From Detention to Memory: Hijli Jail and the Legacies of Colonial Repression in Kharagpur

The Hijli Detention Camp at Kharagpur (present-day IIT Kharagpur campus) was among the most significant colonial carceral institutions in eastern India. Established in 1930 to warehouse “security prisoners” beyond the regular judicial process, Hijli became infamous after the 16 September 1931 firing that killed detainees Santosh Kumar Mitra and Tarakeswar Sengupta—an incident that galvanised public opinion across Bengal and India. This paper reconstructs the camp’s origins, administration, detainee experience, the 1931 firing and its political aftermath, and traces Hijli’s afterlife—from closure to its transformation into a premier institute of technology and a site of public memory. Drawing on institutional histories, archival references, and press retrospectives, it situates Hijli within broader debates on emergency detention, revolutionary nationalism, and memorialisation.