User:Tapan Chattopadhyay/sandbox/Profile of Tapan Chattopadhyay

Tapan Chattopadhyay (b. 13 March 1946), Ph.D., D.Litt., son of Phanindranath and Baruna Chattopadhyay of Guptipara, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India, is the author of pioneering research books on Indian subjects in English, apart from novels, short stories and articles in Bengali.

His earliest work was a book of poems in Bengali, Galita Periye (Crossing the Alley), Kolkata, 1977. Subsequently some of his poems were compiled in a volume titled Ekta Samay Ashe (A Time Comes), Kolkata, 2005.

His novel Nagar Rakshi (Guardians of the City), Kolkata, 2003 - written on Kolkata cops and considered a bold portrayal of the police under the Marxist rule by the eminent cop and columnist, Julio Reibero, in The Sunday Times of India (New Delhi, 12 March 1995) and in The Telegraph (12 May 1995) - was awarded the Michael Madhusudan Award in 2005. His earlier novel, Ekattarer Agun (Fire of Seventy-one), Kolkata, 1993, was based on the least known aspects of the Bangladesh liberation movement. Similarly, Operation Kandahar, Kolkata, 2009, fictionalized the hijack of an Indian plane by Islamist terrorists from Kathmandu to Kandahar.

Among his other works are Jaydeber Punthi Rahasya, Nau Vijayer Nepathye, Kolkatar Sherlock Homes (The Sherlock Holmes of Kolkata) based on the real-life exploits of Old Calcutta detectives, and Kruddha Pahar Trasta Manush (Angry Hills, Frightened People) portraying the sufferings and anguish of the people of northeastern India. The Hindustan Times Notebook (5 May 2003) made the following observation on Kolkatar Sherlock Holmes: ‘From William C. Blacquire, Kolkata’s first detective with 60 years’ valuable experience in Kolkata and Lalbazar, to Richard Reid, who unraveled the murder mystery of Rose Brown in 1868 – ten years before Scotland Yard was founded and 19 years before Sherlock Holmes” came into existence”, the book is a must for those who swear by their Feluda and Sherlock Holmes.’

Chattopadhyay’s more enduring works are, however, his pioneering researches based on primary, indigenous materials. Among them are The Story of Lalbazar- Its Origin and Growth (Kolkata, 1982), the first ever history of Calcutta (Kolkata) Police till the 1970s1, and the Kolkata and Its Police –A History of City Police from Charnock’s to Present Day (Kolkata, 2014). In its review of the latter book, The Telegraph (30 May 2014) has observed: ‘The present volume marks a great advancement on the author’s earlier book. It delves deep into old historical records of early British rulers’ attempts to create a modern police for what was to become an imperial city’.

The author’s other work Lepchas and Their Heritage (Delhi, 1990, third print, 2013) is a perceptive study of the little known tribe of Sikkim and Darjeeling3. Chattopadhyay has dwelt at length on the cultural traits of this sociologically extraordinary people and rendered their old songs. His another well-documented work The INA’s Secret Service in Southeast Asia: Its Background, Infrastructure, Resources and Activities during World War II (ReKolkata, 2011, third reprint, January 1914) is about the intelligence network and activities of the Indian revolutionary army during World War II.

Tapan Chattopadhyay belongs to a literary family of Hooghly district in West Bengal and his early life was spent in his village Guptipara, where his father had settled down after retiring from Government service. His uncle Sudhindranath (later Swami Jogendrananda Ashram) was a revolutionary of the Jugantar Dal.

From his grandmother’s side Chattopadhyay is a descendant of the Sanskrit scholar and author Baneswar Vidyalankar (Bhattacharya) of Guptipara4; and his mother Baruna was a descendant of the eldest son of Krishnakanta Roy of Radhanagar, Hooghly, whose youngest son was the grandfather of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the social reformer5. Chattopadhyay’s paternal ancestors belonged to Pindira, near Pandua, about a hundred kilometers from Kolkata. In 1696, the family patriarch took up arms against against the Maharaja of Burdwan along with Raja Sobha Singh of Chetua Barda and others6, as an indirect result of which the British could build their fortifications at Calcutta7. The revolt has been mentioned by Baneswar Vidyalankar in his eighteenth-century Sanskrit work Chitrachampu8. A scion of the Pindira family was the litterateur and patriot Kshirode Prasad Vidyabinode (Chattopadhyay).

From the beginning, Chattopadhyay showed inclination for literature and history. He was the English editor of the Scottish Church College magazine in 1963 and later became the joint editor of the Calcutta University journal Ekata in 1966. After completion of his university studies and a brief stint in teaching and research, he joined the Indian Police Service (IPS), one of the two elite all-India services, in 1970. Much later, he took Ph. D. in history from Jadavpur University and D.Litt. from Vidyasagar University. He is the founder vice-president of the Indian Mythological Research Centre, Kolkata, and was till recently the executive editor of its quarterly journal Pouraniki. His articles on Indology and Indian mythology – which is the domain of his subsequent research and explorations - have a sizeable readership. He is associated with some philanthropic organizations too, including the World Organization for People’s Democratic Rights. Chattopadhyay worked for thirty-eight years in five organizations in the IPS in various capacities and retired in the seniormost rank of director-general. Thereafter he was appointed member, Public Service Commission, West Bengal. During his early career in the IPS he worked in the Detective Department of Kolkata Police as a deputy commissioner and quickly gained reputation as a detective officer so much so that a fictional detective was later created after his name9. His name figured in a novel published years later in 2008 in the Puja number of the Aajkal. Moreover, profiles were written on him in The Statesman, Pratidin, Coalfield Times, and so on10. During the communal holocaust in Tripura in 1980 he dealt with insurgency in his capacity as superintendent of police11 and was inducted in the Intelligence Bureau, Government of India, in 1981, where he served in various capacities for nearly two decades. While in Tripura, he collected and translated Reang and Jamatia songs.

As the regional central intelligence chief in Nagaland-Manipur in 1993-1995, he was involved with tackling the insurgency problems and was awarded the Special Duty Medal by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. He is also the recipient of the Indian Police Medal for meritorious service and the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service. He was a member of the first Indo-Myanmar delegation in 1995.

As president of the IPS Association, West Bengal, in 2001- 2003 he was instrumental in removing certain anomalies existing then in the service12. His services are still utilized by the Department of Education, West Bengal, some universities of the state and some State Public Service Commissions.

Besides the Michael Madhusudan Award, Chattopadhyay has received the Uttar Banga Natya Jagat Award, 2007, and the Bartabahak Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008, for his literary works.

He lives with his wife Jaya at Kamala Park, Dhakuria, Kolkata.

REFERENCES:


 * 1) Radhaprasad Gupta, Labazar o Lalpagri (Lalbazar and Red Turban), review in Ananda Bazar Patrika, 27 December 1982. Ashis Chakrabarti, Policing a chaotic city,  review in The Telegraph Calcutta, 30 May 2014.
 * 2) Ashis Chakrabarti, Policing a chaotic city, review in The Telegraph Calcutta, 30 May 2014.
 * 3) News item in Assam Tribune (editorial page), 22 January 1990. Reviews in Financial Express, 14 January 1990, South Asia in Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1990, The Statesman Calcutta, 19 August 1990, The Hindustan Times, 10 February 1991, etc.
 * 4) (ed.) Subodh Chandra Sengupta, Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Samsad Dictionary of Bengali Personages), Sahitya Samsad, Kolkata, 1976, pp.330-331.
 * 5) Article on Bina Dey (nee Roy), great granddaughter of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the author’s maternal aunt, in Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Samsad Dictionary of Bengali Personages),Second Volume, ed. Anjali Basu, Sahitya Samsad, Kolkata, 2004, p. 230. The author’s parents and family have been mentioned in Bina Dey’s autobiography in Bengali titled Haariye Jaawaa Din (Bygone Days), ed. Anjali Bandyopadhyay, Papyrus, Kolkata, 2012, pp.33-35, 70-72, 119-131,196-198.
 * 6) Tapan Chattopadhyay, Kolkata and Its Police – A History of Kolkata Police from Charnock’s to Present Day, Naya Udyog, Kolkata, 2014, pp.13-14.
 * 7) C. R. Wilson, Early Annals of the English in Bengal, Vo. I (c.1895), reprint, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1996, p.149.
 * 8) Foreword to Mahamahopadhyaya Baneswara Vidyalankara Bhattacharya, Citracampu (in Sanskrit), a quasi-historical work in verse-and-prose form on the life of Maharaja Chitrasen of Burdwan, c. 1741, ed. Gopinath Kaviraja, Benaras, 1940, p. 18.
 * 9) Nalini Das, The Lu Quartet: Super Sleuths and Other Stories, Hachette, UK, 2012.
 * 10) Arpita Sengupta, in Column: ‘The Other Side’ profile titled Into Cop Stories, The Statesman, Saturday, 27 April 1988. Supriya Bandyopadhyay and Rajarshi Dattagupta, Urdir Aaraale ( Behind the Uniform), Pratidin, 14 May 2003. Mahibur Rahman, Soja Sapta (Straightforward), 26 December 2005, etc.
 * 11)  Manas Paul, Eyewitness: Tales from Tripura’s Ethnic Conflicts, Chapter on the June 1980 riot, Lancer Publishers, Delhi, 2009, p.99.
 * 12)  News item captioned ‘Cop woe: all work, no workout’, The Telegraph, 22 September 2003. News item captioned ‘Sangathaner Nirbachan’ (Election of the Association), Bartaman, 26 September 2001, etc.
 * 1) Foreword to Mahamahopadhyaya Baneswara Vidyalankara Bhattacharya, Citracampu (in Sanskrit), a quasi-historical work in verse-and-prose form on the life of Maharaja Chitrasen of Burdwan, c. 1741, ed. Gopinath Kaviraja, Benaras, 1940, p. 18.
 * 2) Nalini Das, The Lu Quartet: Super Sleuths and Other Stories, Hachette, UK, 2012.
 * 3) Arpita Sengupta, in Column: ‘The Other Side’ profile titled Into Cop Stories, The Statesman, Saturday, 27 April 1988. Supriya Bandyopadhyay and Rajarshi Dattagupta, Urdir Aaraale ( Behind the Uniform), Pratidin, 14 May 2003. Mahibur Rahman, Soja Sapta (Straightforward), 26 December 2005, etc.
 * 4)  Manas Paul, Eyewitness: Tales from Tripura’s Ethnic Conflicts, Chapter on the June 1980 riot, Lancer Publishers, Delhi, 2009, p.99.
 * 5)  News item captioned ‘Cop woe: all work, no workout’, The Telegraph, 22 September 2003. News item captioned ‘Sangathaner Nirbachan’ (Election of the Association), Bartaman, 26 September 2001, etc.
 * 1) Arpita Sengupta, in Column: ‘The Other Side’ profile titled Into Cop Stories, The Statesman, Saturday, 27 April 1988. Supriya Bandyopadhyay and Rajarshi Dattagupta, Urdir Aaraale ( Behind the Uniform), Pratidin, 14 May 2003. Mahibur Rahman, Soja Sapta (Straightforward), 26 December 2005, etc.
 * 2)  Manas Paul, Eyewitness: Tales from Tripura’s Ethnic Conflicts, Chapter on the June 1980 riot, Lancer Publishers, Delhi, 2009, p.99.
 * 3)  News item captioned ‘Cop woe: all work, no workout’, The Telegraph, 22 September 2003. News item captioned ‘Sangathaner Nirbachan’ (Election of the Association), Bartaman, 26 September 2001, etc.
 * 1)  News item captioned ‘Cop woe: all work, no workout’, The Telegraph, 22 September 2003. News item captioned ‘Sangathaner Nirbachan’ (Election of the Association), Bartaman, 26 September 2001, etc.
 * 1)  News item captioned ‘Cop woe: all work, no workout’, The Telegraph, 22 September 2003. News item captioned ‘Sangathaner Nirbachan’ (Election of the Association), Bartaman, 26 September 2001, etc.