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Radical Movements in India
Revolutionary Extremism
- In Bengal, revolutionary terrorism had developed even earlier; around the 1870s, when the Akharas or gymnasiums were setup in various places to develop what Swami Vivekananda had described as strong muscles and nerves of steel.
- Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel, Anandmath was widely read by the revolutionaries in Bengal.
- The Bande Mataram song, which is part of the novel, became the anthem of the Swadeshi movement.
- Around 1908, the decline of the militant nationalists and the rise of revolutionary activities marked an important shift from non-violent methods to violent action.
- Such actions, however, did not lead to any organised revolutionary movement as was the case in Russia.
- The revolutionary actions were mostly attempts to assassinate specific oppressive British officers.
Revolutionary organisations in Bengal
- In Bengal, the story of revolutionary terrorism begins in 1902 with the formation of many secret societies.
Anushilan Samity of Calcutta
- Founders– Jatindernath Banerjee and Barindarkumar Ghose brother of Aurobindo Ghose.
- The Calcutta Anushilan Samity soon started its activities and the first Swadeshi dacoity, to raise funds, was organised in Rangpur in August 1906.
The Dhaka Anushilan Samiti 1906
- Setup by Pulin Behari Das
- He released a revolutionary weekly Yugantar.
Bomb factory 1908
- Established by Hemchandra Kanungo
- He went abroad to get military training in Paris after his return to India he started Bomb Factory
- He established a religious school at a garden house in Maniktala.
- In the same garden house, young inmates underwent various forms of physical training, reading classic Hindu text, and reading literature on revolutionary movement across the world.