Bihar policemen’s rifles failed to fire during a gun salute to revolutionary freedom fighter Khudiram Bose on his death anniversary on Sunday, a police officer said.
Bose was hanged by the British on this day in 1908 in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. His 105th martyrdom day was a low-key affair in Muzaffarpur town. In an embarrassment to the Government, policemen who were to fire 21 rounds in the air as a mark of respect failed to fire even a single shot.
“Old rifles failed to fire despite repeated attempts,” district police officer Vimal Kumar said. Another official informed that the policemen were given not only old rifles but old bullets too. “The bullets were about 25 years old,” the official said. locals who gathered for the event were shocked.
The senior most Government functionaries at the event were the District Magistrate and police officers who paid floral tributes. This time, there was no representatives from the West Bengal Government.
Khudiram Bose was born on December 3, 1889 in a small village of Habibpur situated close to the town of Tamluk in Midnapore district of Bengal. It was in the years 1902 - 1903 that Khudiram Bose was inspired to plunge into active freedom struggle. During this time Sri Aurobindo and Sister Nivedita were in Midnapore to deliver a lecture inspiring people to join the freedom struggle against the British. Khudiram Bose was a teenager at that point of time and was bubbling with energy. He was part of student revolutionary groups in Tamluk.
Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki from Jugantar were sent to the town of Muzaffarpur in Bihar to carry out the killing of Kingsford, the magistrate of Calcutta Presidency. The two revolutionaries went to Muzaffarpur, adopted the code names of Haren Sarkar and Dinesh Roy respectively. Though they wanted Kingsford dead, they did not want the bloodshed of innocent people accumulated around a court during the daytime. Therefore they decided to shoot him when he was on his way from the European Club to his home or vice versa.
On April 13, 1908, assisted by Prafulla Chaki, Bose threw a bomb at a carriage supposed to be carrying Douglas Kingsford. Instead, two women in the carriage were killed.
Chaki was caught but shot himself dead. Bose was arrested a day later.
Khudiram Bose was put behind bars on May 2, 1908 and the court trial began on the 21st of May. The sentence led to a huge uproar among people. But it was Khudiram Bose who surprised many by embracing his death gracefully by going to the gallows on August 11, 1908 with a smile on his face. He was 19-year-old then.