Leela Roy
Leela Roy, 1900-70, .freedom fighter. Daughter of Girish Chandra Nag, a civil servant with nationalist sympathies, she was born in Goalrara, Assam. She had a brilliant educational career, and took up the cause of women’s education after finishing her studies, and started many associations and schools for women in Dacca and Calcutta. In 1925 she joined Sri Sangha, a revolutionary society of Dacca and remained associated with it till 1937. She took an active part in the Civil Disobedience Movement, and was arrested in 1931, released only in 1937. She joined the Congress after her release and became an associate of Subhash Chandra Bose, and became a member of the Forward Bloc founded by him. In 1939, she married Anil Roy, her classmate and a leader of the Sri Sangha. She was again arrested in August 1942 and detained till 1946, and resumed the editorship of the Forward Bloc Weekly and Jayasree which she had been doing earlier. She was also elected to the Constituent Assembly (1946) and played a heroic role in saving many lives during Calcutta and Noakhali riots. After leaving the Congress in 1949, she became an office-bearer of the Forward Bloc (Subhasist) and was arrested in 1951 for leading the squatters’ movement and again in 1952 during the food movement. In 1960, she became the chairman of the Praja Socialist Party. She retired from active politics in 1962.
