Police Informer Pabitra Ballabh's statement to Calcutta Police in Hungry Generation trial

My name is Pabitra Ballabh ( son of Thakurdas Ballabh of 28/A Paikpara Row, Calcutta 37 ). I passed MA from Calcutta University in 1963. I am an Assistant teacher of Sagar Dutta Free English School, Kamarhati. I accepted the idea of Hungry Generation on which it was initially based but shortly after the booklet in question was brought out I severed every connection with them realising that they had diverted from the original idea. So far as I remember my name was just printed on the 2nd or 3rd issue of Hungry Generation perhaps two years back. After the separation I did not contribute anything to it. I do not know from where those articles were printed and who financed the publication.
According to my estimation their writings manifested mental perversion and their language is vulgar. I also saw a copy of this booklet and strongly condemned the poem captioned "প্রচণ্ড বৈদ্যুতিক ছুতার" written by Malay Roychoudhury. I know the handwriting of Malay Roychoudhury.
                                                       Pabitra Ballabh
                                                    4th September 1964
( During cross examination it became clear that Pabitra Ballabh was a Police agent whose job was to collect information about writers and deposit all little magazines at the Press Section of the Lalbazar Detective Department, Calcutta ). 
                                  

Shakti Chattopadhyay's bond to Lalbazar Police in Hungry Generation Court Case.

My name is Shakti Chatterjee ( son of Late Rama Charan Chatterjee of 4 Adhar Chandra Das Lane, Calcutta ). I am aged about 31 years. I am BA and also a writer. I am also a casual translator of USIS. It is a fact that this literary movement was started by me with some other friends. I severed every connection with the organisation realising that they had diverted from the original idea. I have seen one booklet entitled Hungry Generation in which my name has been used as the publisher of the book. I had no relationship with socalled Hungry Generation and this book was not published by me. I know Malay Roychoudhury and his elder brother Samir Roychoudhury, Subhash Ghosh, Saileswar Ghosh, Pradip Choudhuri, Utpal Bose. I know the handwriting of Malay Roychoudhury. I do not know from where this publication was printed and who financed it.
According to my estimation the writing of Malay  Roychoudhury manifested mental perversion and his language is vulgar.
I saw a copy of the booklet and strongly condemned the poem captioned "প্রচণ্ড বৈদ্যুতিক ছুতার"
                                                               Shakti Chattopadhyay
                                                                 18 February 1965
( The booklet in question was published by Samir Roychoudhury and that is why Samir Roychoudhury was arrested. Shakti Chattopadhyay was not the publisher as he has claimed here. Shakti Chattopadhyay ultimately became a Police witness against Malay Roychoudhury to save himself from getting arrested ) 
                                 

                                           
 

Sandipan Chattopadhyay : My wife advised me not to go to jail : Hungry Generation

CONFESSION OF SANDIPAN CHATTOPADHYAY

That was a time when nobody gave me any importance and those who started the Hungry Generation movement, that is Malay Roychoudhury and Samir Roychoudhury told me that they liked my writing, and the type of writing they were searching for, they have found it in me, that is why they want to publish my writings. I was very happy when they gave me such importance.

I have seen the Hungryalist manifestos quite later. At that time a story by Shakti Chattopadhyay had turned me on. In fact, because of that story I was attracted to Hungryalist movement. I do not remember the title of the story. The storyline was like this -- A young man, he suffered from insatiable hunger. One day when he was guiding a girl in her studies, he ate her corner of the dress, and gradually he ate the entire dress. He was delighted with it. Though she felt a bit sour but he ate the entire girl in little morsels. It gave him a sense of fun. After this he started eating a lot of things ; such as windows, chairs, printing press, notebook etc. One day he ate up the watchman of a hotel. One day he was with his girlfriend at the shore of the Ganges river. Suddenly he started having his pangs of hunger. The young man wanted to eat the ship anchored at the river bank. But he was not successful in eating the ship. The ship sails. At that time the young man floated a written piece of paper on the waves. It was not known as to for whom he had floated the chit. May be it was for his lover. May be it was for the world. Or may be it was for something else. The story ends here. I was very much moved by this story and thought that this was the main message of The Hungry Generation movement.

I was very much attached to the Hungry Generation movement. I liked the ideal of Hungryalist movement  and I was with them because I was fully committed with mind and soul to it and was associated with them. I do not have any doubt about it. But afterwards they published periodicals in my name without informing me. I was annoyed with it.

At that time I was associated with 'Krittibas' magazine. But when this Hungryalist movement was launched, Sunil Gangopadhyay was in USA. This movement may be termed as a 'Coup d'etat' in Sunil's absence.

I did not have any attraction for the Establishment. If anybody has played a role of an Anti-Establishment writer in West Bengal, it is me. My role remains the same after publication of my story 'Bijaner Raktamangsho'.\

I think literary activities are not possible with such a party of men. I writer himself is his past, his future, his society, his civilization, his everything. In creating literature the group does not play any role.

I had furnished a bond to the Police for two reasons. First, I am very much scared of the Police and second, my wife had advised me not to go to jail. My wife said that already she was ashamed for having married a drunkard like me and her relatives have cut off relations with her ; now if you go to jail it would be a gilt edged event for them. That is why I severed connections with them.
( Sandipan Chattopadhyay had not only signed a bond of good conduct but had also become Police witness against Malay Roychoudhury in the Court case at Calcutta ).

This was published in the Bengali magazine 'Goddo-Poddo Samvad', Hungry Generation special issue, October 1986.

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