KristalBabbage2 at 18:12, 30 December 2025

2025-12-30T18:12:15Z

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{{Short description|Indian revolutionary (1908–1964)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Sri Loknath Bal.jpg
| imagesize = 150px
| name = Lokenath Bal
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|3|8|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Chittagong District|Chittagong]], [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| residence =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|09|4|1908|3|08|df=y}}
| death_place = Calcutta, West Bengal, India
| office = Second Deputy Commissioner of the [[Calcutta Corporation]]
| constituency =
| term = 1 May 1952 to 19 July 1962
| predecessor = Prankrishna Bal
| successor =
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| religion =
| spouse =
| children =
| website =
| footnotes =
| source =
}}

'''Lokenath Bal''' ({{langx|bn|লোকনাথ বল}}) (8 March 1908 – 4 September 1964) was an [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence activist]] and a member of the armed resistance movement led by [[Surya Sen]], which carried out the [[Chittagong armoury raid]] in 1930.<ref>Chandra, Bipan and others (1998). ''India's Struggle for Independence'', New Delhi: Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0-14-010781-9}}, p.251</ref> Later, he joined the [[Indian National Congress]]. After [[Partition of India|Indian independence]], he worked as an administrative officer in the [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation|Calcutta Corporation]] till his death.<ref name="sengupta">Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.503</ref>

==Early life and independence movement==
Lokenath Bal was born in Dhorla village of [[Chittagong District]] in [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal Province]] of [[British India]].<ref name="Sengupta1988">{{cite book |last=Sengupta |first=Subodh Chandra |title=Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan |year=1988 |publisher=Sahitya Sansad |location=Kolkata |page=503 |language=bn}}</ref> His father's name was Prankrishna Bal. On 18 April 1930, a group of revolutionaries led by him took over the [[Auxiliary Force (India)|AFI]] armoury.<ref name="Chandra1988">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Bipan |title=India's Struggle for Independence |year=1988 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0140107814 |page=251}}</ref> Later, on 22 April 1930, he led another gunfight against the combined forces of the British army and the British police.<ref name="Chatterjee2000">{{cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Manini |title=Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 |year=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0140290677}}</ref> His younger brother [[Harigopal Bal]] (Tegra) and another 11 revolutionaries died in this gunfight.<ref name="Chatterjee2000">{{cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Manini |title=Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 |year=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0140290677}}</ref> He was able to escape and reach [[Chandernagore]], a French territory.<ref name="Roy2015">{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Subodh |title=Chittagong Armoury Raid: A Memoir |year=2015 |publisher=LeftWord Books |isbn=978-9381113240}}</ref> He and [[Ganesh Ghosh]] were arrested on 1 September 1930 after a gunfight with the British police.<ref name="Roy2015">{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Subodh |title=Chittagong Armoury Raid: A Memoir |year=2015 |publisher=LeftWord Books |isbn=978-9381113240}}</ref> [[Jiban Ghoshal]], alias Makhan, his young associate died in this gunfight. He was sentenced to transportation for life on 1 March 1932 and sent to the [[Cellular Jail]] in [[Port Blair]]. After his release in 1946, he joined the [[Radical Democratic Party (India)|Radical Democratic Party]] founded by [[Manabendra Nath Roy]]. Later, he joined the Indian National Congress. <ref name="sengupta"/>

==Post independence==
Bal was the second deputy commissioner of the Calcutta Corporation from 1 May 1952 to 19 July 1962. He was promoted to its first deputy commissioner on 20 July 1962 and remained in office till his death in Calcutta on 4 September 1964.<ref name="KMC_History">{{cite web |title=Municipal History of Kolkata |url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/MunicipalHistoryHome.jsp |publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation |access-date=2025-12-30}}</ref> His son, Himadri Bal, did his MBBS in Kolkata and joined the Indian Army.<ref name="NMC_Faculty">{{cite web |title=Faculty Details - Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology |url=https://www.nmc.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Participant_MUHSNashik.pdf |publisher=National Medical Commission (NMC) / MUHS Nashik |page=36 |access-date=2025-12-30}}</ref> He became a renowned gynaecologist of the Indian Armed Forces and was posted to several teaching hospitals in the Armed Forces Medical Services, including the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College Pune.<ref name="NMC_Faculty">{{cite web |title=Faculty Details - Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology |url=https://www.nmc.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Participant_MUHSNashik.pdf |publisher=National Medical Commission (NMC) / MUHS Nashik |page=36 |access-date=2025-12-30}}</ref> He retired as a colonel form the Army in 2015 and is teaching at a local medical college in Pune as a professor in obstetrics and gynaecology.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}

[[Category:Revolutionaries of Bengal during British Rule]]
[[Category:Indian independence armed struggle activists]]
[[Category:1908 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:People from West Bengal]]
[[Category:People from Dharala]]

Lokenath Bal - Revision history

KristalBabbage2 at 18:12, 30 December 2025