Pritilata’s graduation certificate comes 86 years after death

KOLKATA: Around 86 years after her death, one of India’s firebrand revolutionaries was awarded a posthumous degree by Calcutta University. The CU vice-chancellor on July 26 handed over duplicate graduation certificate—the original was issued by then VC Hassan Suhrawardy on March 25, 1933 —and marksheet of Pritilata Waddedar to two Bangladesh High Commission officials.But this long-awaited certificate has a curious spelling: the surname, Waddedar, has been spelt as Waddar.

On September 23, 1932, Waddedar had led a team of fighters in an attack on Pahartali European Club in Chittagong, which had put up a sign that read, “Dogs and Indians Not Allowed”. Pritilata, disguised as a Punjabi, had torched the club, killing a British woman and injuring 11 others. But she was shot at, and even as the police zeroed in on her, she ended her life by consuming potassium cyanide. In February that year, another revolutionary, Bina Das, had tried to shoot then governor Stanley Jackson in CU’s senate house. But the attempt had failed and Das was imprisoned. While being the VC, Suhrawardy had received his knighthood immediately after having saved Jackson’s life. “It is an irony that the protector of the colonialists was forced to confer a degree on the girl who led the charge in bringing the colonialists down,” said Bedabrata Pain, who directed “Chittagong” that had Pritilata in a pivotal role.
On Thursday, Md Mofakkharul Iqbal, first secretary (press), Deputy High Commission for Bangladesh, received the graduation certificate from CU vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee. “It was a historic moment. Earlier on, a member of the Birkannya Pritilata Trust had wanted to take the certificate. But CU had said that they would prefer to hand it over to the Bangladesh government,” Iqbal said. The “Waddar” spelling in the certificate was noticed by Iqbal too. Pritilata’s matriculation certificate from Dr Khastagir Government Girls’ School, which was issued by the University of Calcutta, on June 14, 1928, and is available online also spelt her surname, “Wadder”. “In Bangladesh, her spelling is ‘Waddedar’ in all our government records. When we had asked CU about the “Waddar” spelling, the pro-VC said the university records had that,” Iqbal added. Repeated calls and messages to the VC and pro-VC went unanswered.
Pain, who used the Waddedar surname in his “Chittagong”, finds this “rather puzzling”. “Even plaques in Bangladesh honouring her use the Waddedar spelling,” Pain said.
According to Tapati Sengupta, the former head of history department at Loreto College, the original surname of the Waddedars was Dasgupta. “Waddedar was derived from Wahededar that was conferred on the family by a Nawab of Bengal. In a file preserved at Bethune College on Pritilata, we find her signing her surname as Wadder. In her suicide note, she had signed as Pritilata Wadder. The college’s documents curiously spelt her surname as Waddar. Perhaps, it was an oversight,” Sengupta said.