206. Chittaranjan Das (1870-1925)

Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das
Born	5 November 1870
Died	16 June 1925 (aged 55)
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Bengali Hindu
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	Major figure in the Indian independence movement
Title	Deshbandhu ("Friend of the nation")
Political party	Indian National Congress
Political movement	Anushilan Samiti Indian Independence movement
Religion	Hinduism
Parents	Bhuban Mohan Das

Chittaranjan Das (Bengali: চিত্তরঞ্জন দাস Chittorônjon Dash) (popularly called Deshbandhu"Friend of the country") (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925) was an Indian politician and leader of the Swaraj (Independence) Party in Bengal under British rule. He was one of the fore ranking leader of Freedom struggle, a good orator, gave all his belonging, a poet and a writer.

Personal life

He was born in Calcutta and he belonged to the famous Das family of Telirbagh, in Bikrampur, Dhaka (now in Bangladesh). He was married with the freedom fighter Sm Basanti Devi.Durga Mohan Das. Some of his cousins were Satish Ranjan Das, Sudhi Ranjan Das, Sarala Roy and Lady Abala Bose ( wife of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose). His eldest grandson was Siddhartha Shankar Ray and his granddaughter is Justice Manjula Bose.
He was the son of Bhuban Mohan Das,an attorney, and nephew of the Brahmo social reformer .

Career

Educated in England, where he became a Barrister in 1893 and came back to India., During foundation of Anusilan Samity in 1902 he became one of the Vice-Presidents.  He represented himself in Calcutta Congress in 1906. He successfully defended the Alipur Conspiracy Case of Aurobindo Ghosh in 1908. . His public career began in 1909 when he successfully defended Aurobindo Ghosh on charges of involvement in the previous year's Alipore bomb case who was declared scot-free.He paid up all the dues of his father and became free from any obligation. 

He was elected President in Bengal Provincial Conference of INC in 1917.He organised movement against the repressive measures in Punjab after the Mantagu-Chemsford reform in 1917 during 1st World War and the massacre of Jallianwalabagh in 1919.  He gave up his growing practice as a Barrister at the call of Gandhi in 1920. But he opposed against the boycott of Legislative Assembly. He was a leading figure in Bengal during the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1919-1922, and initiated the ban on British clothes, setting an example by burning his own European clothes and wearing Khadi clothes. He was arrested in 1921. He organised swarajya Dal with Motilal nehru and Srinibas Ayyangar in 1922 and got mammoth victory in the election of 1923.He was the chief initiator of "Benagal Pact" for communal harmony in Bengal and issued a stement " Mohammedans have made their home in India...they brought a new outlook and a wonderful vitality in Indian life....this outlook was necessary for India and if the two sister streams met, it was only to fulfill themselves and face the destiny of Indian history.  

He began to publish a newspaper called Forward and later changed its name to Liberty to fight the British Raj. When the Calcutta Corporation was formed, he became its first Mayor and appointed Subhas Chandra Bose as the chief executive officer of corporation in 1924.. He resigned his presidency of the Indian National Congress at the Gaya session after losing a motion on "No Council Entry" to Gandhi's faction. He then founded the Swaraj Party, with veteran Motilal Nehru and young Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, to express his immoderate opinions . Gandhiji had withdrawn the non-cooperation movement on the plea of an incident in Chauri-Chaura which was opposed by Chittaranjan, notilal, Subhas and Lala rLajpath while they were in Jail. 

He was a believer of non-violence and constitutional methods for the realisation of national independence, and advocated Hindu-Muslim unity, cooperation and communal harmony and championed the cause of national education. His legacy was carried forward by his disciples, and notably by Subhas Chandra Bose.

He is generally referred to by the honorific Desh Bandhu meaning "friend of the nation"by his fellow country men.

In 1925, Das's health began to fail and in May he withdrew to a mountain home in Darjeeling, where Mahatma Gandhi visited him. On 16 June 1925, with a severe fever, he died.In his funeral procession innumerable persons were present. Rabindranath uttered to resepect to his memory, "Enechile Sathe Kore Mrityuhin Pran, Marane Tahai tumi kore gele daan." 

The funeral procession in Calcutta was led by Gandhi, who said:

Deshbandhu was one of the greatest of men... He dreamed... and talked of freedom of India and of nothing else... His heart knew no difference between Hindus and Mussalmans and I should like to tell Englishmen, too, that he bore no ill-will to them.

Legacy and commemoration

A few years before his death Das gifted his house and the adjoining lands to the nation to be used for the betterment of the lives of women. Today it is a huge hospital calledChittaranjan Seva Sadan and has gone from being a women's hospital to one where all specialties are present. The Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital which was established in these premises in 1950 is now the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute.

Chittaranjan Park is a locality adjoining Greater Kailash II in South Delhi, which houses many Bengalis who fled to India during partition

His name (and his nickname as samiran), is commemorated in the name of the following places and institutions: Chittaranjan Avenue, Chittaranjan College, Chittaranjan High School, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Chittaranjan Park, Chittaranjan Station, Deshbandhu College for Girls, and the Deshbandhu Mahavidyalaya.