The Hindu : National : West Bengal archive for police records

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 19, 2007
ePaper

National

National

West Bengal archive for police records

Antara Das

Help to researchers in colonial history

Lot of information lies scattered in files of IB and CID
Records cover landmark events

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has set up a separate wing for police records, which is likely to be of help to researchers in colonial history. It is an integral part of the West Bengal State Archives.

“A lot of valuable information lies scattered in the files of the Intelligence Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Department as well as the district police,” said Archives Director Basudeb Chattopadhyay. With the new archive, researchers will be spared the trouble of scouring district police stations for primary material.

The records, dating back to the early years of the 20th century, cover landmark events such as the reverberations surrounding the Partition of Bengal in 1905, revolutionary terrorism, and Congress as well as Communist activities. “It is a record of everything the IB considered worth tailing, notwithstanding the fact that the events are seen through a lens of repression,” Dr. Chattopadhyay said.

Apart from the history sheets of all leading revolutionaries and piles of intercepted letters, there are records suggesting that the followers of Swadeshi and new nationalism were increasingly using folk entertainment like ‘jatra’ to spread political messages, a fact that would interest cultural historians.“The police are the best archivist in times of crises, with files becoming more voluminous as surveillance increased during the later part of the freedom struggle.”

The financial responsibility for the new wing will be borne by the West Bengal Police Directorate, with administrative control resting with the Department of Higher Education.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National