Parul Mukherjee: the revolutionary who trained women to fight in Bengal
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In 1935, British police arrested Parul Mukherjee in Titagarh, India, finding her with weapons and fellow members of the Anushilan Samiti, a revolutionary organisation.
Mukherjee was born in 1915 into a family already involved in the struggle against British rule. Her brother led the Anushilan Samiti, exposing her to the risks of opposing the British Empire from a young age. Mukherjee formally joined the Anushilan Samiti in 1929, quickly becoming a key figure in building its women’s wing.
She recruited young women and led training sessions that combined revolutionary ideology with practical self-defence skills, including swordplay. She wanted women to fully participate in the independence movement, not just support it from the sidelines. Other groups, like Calcutta’s Chhatri Sangha, ran similar programs, preparing women for active roles alongside male revolutionaries. Police recognised Mukherjee’s influence, giving her the nickname “Comilla’s Goonda” as a warning to those she trained.
After her 1935 arrest and imprisonment, records of Mukherjee’s life are incomplete, but she lived until 1990, after India gained its independence. Today, her contributions are gaining recognition as historians uncover the vital roles women played in the independence movement.
