Buxa Detention Camp: Fortress of Forgotten Resistance and Freedom
In
the Heart of the Jungle, Behind the Walls of Silence—A Prison Without the Bars
of Justice
Buxa
Fort, perched at an altitude of 867 meters (2,844 ft) in the heart of the Buxa
Tiger Reserve, lies 30 km from Alipurduar town in West Bengal. Originally built
by the Bhutanese King to guard a vital stretch of the ancient Silk Route
connecting Tibet with India via Bhutan, the fort holds deep historical and strategic
importance. In the late 18th century, during the Second Dooars War, the British
army—supported by the King of Cooch Behar—seized control of the fort from the
Bhutanese.
By
the 1930s, the British had transformed this remote and rugged outpost into a
high-security prison and detention camp. Isolated and nearly unreachable, Buxa
Fort earned a grim reputation as one of the most feared prisons in colonial
India—second only to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands. It became a
crucible of psychological endurance, spiritual introspection, and nationalist
determination. The fort etched its place in India’s freedom struggle as a
prison that swallowed hope and tested the unbreakable spirit of those who
longed for liberty.
Nestled
in the thick forest surrounding the fort, the remote village of Buxa Dwar
added another layer of isolation, making it an ideal location for the British
to confine political prisoners without trial. During the 1930s and again in
1942, Buxa Fort was filled with prominent nationalist revolutionaries, many
from the Yugantar and Anushilan Samiti movements. Despite the
harsh conditions and tight security, the fort also witnessed rare acts of
defiance—most notably the daring escape of revolutionaries Jiten Gupta
and Krishnapada Chakraborty, who risked everything for a taste of
freedom.
The
Inner Revolution: From Isolation to Illumination
Amalendu Dasgupta, a member of
the Jugantar group, provides a vivid
account of this prison in his memoir Buxa Camp and captures its
paradox beautifully. He describes the fort as a place of stark contrasts, where
the dark clouds of civil disobedience hung heavy, yet the light of revolution
sparked hope on the eastern horizon. Dasgupta’s words capture the essence of the
era: “It was the time when Gandhiji had called for
Civil Disobedience. Clouds of disobedience gathered one over the other,
darkening the sky. But the lightning of revolution sparked on the eastern
horizon. We arrived at Buxa Fort on that day—when clouds and sunshine were
playing hide and seek over Buxa Dwar.”
Revolutionaries Behind
Bars: The Luminaries of Buxa Fort
From the Jugantar
group, the fort housed several notable revolutionaries, including Jyotish
Chandra Ghosh, Suresh Chandra Das, Bhupati
Majumder, Arun Ghuha, Bhupendra Kumar Dutta,
Jibanlal Chatterjee, Hemendra Ghosh, Bhupendra
Kishor Rakshit, Satya Gupta, Anil Roy,
Purna Das, Manoranjan Gupta, Surendra
Mohan Ghosh, Panchanon Chakraborty, and Abdur
Rezzak Khan.
In
1931, Deshapriya Jatindramohan Sengupta visited the camp on Mahatma
Gandhi’s request, seeking advice from these revolutionaries before
attending the Second Round Table Conference. Such was the moral and
intellectual weight of this "jungle prison" that Gandhi himself
valued their insight.
Moments
of Hope: The Spirit of Tagore
In 1931, the 70th birth
anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore was celebrated. The inmates
of Buxa Fort honored him by staging his play ‘Bisarjan’. They
even sent him a congratulatory letter—one he replied to, acknowledging their
courage and cultural spirit.
In that moment, Buxa Fort
temporarily transformed from a fortress of isolation into a theatre of national
pride and creative expression.
The
Final March and Fading Footsteps
Eventually, the British government
decided to relocate the revolutionaries from Buxa to a newly established
detention camp at Deoli, Rajasthan. Amalendu Dasgupta, one of the deported
revolutionaries, poignantly recalls his departure from Buxa Fort: “I took a halt in front of the Post Office
and looked towards Buxa Fort for the last time. That is Buxa Fort. I have spent
many days and nights there. A part of my life had been captured there forever.
We took a turn and Buxa Fort vanished from my eyesight.”
A
New Dawn for Buxa Fort
Buxa Fort is all set to get a
new look. The Government of West Bengal has initiated a restoration and
development plan with a fund of ₹4.82 crore, aiming to transform the fort into
a significant tourist destination where visitors can reconnect with history.
Today, Buxa Fort lies in ruins,
surrounded by the serene wilderness of the Buxa Tiger Reserve. But with the
government’s investment, it is poised to return to public memory—not as a
monument of pain, but as a symbol of silent resilience.
Buxa is not just a fort. It's a symbol.
Of revolution.
Of reflection.
Of the enduring strength of the Indian spirit.
Colonial Jails and Detention Blogs Link Below:👇
Colonial Jails and Detention Camps of British India: Untold Stories of Resistance
Hijli Detention Camp: Forgotten Jail That Shaped India's Freedom and Became IIT Kharagpur
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