Renaming WB rly station brings cheer to Punjabis

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, July 21

The Centre’s decision to name the Bardhaman railway station in West Bengal after revolutionary freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt has brought cheer to people in Punjab. “Batukeshwar Dutt stood beside Bhagat Singh like a rock. Together, they carried out the bomb attack in 1929. I am delighted the station has been named after him,” said Kiranjit Singh Sandhu, Bhagat Singh’s nephew, over the phone.

Chaman Lal, JNU professor and expert on Bhagat Singh, talked about their camaraderie. “When Bhagat Singh’s friend Joydev Gupta arranged some clothes to be sent to him in Lahore jail, Bhagat Singh asked Gupta to send clothes to Batukeshwar Dutt as well. Bhagat Singh told Gupta that otherwise he would not wear the clothes sent for his use,” Chaman Lal told this reporter over phone from Jalandhar.

Lal, whose book “Understanding Bhagat Singh” is considered a must read for people doing research on the freedom fighter, said had Bhagat Singh’s mother been alive, she would have been very happy on this development. “From her home in Punjab, she (Bhagat Singh’s mother Vidyavati Devi) had come over to Delhi and stayed at AIIMS to nurse Dutt who was admitted there before he passed away on July 20, 1965,” Chaman Lal said.

In deference to Dutt’s last wish, he was cremated at Hussainiwala in Punjab where the bodies of his comrades Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were also cremated many years ago.

“While he continued to live, his best friend Bhagat Singh was executed – this thought used to fill my father with remorse. He wanted his body to be cremated at Hussainiwala so that he can join Bhagat Singh in his last journey,” Bharati Dutta, Batukeshwar Dutt’s daughter, told this reporter from her Patna home.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chauhan and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad visited Bharati Dutt’s residence yesterday to pay respect to Batukeshwar Dutt on his death anniversary. “Later I learnt that an announcement has been made regarding naming the Bardhaman station after my father. It is certainly a happy occasion for me. My father was born in a village in Bardhaman district in 1910,” said Bharati Dutt.

“The present generation of Bhagat Singh’s family and I maintain close touch. They had come to Patna when I got married,” she said.

Honouring Batukeshwar Dutt

• The Bardhaman railway station in West Bengal will be named after freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt
• Bhagat Singh’s mother Vidyavati Devi stayed at AIIMS in Delhi to nurse Dutt who was admitted there before he died in 1965
• In deference to Batukeshwar Dutt’s last wish, he was cremated at Hussainiwala in Punjab where the bodies of his comrades Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were also cremated many years ago