TheChittagong armoury raid,also known as theChittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from theChittagongarmoury in theBengal PresidencyofBritish India(now inBangladesh) byarmed Indian independence fightersled bySurya Sen.

The history of the Chittagong Armoury Raids, showed the extreme bravery of the Bengali race as pioneers of the armedIndian revolutionary movementuntil it moved to the north in the U P and Punjab During 1912-1947, the Sikh population of India was only 1.1 per cent, but 75 per cent of the revolutionaries serving in prison wereSikhs.

The Chittagong Armoury Raids of 1930 were carried bymany men and two women, who were enthused with patriotism. The revolutionaries, four Bengalis and one domiciled northern Indian and sixty-one students between16-18, titled themselves Indian Republican Army (IRA) based on theIrish Republican Army (IRA).

The uprising was a simulation of the Irish “Easter Uprising” in Dublin. They even chose the Easter week of 1930 on the night of April 18, to strike at the British Armoury; Telephone exchange and Telegraph office; and the European Club inChittagong.

Another group severed the rail connections. They planned to hold the town for a week, like the Irish Republican Army that heldDublinfor one week. Theirs was “do and die” and “not to do and die”.

This incredibly brave volunteer Army though small in number, were armed and trained, willing to go down fighting like the Dubliners did. Their leaflet proclaimingIndia’s freedom was a carbon copy of the Proclamation of Independence, declared on behalf of the Provisional of theIrishRepublicby Patrick Pearse on the steps ofDublin’s General Post Office, fourteen years before the Armoury raids.