Nellie & Jatindra Mohan Sengupta
A commemorative postage stamp on Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, an Indian revolutionary and his British wife, Nellie Sengupta, later became President of Indian National Congress in 1933 :
Issued by India
Issued on Jul 22, 1985
Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to issue this special stamp in honour of Deshpriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta and Nellie Sengupta, amongst the foremost of our freedom fighters and nationalists.
Description of Designs : The 50 p. single colour stamp has been designed by India Security Press, Nasik. The cover shows J.M. Sengupta and Nellie Sengupta. The cancellation has been designed by Nenu Bagga.
Type : Stamp, Mint Condition
Colour : Multicolour
Denomination : 50 Paise
Overall size : 4.06 x 2.73 cms.
Printing size : 3.71 x 2.38 cms.
Perforation : 13 x 13
Paper : Unwatermarked P.G. Matt coated paper
Number printed : 15,00,000
Number per issue sheet : 40
Printing process : Photogravure
Printed at : India Security Press
Name : Jatindra Mohan Sengupta
Born on Feb 22, 1885 at Barama, Chittagong, British India [now in Bangladesh]
Died on Jul 23, 1933 at Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
About :
- Jatindra Mohan Sengupta was born at Barama, a village in Chittagong, now in Bangladesh. His father Jatra Mohan Sen was a leading lawyer and a member of the Bengal Legislative Council.
- Educated at Presidency College, Calcutta, Jatindra Mohan went to England in 1904, from where he took his degree in Law and was called to the Bar. He returned to India but gave up legal practice in 1921, when he became actively involved in the Non-Cooperation movement. Jatindra Mohan started his political career in 1911 as a delegate from Chittagong to the Bengal Provincial Conference at Faridpur. Thereafter, he worked as Secretary of the Congress, Chairman of the Reception Committees and was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1923. After the death of C. R. Das, he became in 1925, President of Bengal Swaraj Party, leader of the Congress Party in the Bengal Legislative Council and President of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee.
- He was one of the earlier leaders of the trade union movement as President of the Burma Oil Labour Union and of the Assam-Bengal Railway Union. He played a leading role in municipal politics in Calcutta as the leader of the Congress Municipal Association and Mayor of the city, for as many as five terms. Jatindra Mohan organised relief in all natural calamities and worked for the cause of peace and harmony.
- Jatindra Mohan‘s many sided contributions to the promotion of national consciousness were gratefully acknowledged by the people of Bengal who lovingly called him ‘Deshpriya‘ (Beloved of the country). He suffered imprisonment for several terms and died as an internee at Ranchi on 23 July, 1933.
Name : Nellie Sengupta (Edith Ellen Gray)
Born on 1886 at Cambridge, England
Died on 1973 at Kolkata, India
About her :
- An English woman earnestly serving the cause of Indians and their Freedom, dignified and unassuming, courageous and ever prepared to take risks and suffer privations, Nelli Sengupta naturally won the love and esteem of all Indians.
- Daughter of Fredrick William and Edith Henrietta Gray, Nellie was born in 1886 at Cambridge, England. In 1909 she married Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, who was then studying in England and came to settle down in Chittagong.
- 1921 saw Jatindra Mohan Sengupta actively participating in the National Movement and Nellie wholeheartedly participated in the struggle. She protested against the orders of the District authorities and was arrested in 1931, for four months for addressing an unlawful assembly. In the early thirties, Nelli was chosen to take over from Madan Mohan Malviya, at a time when most of the Congress leaders were in jail.
- The Calcutta Corporation elected her an Alderman and she was returned un-contested to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1940 and was re-elected in 1946. After partition she chose to live in Pakistan and was returned unopposed to the East Pakistan Legislature in 1954.
- Nellie Sengupta came to India for medical treatment and died in Calcutta in 1973.
