What am I looking at?
Medical College Kolkata, also known as Calcutta Medical College, is a public medical college and hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
The quick answer
Medical College Kolkata, also known as Calcutta Medical College, is a public medical college and hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established in 1835 by Lord William Bentinck as Medical College Bengal, it is one of the oldest medical colleges to teach modern medicine in Asia.
How it came to be
The medical college was established in 1835, classes began on 1 June of that year. Dr. Mountford Joseph Bramley was the first superintendent of the college. Apart from Dr. Bramley and Dr. Goodeve, there were two other native teachers, Madhusudan Gupta and Nabakrishna Gupta, both educated in Western medicine. Madhusudan Gupta is famous in history as the 'first Indian to perform dissection' in the medical college. Initially, students were admitted to the college through an examination. Most of the one hundred candidates were from Hare School, Hindu College, Scotch Assembly School (now Scottish Church Collegiate School). A total of 49 people were admitted as 'foundation students'.
The detail most people miss
Student politics is rooted in tradition, with many students participating in the Indian freedom struggle. Anti-British movements were implemented with the programmes of Bengal Provincial Students' Federation (BPSF), the Bengal branch of All India Students' Federation. Student politics was initially focused on the independence of India. In 1947, Sree Dhiraranjan Sen, a student of the college, died during a Vietnam Day police firing. The Vietnam Students’ Association passed a resolution in its Hanoi session in memory of Sen in March 1947.
Why it still matters
Student politics were highly influenced by the partition of Bengal and communal riots during and after the partition of India. Between 1946 and 1952, the college's doctors stood for communal harmony and worked hard in the refugee colonies. During 1952, ex-students of the college, among them Bidhan Chandra Roy who became the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, established the Students' Health Home for the welfare of students.
Look closer
From the 1950s to the 1970s, the college became a centre of leftist and far-left politics. Student politics was highly influenced by the Naxalbari uprising in the early 1970s.
