Hrishikesh Saha

Hrishikesh Saha (Bengali: হৃষিকেশ সাহা) (31 August 1918 – 16 August 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter from Dacca (now Dhaka, Bangladesh), associated with the Bengal Volunteers. Deeply influenced by the nationalist movement, he played an active role in resisting British colonial rule. During the Quit India Movement in 1942, he organized and led protests in Dhaka as part of the wider national uprising. On 16 August 1942, while leading a demonstration, he was shot by British forces and succumbed to his injuries. Hrishikesh is remembered as a martyr whose dedication exemplified the courage of India’s revolutionary youth.^[1][2]

Hrishikesh Saha was born on 31 August 1918 in Tatibazar, Dhaka. His father was Ramchandra Saha, and his mother was Gobinda Rani Devi.^[3][4][5] Raised in a politically charged environment during the Indian independence movement, he became involved with revolutionary nationalist organizations at an early age.^[6][7]

Following the All-India Congress Committee’s adoption of the Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942 and the subsequent arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders, widespread Civil disobedience and unrest broke out across India.^[8][9] In Dhaka, members of revolutionary groups including the Bengal Volunteers (BV) and Anushilan Samiti took active roles in organizing protests.^{[10][11][12][13]}

On 15th August 1942, a large demonstration took place in front of the Dhaka General Post Office. The protestors raised slogans demanding an end to British rule. As the crowd proceeded from the post office along English Road toward Nayabazar, clashes erupted between the demonstrators and the police. Eyewitness accounts suggest that bricks and stones were thrown from nearby buildings, and the situation escalated into violence.^[14][15][16]

During the confrontation near the intersection of English Road and Nayabazar, police opened fire on the crowd. Hrishikesh Saha and his compatriot Bipul Basak, were fatally shot. Both were reported to be young activists involved in the Quit India agitation in Dhaka. Hrishikesh sustained serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, where he died on 16 August 1942.^[17]

Hrishikesh Saha was succumbed to his injuries on 16 August 1942 during the clash, which later came to be viewed by contemporaries as part of the "Quit India Movement" in Bengal. Though the movement did not receive formal recognition from mainstream Congress leadership — which continued to adhere to non-violence — the sacrifices of local activists like Saha and Basak were remembered by their associates and later generations within regional narratives of the independence struggle.^{[18][19][20][21]}

His death remains one of the many local instances of armed resistance that occurred in Bengal during the Quit India Movement, reflecting the broader spectrum of revolutionary activity in the Indian independence movement.^[22][23]

• Hemu Kalani
• Babu Genu Said
• Kushal Konwar
• Matangini Hazra
• Baji Rout

• Hemendranath Dasgupta, Bharater Biplab Kahini, II & III, Calcutta, 1948;
• Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, History of the Freedom Movement in India, III, Calcutta 1963;
• Ganganarayan Chandra, Abismaraniya, Calcutta, 1966
• Shailesh Dey, Ami Subhas Bolchi.
• Kalicharan Ghosh, Roll of Honour, Calcutta, 1960.

• Chatterjee, J.C. Indian Revolutionaries in Conference.
• Gupta, Manmathnath (1972). History of the Indian Revolutionary Movement. Somaiya Publications PVT LTD, Bombay.
• Heehs, Peter. India's Freedom Struggle: A Short History (1857–1947).
• Nath, Shaileshwar. Terrorism in India.
• Vajpeyi, J.N. (1974). The Extremist Movement in India. Chugh Publications, India.

• Indian culture portal Govt of India