Chittaranjan Das Death Anniversary: The name of Chittaranjan Das is taken for many contributions to the Indian Freedom Movement. CR Das, popularly known as Deshbandhu, was a freedom fighter, well-known lawyer, journalist, poet and politician who had left an independent mark on the freedom movement and never compromised on his principles and ideas, even though he did Gandhidiri. And did not care about the consequences, but did not hesitate to go to jail for Gandhi's movement. He was not given the title of Deshbandhu just like that. Today is his 97th death anniversary.
Chittaranjan Das was born on 5 November 1870 in Kolkata in a Vaidya family. He was the son of Bhuban Mohandas, a well-known lawyer of the Kolkata High Court. He did his graduation from the Presidency College in Kolkata and then also took the ICS examination which he could not pass. After this, he studied law in London and then started practising in the Kolkata High Court.
As a lawyer, Chittaranjan Das defended Indian political accused and revolutionaries like Brahmabandhab Upadhyay and Bhupendranath Dutta who were accused of sedition. He rose to prominence in the year 1908 when he successfully defended Aurobindo Ghosh from punishment in the Alipore bomb case. He used to fight for the revolutionaries but did not charge fees from them.
The patriotic revolutionaries were also successful in advocacy, but they disliked the British and their rule. In the beginning, he was also active in the famous revolutionary organization of Bengal, Anushilan Samiti. Along with this, he also started doing advocacy and journalism. In 1917 he entered active politics and was successful there too, but his political success was short-lived.
The idea of Swadeshi was very close to Das Bipin Chandra Pal out of the trio of Lal Bal Pal of that time. He played an important role in getting Annie Besant to become the Congress President. Das was greatly influenced by the idea of Swadeshi. He worked in Bengal to rebuild villages, establish local self-government, and promote cottage industries.
Also Read: Google doodle celebrates Mathematician & Physicist Satyendra Nath Bose; His achievements & honours
Non-cooperation movement: 1920 Das also showed activity in Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. They adopted Khadi leaving their luxurious lifestyle and boycotted British clothes in many places in Bengal. During this, he also went to jail for six months along with his wife and son. In the same year, he was elected the President of the Congress in the Ahmedabad session.
In 1922, when Mahatma Gandhi announced the closure of the non-cooperation movement after the Chauri Chauri incident, Das opposed them. In December 1922, he once again became the President of the Congress in the Gaya session, but due to the rejection of his proposal for the non-cooperation movement, he resigned from the post of Congress President and founded Swaraj Party in the Congress with Motilal Nehru.
While adopting Khadi, Das donated all his property in the name of a medical college and was engaged in the service of the country till the last time of his life. Due to his sacrifice and patriotism, he was called Deshbandhu. At the end of his life, he did not get good health and died on 16 June 1925 due to illness.