All the revolutionaries were extremely devoted to Mashtar-da. Those who were listening to Netra Sen's wife were disgusted and sad, because Surjya Sen had been betrayed by Netra Sen, her husband. The British even set a date when he would be hanged. First there would be a court hearing and other proceedings. Surjya Sen himself was completely shocked when he heard what Netra Sen had done.
"I do not want to live with my husband," the wife cried. "I do not want even to look at him! My husband happened to be a revolutionary! Now he has cast a slur on all the revolutionaries. This is what money can do." She begged the revolutionaries to kill her husband. She said that she would not tell her husband what was going to happen to him.
In a few days time, while Netra Sen's wife was serving him dinner and he was eating, one of the revolutionaries came and cut Netra Sen's throat. He died immediately. Netra Sen was assassinated by one of the revolutionaries at the request of his own wife!
When the police came, they demanded that Netra Sen's wife tell them the name of the person who killed her husband. "You have to tell us!" they said.
She answered, "No! You can kill me. I will not tell you. I do know who the person is. I know, I know. But I will not tell you. If you want to arrest me, arrest me. If you want to kill me, kill me. I am ready. I can't have a husband who has betrayed our beloved Mashtar-da."
The police could do nothing. The wife was not crying at all for her husband. When Mashtar-da was arrested, she was crying so bitterly and was filled with grief. She kept saying, "How could my husband do this to our Hero supreme, our beloved Leader, Mashtar-da!"
The police demanded, "You have to tell us!"
When the police demanded, "You have to tell us," she said, "No! Do anything you want. I am not going to tell you the name of the person. I know the person very well, because I myself made the request."
This story is one hundred per cent authentic. The wife lived for many more years, serving the revolutionaries most devotedly and most faithfully. Women like Netra Sen's wife did not even go outside of their homes, but they made such significant contributions to the revolution!
This incident took place around 1932, when I was one year old. It shows how much people can love their Motherland. For India's freedom and independence, they revolted. As other places in India revolted, Chittagong also revolted and Chittagong's supreme leader was Surjya Sen.
On January 12th, 1934, before the sun rose, Surjya Sen was hanged. The evening before he was hanged, he sent a farewell message to his followers from the Chittagong Jail. He wrote:
"Rope is hanging over my head. Death is knocking at my door. At such a solemn moment, what shall I leave behind for you? Only one thing—that is my dream, a golden dream—a dream of Free India. If you die before the goal is reached, then give the charge of your further pursuit to your followers, as I do today. Onward my Comrades, onward—never fall back. The day of bondage is disappearing and the dawn of freedom will be ushered in. Be up and doing. Never be disappointed. Success is sure. God bless you."
Netra Sen's wife went to to the place where Surjya Sen was to be hanged. Just before he died, Surjya Sen blessed her and said, "I am not the hero. You are the hero. I am not the real leader. You are the real leader. The sacrifices that you have made for Mother India have made you the real leader of Chittagong's revolution for our liberation."
As he was dying, Surjya Sen was only saying over and over, " Bande mataram! Bande mataram! Bande mataram!" Mother, I bow to Thee....
All around him, people were shedding tears. Surjya Sen asked, "Why, why, why? Why are you doing this? I am bowing to my Mother. If they arrest you, I want all of you to say, 'Mother, Mother, Mother—for you, for Mother India, for Chittagong, I embrace death.' By invoking the Mother, I am embracing death. Indeed, there is no death for a revolutionary. My love of my Motherland is infinitely stronger than death. Janani Janma Bhoomischa Swargaadapi Gariyasi. " Mother and Motherland are superior to Heaven itself.
Once more he chanted, "Bande mataram! Bande mataram! Bande mataram!" Then he passed behind the curtain of Eternity to be in the galaxy of the immortals
