Dr. Said Mohammad was born in Gazipur, United Province. He obtained Ph.D. from Germany and passed Barristery from London.He joined Home Rule League in 1927. He gave up his legal practice and joined Khuilafat movement and Non-Cooperation movement. He was General Secretary of Indian National Congress in 1923 and 1929-36.In the first cabinet of Congress in 1937 he was in charge of the Depts Education and Industry. Though e was not in favour of Quit India movement, he jouined at the earnest request of Gandhiji. He was again involved in Bihar Congress Ministry in 1946. He was a Central Cabinet Minister in Independent India. He representeds in Bundung Conference ( The conference's stated aims were to promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism or neocolonialismby any nation. The conference was an important step toward the Non-Aligned Movement.) he gave much effort in Communal Harmony as a member of Congress.He recommended abolishing of zaminadry system in 1939. He gave much stressto Cooperative farming. He was totally against Two-nation theory enunciated by Muslim League. Still he had bear for political reason the Partition of India.He dressed as an ordinary indian in simple Indian Style. He put on Khadi through out his life. His main works are "Khilafat and England", A short survey of hindu Muslim Relation.
He came from the family of Ramtanu Lahiri. Ramtanu Lahiri was a contemporary of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. Ramtanu too was a unique person, whose life prompted Brahmo reformer Shivnath Shastri to write the famous treatise “Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj”. (Ramtanu Lahiri and the contemporary society of Bengal). So great was his contribution in society that a whole era could not be otherwise defined, except with a reference to his name. It is no surprise that Somnath came from this family.
He was born in the year 1909. At the threshold of life, he was witness to big upheavals in the life of the nation. At the age of 12, he witnessed the non-cooperation movement as well as Khilafat movement and was deeply inspired by both. In 1925, Communist Party was founded in Bengal. The year 1926 saw foundation of the peasants’ and workers’ party. Lahiri was influenced by these incidents. He termed this era as the “Era of suspicion and inquisitiveness”. People’s mind was suspecting everything, enquiring into everything. This era influenced him too. He saw communists leading massive movements in tea, jute, railways, textile and other industries. He saw over 50,000 strong procession of workers entering the venue of AICC deliberations in Park Circus maidan. Workers were demanding “full independence” to be included in the charter of demands. He was already becoming aware of the hollowness of the demand of “self rule” being masqueraded as the “Demand of the people”. He was also aware of the failure of national revolutionary initiatives, popularly called terrorist ventures, as they wanted to terrorise the British colonialists. Conservation prevalent in society and idol worship too, made him think over the state of the society.
Contact with Dr. Bhupendranath Dutta cleansed his thoughts and made him see things in a clearer perspective. He came across the works of Engels and Lenin too. In the year 1929, the incident of Bhagat Singh exploding a bomb in constituent assembly hall took place. Bhagat Singh was hanged in 1931. By that time, Somnath Lahiri had been introduced to Abdul Momin. They decided to participate in the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress. The workers of Karachi, highly agitated over the hanging of Bhagat Singh, alongwith Sukhdeo and Rajguru, took out in protest a big rally. Somnath Lahiri and Abdul Momin also joined the protest.
The British government too, was on its job, albeit silently. The “Meerut Conspiracy Case” was launched in the year 1929. Thirty two front ranking leaders of the Communist Party and Peasants’ and Workers’ Party were put behind the bars. But, by that time, Lahiri had already joined the CPI. After coming back from Karachi, he founded DB Railway Workers Union. He joined the party, via that route.
The Meerut offensive of imperialism had, no doubt deprived the party of thinkers and organizers. Those who escaped the British dragnet started reorganizing the party. They started forming groups with different names, like factory group, labour party group, Indian proletariat and revolutionary party group, Jessore-Khulua Samiti group. “Calcutta group” or “Calcutta committee” too sprang up in no time.
“Calcutta committee” was initiated in the year 1930. Akhil Banerjee, Ranen Sen, Abani Choudhury and Ramen Basu played leading roles in its formation. It was given a final shape in the year 1931. After a few months of its formation, Abdul Halim and Somnath Lahiri too joined the committee.
The year 1933 saw reorganization of the party all over the country. For this purpose, a conference was held. Gangadhar Adhikari and PC Joshi attended the conference. On behalf of the “Calcutta committee”, Somnath Lahiri, Abdul Halim and Ranen Sen were present. The year of 1933-34 also saw a leap in the communist activities. After Bankim Mukherjee, Lahiri was the next popular speaker in the working class meetings. It was he, who uttered the audacious statement, “The exploiting British rulers are not qualified enough to rule this country”. He pronounced this judgment, in a meeting of the “Garden Reach Match Factory” workers. In 1933, Somnath Lahiri prepared a handbill on behalf of the “Calcutta committee” under the title “The Indian Revolution and our tasks.” It was the last straw on the camel’s back. British government banned the Communist Party in the year 1934.
Thereafter started a long journey, exemplary for its sheer heroism. Lahiri started on and traveled the long road to freedom and even thereafter in the first and second United Front governments of West Bengal. To mention some of his landmark achievements one may refer to the fact that he was the only communist member of the constituent assembly called in session to draft the constitution. He was twice a member of the UF ministry. Besides all this, he edited “Swadhinta”, the daily organ (in Bengali) of the Communist Party, right from its inception till 1952.
And who can forget his collection of astounding stories “Kaliyuger Galpo” (stories of Kaliyug)? One can only feel sad that he wrote so little, considering the fact that he helped bring up an entire generation of prose writers in Bengali, foremost among them being Subhash Mukhopadhyaya. When he was the editor of Swadhinta, he sent Subhash on a mission to the rural Bengal, to bring back intimate sketches of the lives of poor people. From these writings, ere born two books. One of them was “Dak Bungalowr Dake” (At the call of the Dak Bungalow). These two books remain to be the text books of “Reportage”.
A brilliant student of chemistry, Lahairi did not study beyond graduation. The life unbound called him to its struggles. Its waves engulfed him. The scion of a renaissance family became a Marxist-Leninist, never saving a single rupee as bank balance, never purchasing a house or a piece of land. Somnath Lahiri remained perpetually poor, and proudly declared that he wanted to remain so. Thus, in our mind’s eye, he attains a titanic stature. He died in 1984. Com Somnath is survived by a daughter, Sonali. Sonali and Probir, her husband are active members of the CPI
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