal's district and provincial Congress Committees, as well as the Congress's national committees. The Bengal Provincial Congress Committee's Secretary and Assistant Secretary were Bhupati Majumder and Monoranjan Gupta of the Jugantar group, respectively. Other Jugantar leaders elected to the All India Congress Committee from Bengal include Amarendra Chatterjee, Upendranath Banerjee, Bepin Bihari Ganguli, and Satyendra Chandra Mitra. During the non-cooperation movement, the National Volunteer Corps established by Congress was largely under the control of revolutionary organizations, including the Jugantar.

FAQs

MCQs

1. Who was the key leader of Yugantar?

A) Bhagat Singh
B) Barindra Kumar Ghosh
C) Subhas Chandra Bose
D) Khudiram Bose

2. What was the main objective of Yugantar?

A) Promote education
B) Armed insurrection against the British
C) Spread religious teachings
D) Support the Congress Party

3. Which trial was associated with Yugantar members?

A) Kakori Conspiracy
B) Alipore Bomb Case
C) Lahore Conspiracy Case
D) Meerut Conspiracy Case

4. In which year did Yugantar relaunch its activities?

A) 1919
B) 1923
C) 1925
D) 1930

5. What was the outcome of the Alipore Bomb Case?

A) Death sentence for all members
B) Life imprisonment for Barindra Ghosh
C) Acquittal of all members
D) No significant outcome

GS Mains Questions and Model Answers

Q1: Discuss the role of Yugantar in shaping the revolutionary movement in Bengal during the early 20th century.

Answer: Yugantar played a critical role in shaping the revolutionary movement in Bengal by adopting militant tactics and challenging British authority through armed resistance. Led by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, it inspired a generation of revolutionaries to resist British colonial rule. The group also established international contacts for military training and aligned with other global revolutionary forces. Its influence extended beyond Bengal, contributing to the larger national freedom movement.

Q2: How did Yugantar's activities contribute to the broader Indian freedom struggle?

Answer: Yugantar's use of violent tactics, such as bomb-making and armed assaults, challenged British authority directly. These activities fueled nationalist sentiment and inspired other groups like the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) to adopt similar strategies. The revolutionaries associated with Yugantar became symbols of sacrifice, spreading the message that independence was achievable through sustained revolutionary efforts. The group's efforts also exposed the limitations of British intelligence, pushing the government to adopt harsher measures.

Q3: Evaluate the significance of the Alipore Bomb Case in the context of India's revolutionary activities.

Answer: The Alipore Bomb Case was a turning point in India’s revolutionary activities, as it brought attention to the growing radicalism among the youth in Bengal. The trial highlighted the revolutionary fervor in the country, with key figures like Barindra Kumar Ghosh at the forefront. While the British hoped to stifle the movement by imposing harsh sentences, the trial inadvertently created national heroes and martyrs, strengthening the resolve of revolutionaries across India.

Previous Year Questions on Yugantar

1. UPSC CSE Prelims 2022:

Question: Yugantar was primarily active in which region of India?

A) Punjab
B) Maharashtra
C) Bengal
D) Gujarat

Answer: (C)

Explanation: Yugantar was primarily active in Bengal, where it was founded as a revolutionary organization aiming to overthrow British rule through armed resistance.

2. UPSC CSE Mains 2021 (GS Paper 1):

Question: "Analyze the role of Yugantar and its leaders in India's freedom struggle during the early 20th century."

Answer: Yugantar played a key role in inspiring armed resistance against British rule, led by Barindra Kumar Ghosh. Its involvement in violent activities, such as bomb-making, garnered national attention and created martyrs for the cause of independence. Despite suppression by British authorities, Yugantar laid the foundation for future revolutionary movements, influencing groups like the Hindustan Republican Association.