Tarit Mukherjee*
“Death is not extinguishing the light;
it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”
Rabindranath
Tagore
Chittaranjan Das (1870-1925),
whose life is a landmark in the history of India's struggle for freedom, was
endearingly called 'Deshbandhu' (Friend of the country). Born on
November 5, 1870 in Calcutta, he belonged to an upper middle class Vaidya family of Telirbagh in the
then Dacca district. His father, Bhuban Moban Das, was a reputed solicitor of the Calcutta High
Court. An ardent member of the Brahmo Samaj, he was also well-known for his intellectual and
Journalistic pursuits.
After
receiving his early education at the London Missionary Society's Institution at
Bhowanipore (Calcutta), Chittaranjan
passed the entrance examination in 1885 as a private candidate. He graduated from the Presidency College in 1890. He then went
to England to compete for the I.C.S.; but he was "the last man out"
in his year. Therefore he joined the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in
1894.
It was Bankim Chandra who partly influenced him in his political
ideas. While at the Presidency College, Chittaranjan
was a leading figure of the Student's Association; and from Surendranath
Banerjee he took his first lessons in Public service and elocution. In 1894 Das
came back to India and enrolled himself as a Barrister of the Calcutta High
Court.
Chittaranjan’s patriotic ideas
were greatly influenced by his father. It was Bankim
Chandra who influenced him in his political ideas. It was not before 1917 that
Das came to the forefront of nationalist politics. In that year he was invited
to preside over the Bengal Provincial Conference held at Bhowanipore.
His political career was brief but meteoric. In the course of only eight years
he rose to all-India fame by virtue of his intense patriotism, sincerity and
booming power.
He wanted "Swaraj for the masses, not for the classes". To him,
"Swaraj is government by the people and for the
people". An advocate of communal harmony and Hindu-Muslim unity, Das
affected, in 1923, the Bengal Pact between the Hindus and Muslims of Bengal. A
champion of national education and the vernacular medium, he felt that the
masses should be properly educated to participate in the nationalist movement.
His religious and social outlook was liberal. He was against
caste-discrimination and untouchability. A believer
in women’s emancipation and widow re-marriage, he supported the spread of
female education and widow remarriage.
Great as a jurist, and
dynamic as a leader of Bengal, Chittaranjan was a
follower of Indian nationalism. In the words of Tagore, “the best gift that Chittaranjan left for his countrymen is not any particular
political or social programme but the creative force
of a great aspiration that has taken a deathless form in the sacrifice which
his life represented".
His abilities as an advocate evoked admiration.The turning point in his career came when he was
called upon to appear on behalf of Aurobindo Ghose in the Alipore Bomb Case
(1908). It was due to his brilliant handling of the case that Aurobindo was ultimately acquitted.This
case brought Das to the forefront professionally and politically.
Chittaranjan was the defence counsel in the Dacca Conspiracy Case (1910-11). He
was famed for his handling of both civil and criminal law. Chittaranjan Das was a noted freedom fighter and social
activist.
He was appointed the Mayor of Calcutta
Corporation after it was formed. He attended Gaya conference of India National Congress.
During
non-cooperation movement he set many examples, such as, burning his own western
clothes, sending his wife and son to jail and others. He, along with Motilal Nehru and Srinivas Ayyangar, founded "Swarajya Dal" in 1922 and came out successfully in the election
of 1923. He published a daily paper FORWARD. In that year he formed a pact
known as BENGAL PACT with Bengal Muslim Leaders depicting "unity from the
top", which he aimed at "a strange marriage" to uplift the
religion-communal consciousness among the two communities.
Deshbandhu wanted "Swaraj for the masses, not for the classes." He believed
in non-violent and constitutional methods for the realization of national
independence. In the economic field, Das stressed the need of constructive work
in villages. A champion of national education and vernacular medium, he felt
that the masses should be properly educated to participate in the nationalist
movement. Chittaranjan also made his mark as a poet
and an essayist. His religious and social outlook was liberal. A believer in
women's emancipation, he supported the spread of female education and widow
re-marriage and was an advocate of inter-caste marriage.
Along with Motilal Nehru, Deshbandhu, founded the Swaraj Party in
1923. The party was recognized as the parliamentary wing of the Congress. Deshbandhu was elected mayor of Calcutta in 1924, after the
Swaraj Party gained majority in the elections. During
his tenure as the mayor, he brought greater efficiency to the administration
and implemented many welfare projects. Chittaranjan
Das later established the Deshbandhu Memorial Fund to
build a temple, establish an orphanage and provide education to the masses.
Besides being a shrewd lawyer, Das was also a literary person. He wrote
collections of poems like ‘Mala’ and ‘Antaryami’ and
‘Kishore Kishori’. Along
with another revolutionary leader, Aravinda Ghosh, he founded the famous journal ‘Bande
Mataram’. He also served as the editor-in-chief of
the journal ‘Forward’, which was the mouthpiece of the Swaraj
party. Chittaranjan passed away on June 16, 1925 at Darjeeling at the age of 55. Great as a
jurist, Chittaranjan was the greatest and most
dynamic leader of the then Bengal. Above all, he was a messenger of Indian
nationalism.
*******
Death Anniversary on Jun 16,
2011
*Freelance Writer
Disclaimer: The views
expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not
necessarily reflect the views of PIB.
SS-91/SF-91/15.06.2011
RTS