A Strong Advocate of
Communal Harmony and National Education
Friend of the Nation
Birth Anniversary
About:
Name:
Chittaranjan Das
Popularly called
‘Deshbandhu’ (Friend of the nation).
Date & Place of Birth:
November 05, 1870
Date & Place of Death:
June 16, 1925
Activity / Profession / Trait / Objective:
Politics
Nationality:
Indian
Introduction:
He was an Indian politician
and leader of the Swaraj Party in Bengal
Personal and family
He was the
grandfather of Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Justice manjula Bose.
Achievements
He was educated in
England where he became a barrister.
In 1909, he
successfully defended Aurobindo Ghosh on charges of involvement in
previous year’s Alipore Bomb Case. This event brought him a great
amount of fame and popularity.
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 started a
newspaper called Liberty (original name – Forward) aimed mainly at
fighting against the British Raj.
He became the first
Mayor of Calcutta soon after the formation of Calcutta Corporation.
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.
Thereafter he founded
the Swaraj Party, with veteran Motilal Nehru and young Huseyn
Shaheed Suhrawardy, to express his immoderate opinions .
He was a believer of
non-violence and constitutional methods for the realisation of
national independence.
He strongly 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.
This is what Mahatma
Gandhi had to say about him after his death: 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.
A few years before
his death, he 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 called Chittaranjan 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.
Accolades, Awards and Recognitions
Chittaranjan Park is
a locality adjoining Greater Kailash II in South Delhi, which houses
many Bengalis who fled to India during partition.
Following are some
places named after him: 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.
Videos
Rabindra Sangeet Recorded in 1914 by Amala Das,
younger sister of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das.
Durga Arati at Chittaranjan Park, Delhi, 2007 -See The Colors and Purity
!
