Note on DEATH AND DESIRE IN TIMES OF REVOLUTION by Sarmistha Dutta Gupta.

The essay was intended to "problematise the iconic representations of Pritilata ( Waddedar, the iconic lady revolutionary who led the Pahartali European Club sie e, Chitta on in !"#$ and who, after ensurin that all her fellow compatriots could safely escape, committed suicide%, to present her inner torments and self&sacrifice in a different li ht vis&'&vis contemporary films and writin s( The effort is to pro)ect the *private* e+periences of women in public life rather than merely restrictin history to analysis of ,public- e+pressions of *public* realities, to delve into the *sub)ective* rather than only the *ob)ective*, to interpret her life and sacrifices differently, from a .parallel realm, to comprehend and underscore the se+uality in politics( /pparently, after the !"01s, the private lives of women are not to be 2ept outside the scope of interpretations while analysin and understandin particular historical events and characters( 3omewhat mystified by the impressive span of scholastic research, and despite the subtlety inherent in the apparent ,problematisin -, the impressive essay still appears to be a search for ,another- Pritilata throu h the prism of post&modern 4eminist identity( 5ein a ,sub)ective- search by definition, the male readership is at a disadvanta e( /fter all, one has to o under a feminine s2in to thin2 li2e a woman and it is difficult for a male to ,sub)ectively- interpret a female as a female( This probably is a common denomination of all similar sub)ective intellectualism, where the responsibility of failure to et under the s2in rests with the reader, who may not belon ( Notwithstandin and admittin this inherent disadvanta e, certain clarifications are solicited below, pendin which the edifice of ,problematisin Pritilata- remains vulnerable to misinterpretations( !( B si! s" ha#i$% sa&ri'i& ! h r !uty t()ar!s h r 'ami*y '(r h r !uty t()ar!s th &(u$try" +riti*ata )as ! sp rat *y tryi$% t( &(m t( t rms )ith th ,i$! (' patri(tism that r %ar! ! sa&ri'i& (' a** '' &ti# ti s )ith h(m a$! h arth as a$ a''irmati($ (' mas&u*i$ity. ( Pa e "6 7ocatin the 8oice% The suicide of Pritilata after the Pahartali sie e is thus identified as a comin to terms with a .,i$! (' patri(tism that r %ar! ! sa&ri'i& (' a** '' &ti# ti s )ith h(m a$! h arth as a$ a''irmati($ (' mas&u*i$ity-. Now let-s create a reverse scenario to test the efficacy of this ma)or departure from interpretations till date of revolutionary and9or patriotic behaviour( L t th r b a ,i$! (' patri(tism that !( s $(t r %ar! sa&ri'i& (' a** '' &ti# ti s )ith h(m a$! h arth. Would that be an affirmation of femininity: Would not such brand of ,patriotism- ma2e it tactically impossible to carry out actions and missions a ainst a ruthless colonial endarme: Would it not e+pose the otherwise ,innocent- family members, who have not been initiated to revolutionary terrorism for whatever reasons, to much more of the colonial counter&terrorism: Why this "masculinity": Why this se+ual identity: The word9s could easily have been "revolutionary ethics" or "contemporary revolutionary morals" or somethin similar( The circumstances of colonial oppression did not permit a normal " rihastha", the family person, to be a revolutionary terrorist without endan erin many more innocent non&participants, even while ivin the colonial endarme a better scope to brea2 the secrecy la+man&re2has( 3tereo&castin the tactical compulsions of a revolutionary movement with an identity superimposition li2e *masculinity* is out of tune with the ob)ectivity of the study( 5ut then, that is probably why a ,sub)ective- subterfu e was initially identified(

$( .Su&h a mas&u*i$ity ! ma$! ! ast(u$!i$% spiritua* p() r a$! martia* pr() ss a$! )(u*! $atura**y )a$t t( r pr s $t +riti*ata.s ta,i$% (' h r ()$ *i' " a't r su&& ss'u**y / &uti$% th %r(up.s p*a$ (' a&ti($ a$! s i$% ('' h r t am mat s t( sa' ty" as a#()a* (' supr m str $%th a$! patri(tism.- ( Pa e "6 7ocatin the 8oice% What has ender to do with her suicide here: Why should, of all thin s, masculinity ,naturally want- Pritilata to ta2e her own life after a successful mission: Why should masculinity, and not femininity, be the repository of astoundin spiritual power and martial prowess in a country and times where the mother syndrome, manifest in the li2es of ;ur a and <ali, are a patholo ical inheritance in every noo2 and corner of society: #( I$ +riti*ata.s &as " a$ a&,$()* !% m $t by h r &(mpatri(ts that h r sui&i! &(u*! b b &aus (' h r i$abi*ity t( &(p )ith pri#at - %ri ' a$! i$$ r stru%%* " )(u*! ta$tam(u$t t( h r ! ath *((,i$% u$h r(i&- a$! $($0martyr*i, -. The death, in reality, was indeed unheroic and non&martyrli2e( 5ut her compatriots had no reason to blow that trumpet( They did e+actly what was rational ( not sub)ective%, they covered a fellow&revolutionary with a lory she deserved and did not say thin s that need not be said( =( +riti*ata 1a!! !ar.s sui&i! a't r su&& ss'u**y * a!i$% a$ a&ti($- a$! s i$% ('' a** h r &(mra! s t( sa' ty " '(r &*(s ! th p(ssibi*ity (' i$t rpr ti$% h r ! &isi($ as i$&(mp t $& " ! r *i&ti($ (' !uty a$! pri#i* %i$% (' th pri#at (# r th pub*i&.- 2 +a% 34 *ast but ($ para5 >ad she not committed suicide, the ?uestion of "incompetence" or "dereliction of duty" for a deed she did not do would not arise( The only other "misdeed" would then be her "privile in of the private over the public"( @f that inner conflict(((( of waves of "private" ur es swampin the sense of public duty(((( was there, then it would only establish that she was a "normal" patriot, li2e patriots anywhere and of either se+, who are 9 were continuously tormented between the calls of the private and public emotions and motives( Committin suicide without a clear sense of achievin somethin cannot be any laudable act of any revolutionary( Was it fear then, a fear that even someone li2e her, who had con?uered so much more than any normal woman ( or man%, a fear that could not have had been avoidedA and who had therefore decided that before she brea2s up with the fear and tension of bein a revolutionary and thus compromise the cause, it would be more rational to o up in lorious "flames", li2e in Bahar 5rata: >istorians need to interpret motives dialectically, be it a social motive or a socially subservient personal motive( Conclusions become unrealistic if facts are dovetailed to fit their sub)ective interpretational framewor2( Every brave patriot has a coward inside her, the e+istence of the coward is proof her human&ness, con?uerin that cowardice every day is the price one pays to become a revolutionary( 7esser mortals, swamped by the cowardice, lead a mundane, cowardly life( >eroines li2e Pritilata con?uered it more than most livin women of her times and beyond, and yet she could not completely eliminate it( That does not ma2e her a lesser heroin, it only throws some li ht on the "dialectics" of patriotism(