Suhasini Das

Das was born in 1915 in Jagannathpur village in Sunamganj district, East Bengal.[1] Her parents were Parimohan and Shobha Roy; she had two younger brothers and two younger sisters.[2] When she was six years old a school was built in her village - until then children had to travel 22 miles to Sylhet to be educated.[3] She was married aged 18 to a businessman, Kumud Chandra Das, who owned the Kuti-Chand Press.[3][2] Marriage had halted Das' education, however over the following years her friend Sarju, who was a private tutor, taught her how to read and write Bengali and English.[3] In 1938, she and her husband visited Kolkata and witnessed the funeral procession of Jatindra Mohan Sengutpta.[3] In 1939, her daughter Nilema was born, but shortly afterwards, her husband died of a fever.[3]

The death of her husband enabled greater independence for Das - after a period of mourning, she decided to turn her house into a centre for thread-making and charkha, which enabled Bengali and Manipuri women and girls to earn money, but more importantly the work and the environment provided education.[3] In order to fund this she used the wealth inherited after the death of her husband.[2] The charkha became a symbol of Indian independence and on 20 January 1940, Das announced that she would only wear khaddar clothes for the rest of her life.[4]

Das was a supporter of Gandhi.[5] In 1942 she joined the Quit India Movement, which was under Gandhi's leadership; Das was imprisoned alongside other members.[6] She was also a supporter of the Non-Cooperation Movement.[7] She later joined the Indian National Congress.[4]

During Partition in 1947, Das travelled widely in the Sylhet area, encouraging Hindu people to stay at home and tried to calm their fears.[8] From 1946-7, Das worked in a relief camp in Noakhali, one of seventeen set up by Leela Roy, following the riots which took place there.[9] Whilst working there she contracted smallpox, and was visited by Gandhi whilst recovering.[6]

After Partition ended, Das remained in Sylhet and, along with Prunendu Sen and Nikunja Goswami, founded schools and set up a variety of strategies to enable communities to be financially stable.[3] In 1947, Das was instrumental in establishing the Rangirkul Ashram, which she ultimately became leader of.[2]

During the war for independence in 1971, it was Das' leadership which protected the ashram.[2] After independence, Das left politics to concentrate on her social and religious work.[4][8] However in 1973, she still attended a conference of anti-British freedom fighters in Delhi, where she highlighted to role of people from East Bengal in the struggle.[4]

In 1986, Das attended the World Hindu Congress in Nepal.[4] Religious tolerance and understanding was very important to her and in 1990 worked to restore faith between Hindus and Muslims after attacks on mosques and temples.[4]

Das published her memoirs under the title Sekaler Sylhet ((Sylhet during the British Raj: Memories of Suhasini Das) in 2005.[5] These are a vital resource for understanding Partition in East Bengal, particularly from a female perspective.[11] These diaries recorded the rising dominance of the Muslim League and the pressures the Hindu minority felt.[12][13] One of the halls at Sylhet Agricultural University is named after her.[14]