NEW DELHI: Dr Nishikanta Ganguly, born in 1888, was the supreme commander of the Salt Satyagraha in Barishal district of West Bengal. He began his career as a teacher at Bhagyakul School in 1915 and later took charge as the headmaster after his post graduation in 1919.
Indoctrinated to revolutionary ideology by Satishchandra Mukhopadhyay, alias Swami Pragananda Saraswati, Dr Ganguly joined his Shankar Math, which was the center of revolutionary activities in Barishal (now in Bangladesh).
After Swami Saraswati’s death in 1921, Dr Ganguly gave up teaching to take the charge of Shankar Math and lived a life of celibacy.
It was only in 1930 that Dr Ganguly started visiting different parts of Barishal district lecturing on the Salt Satyagrah movement, which led to his imprisonment in the Alipore Central Jail in Bengal. He was arrested along with provincial Congress leaders including Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
After his release from Alipore Central Jail, Dr Ganguly was rearrested on the day of his arrival in Shankar Math and sent to a confinement camp in Rajasthan. He utilised the eight years of his imprisonment to become an MD in Homeopathy.
He started practicing Homeopathy in Calcutta after his release in 1938. Dr Ganguly continued the practice till he was imprisoned again in the Presidency Jail from 1942-1945. The freedom fighter-cum-teacher breathed his last in 1978.
Dr Nishikanta Ganguly, who pursued BA from Ripon College (Surendranath College) in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and six years later (in 1919) completed MA in History, also authored a few books.