Ranada Prasad Saha | |
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রণদা প্রসাদ সাহা | |
 R. P. Saha | |
| Pronunciation | [ɾɔnod̪apɾɔʃad̪ʃaɦa] |
| Born | (1896-11-15)15 November 1896 |
| Disappeared | 7 May 1971(1971-05-07) (aged 74) Mirzapur,Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Other names | R. P. Saha |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1915–1971 |
| Known for | Martyred Intellectual |
| Movement | Swadeshi movement |
| Parents |
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| Awards |  Independence Award (1978) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  British Empire |
| Branch |  British Indian Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1920 |
| Rank | _OF-1a.svg) Jemadar |
| Unit |
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| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |  British War Medal (1919)Sword of Honour (1919) |
Rai BahadurRanada Prasad Saha (Bengali:রণদা প্রসাদ সাহা,Bengali pronunciation:[ɾɔnod̪apɾɔʃad̪ʃaɦa]; 15 November 1896 – May 1971), also known asR. P. Saha, was aBengali businessman, entrepreneur, soldier, philanthropist, social worker, and humanitarian.[1] He founded educational institutes likeBharateswari Homes,Kumudini College andDebendra College. On 7 May 1971, the collaborators of thePakistani army abducted RP Saha and his son Bhavani Prasad Saha fromMirzapur and no news about their whereabouts has been unearthed till now.[2]
Shaha was born on 15 November 1896.[3] Debendranath Podder, Shaha's father, originated fromMirzapur inTangail subdivision ofMymensingh District. Shaha was born in his maternal uncle's house at Kachhur inSavar, nearDhaka. At the age of seven, he lost his mother, Kumudini Devi, who died of tetanus during childbirth. At the age of sixteen, he fled toKolkata and initially worked as a canteen boy and hawker.[3]
Shaha joined the Bengal Ambulance Corps as a medic and went toWorld War I. He left Kolkata in 1915 forMesopotamia. He earned a medal and citation fromKing George the Fifth for his distinctive performance.Later he got a commission as Vice Roy Commissioned officer in the 49 Bengal Regiment. He got a job with the Indian Railway department as a war veteran. He was honored for saving some British officers from a camp fire. After serving for about five years, Shaha retired from the army and served the British railway as a ticket collector until 1931.[3]
In 1932, he started his coal business. He later acquired a dealership for coal business inKolkata. In four years, he became a well-established coal businessman in Kolkata.He diversified his business in different sectors, including passenger launch, river transport, dockyard, food grain, and jute. He bought a ship namedBengal River.[1] He was appointed one of the agents to buy food grains for the Government. He bought three powerhouses atNarayanganj, Mymensingh andComilla and owned theGeorge Anderson Company of Narayanganj that used to make jute bales.[1]
In 1938, Shaha founded acharitable hospital at his native village, Mirzapur on the river Lauhajang. On 27 July 1944, the hospital, which had 20 beds, was opened byRichard Casey, Baron Casey, the thenGovernor of Bengal.[4] Saha named itKumudini Hospital, after his mother Kumudini, whose suffering from lack of medical care inspired him to establish a hospital for the poor, so that people, especially women, would not suffer the way his mother had. During the famine of 1943–1944, he maintained 275 gruel houses to feed the hungry for 8 months. As of 2010, the hospital has 750 beds and continues to serve the poor, providing them with free beds, meals and treatment and charging only nominally for surgical procedures. If the hospital was flooded, Ranadaprasad made the doctor's treat the patients on the top floors. He didn't care about death rates as many hospitals did and made sure no one was ever turned back. The Maternity Wing of the Dhaka Combined Military Hospital was established with his financial support.[citation needed]
To spread female education, he founded in 1942 a fully residential school at Mirzapur and named itBharateswari Bidyapith after Bharateswari Devi, his grandmother. In 1945, this institution was renamed toBharateswari Homes. It has 1200 seats as of 2010 and is renowned for producing well-rounded, socially responsible students who have gone on to excel in their respective fields. Founded theKumudini College at Tangail in 1943 andDebendra College atManikganj District in 1944 to commemorate his mother and father, respectively. He also set up the Mirzapur Pilot Boys' School, Mirzapur Pilot Girls' School, and Mirzapur Degree College.[citation needed]
In 1947, Saha placed all his companies in a trust by the name of Kumudini Welfare Trust (KWT), with the earnings from the income generating activities, such as a jute baling press and a river transportation business, being used to run the welfare activities.[citation needed]
The full extent of his philanthropic activities is not known even by his own family. In 1944, he donated BDT 250,000 to the Red Cross. His family often learns about them when they receive letters or calls from organizations informing them about some large donations he had made or some way in which he had helped them.[citation needed]
In April 1971, during theLiberation War of Bangladesh, despite a good working relationship with the Pakistani authorities as well as all preceding and successive governments, Saha, with his 26-year-old son Bhavani Prasad Saha, was picked up by thePakistani occupation army. They returned home after about a week, but were picked up again a day later on 7 May, after which they were never heard from again. Saha's daughter-in-law, Srimati Saha, was widowed at the age of 20, four years into her marriage. Her only child, son Rajiv, was three years old at the time. The death of Ranada Prasad Saha remained a mystery, as his body was never found, and neither was his son's.[5]
In appreciation of his humanitarian work, the British government conferred on Saha the title ofRai Bahadur.[1] In 1978, he was posthumously awarded theIndependence Award by the government of Bangladesh as a recognition of his social works.
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