Khudiram Bose - Revolutionary Activities

Revolutionary Activities

Khudiram earned the reputation of a dare-devil, maverick and adventurer even before reaching adolescence. In 1902 and 1903, when Sri Aurobindo (who was in the earlier stage of his life a revolutionary leader and ideologue) and Sister Nivedita respectively visited Medinipur and held a series of public lectures along with secret planning sessions with the revolutionary groups; Khudiram was among the teenage student community of the town which was fired up with a burning inspiration of revolution. In 1904, Khudiram followed Amrita, his sister's husband Aparupa, when Amrita was given a job-transfer from Tamluk to town Medinipur. There Khudiram enrolled in the Midnapore Collegiate School. It was from then that Khudiram took his first decisive steps towards choosing the path that would make him a boy-martyr. Khudiram as a student, dared request a teacher, Hemchandra Kanungo for a revolver. He joined a newly formed "akhra" or club created and patronised by some people who were active in the socio-political sphere. In no time Khudiram become a cynosuree of everybody's eyes in that group for his unbounded enthusiasm for social service, his adventurous spirit and leadership qualities, and his excellence in physical culture and training.

Bose was inspired by his teacher Satyendranath Bose and readings of the Bhagavad Gita, which helped him embrace revolutionary activities aimed at ending the British Raj. He was especially disillusioned with the British following the partition of Bengal in 1905. He joined Jugantar - a party of revolutionary activists.

At the young age of sixteen, Bose planted bombs near police stations and targeted government officials. He was arrested three years later on charges of conducting a series of bomb attacks. The specific bombing for which he was sentenced to death resulted in the deaths of 3 persons.