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        Chitta Ranjan Das (C R Das) (1870-1925), a landmark figure in the history of India's struggle for freedom, was endearingly called 'Deshbandhu' (Friend of the Country). He was indeed an 'Apostle of Indian Nationalism'. A political leader, lawyer, poet and journalist, C R Das, was born on November 15, 1870 in Calcutta. He was the eldest son of Bhuban Mohan Das and Nistarini Devi. The Das family was one of the most distinguished and cultured in Bengal and belonged to that sect of reformed Hindus known as the 'Brahmo Samaj'. Bhuban Mohan Das was a solicitor by profession and an amateur journalist and poet. It is not therefore surprising that Chitta Ranjan Das's journalistic and poetic leanings were inherited from his father.

        After completing his school education at the London Missionary Society's school at Calcutta, C R Das joined the Presidency College and took the Bachelors Degree from Calcutta University in 1890. Even as a student, C R Das was greatly influenced by the political ideals of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. In Presidency College, Calcutta, C R Das was a leading figure of the Students Association and from and from Surendranath Banerjee he took his first lessons in public service and elocution. In 1891, he went to England to take the Indian Civil Service Examination and failed to qualify. He joined the Middle Temple to study Law and was called to the Bar in 1892. During his stay in England he made several political speeches, notably in support of the Parliamentary candidature of Dadabhoy Naoroji, the first Indian to be elected to the House of Commons.

C R Das returned to India in 1893 and commenced his practice as a Barrister in the High Court of Calcutta. But for many years he had little success. From 1893 to 1906, C R Das and his family went through a period of acute financial trouble. Both C R Das and his father Bhuban Mohan Das were financially ruined and had to seek the relief of the Insolvency Court in 1906. What is amazing is that as soon as his circumstances permitted it, C R Das took the unusual procedure of applying for the annulment of the Insolvency Order and paid back the entire amount of his and his father's debts. The debts had become time barred, but C R Das considered himself under a moral obligation to repay them. This act of exemplary honesty, which has very few parallels in any country, is one of the many instances of the magnanimity and large-heartedness that C R Das showed in all matters connected with money throughout his life. It made a tremendous impression on undivided Bengal and was widely appreciated all over the country.         From 1893 to 1906, the chief events of his life were his marriage in 1897 to Basanti Devi and the publication of the first two volumes of his poems 'Malancha' and the 'Mala'. Dr J C Gosh rightly observes: 'C R Das never regarded poetry as his calling, but there can be no doubt that some of his poems will find an abiding place in Bengali literature. Though very few of his poems touch the highest watermark of genius, there are very few poets in Bengal, leaving out Tagore, whose average performance sustains such a high level as Chitta Ranjan's — His poems possess the additional interest of a highly illuminating spiritual documentary.'

Chitta Ranjan Das (1870-1925)

        As a Lawyer, C R Das first came into prominence in 1908 as Counsel for Defence in the trial of Aurobindo Ghose, the Editor of the 'Bande Mataram'. The partition of Bengal in 1905 had let loose a tremendous wave of nationalist agitation and revolutionary activity and the Government resorted to unusual repressive measures. The Bande Mataram was the foremost nationalist paper of the day, and Aurobindo Ghose was tried on the charge of sedition before the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta. This was the turning point in his career and this case brought C R Das to the forefront both professionally and politically. Aurobindo Ghose was honourably acquitted. This is how C R Das concluded his defence of Aurobindo in 1909; it was a unique blend of passion and argument and masterly prose: 'Long after this controversy is hushed in silence, long after this turmoil ceases, long after Aurobindo Ghose is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after the mortal in him has perished, his words will be echoed and re-echoed across distant seas and lands'. Aurobindo Ghose, the Mother, the Aurobindo Ashram and Pondicherry have become household words in all the continents today as prophesied by C R Das.

        The next landmark case which C R Das handled was the Manicktolla Bomb Case, one of the most sensational political trials in modern Indian history. Following a bomb outrage in Muzaffarpur, the police unearthed a bomb factory in Manicktolla, a suburb of Calcutta. 36 Bengali youths, including Aurobindo Ghose and his brother were tried in this case. C R Das endeared himself to the heart of nationalist Bengal. From this time onwards, he became the richest lawyer in India earning a massive amount of more than 50,000 Pounds per year.

        C R Das associated himself with the new Nationalist Movement that began with the partition of Bengal and with its two new organs, The New India and Bande Mataram. He also joined the Indian National Congress as a delegate in 1906. He took no active part in politics till 1917, when he was invited to preside over the Bengal Provincial Conference of the Congress Party in Calcutta. His connection with politics which began in this way continued uninterrupted until his death in 1925. His presidential address before the Bengal Provincial Conference was more in the nature of a sentimental rhapsody than a considered political speech. He painted a highly romantic picture of Bengal's golden past and attributed the present suffering of the people to their fall from the spiritual ideals of ancient India and to their blind adoption of the materialist values of the West. He suggested as remedies, village reconstruction, return to the soil and the renouncing of industrialism.

        In 1920, at a special session of the Congress held at Calcutta under the Presidency of Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi announced his famous programme of Non-Cooperation. C R Das proposed some changes in it but in vain. He however had the support of Bipin Chandra Pal, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Jinnah and Mrs Annie Besant. Three months later, the Congress Party met at Nagpur where C R Das accepted Mahatma Gandhi's leadership and came back to Calcutta to renounce his large practice at the Bar. The whole nation was deeply impressed to see this supreme act of self-sacrifice by C R Das.

        When the Prince of Wales came to India in 1921, C R Das took an active part in organising agitation and boycott by the Congress volunteers in Calcutta. C R Das was arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release in 1922, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress Session at Gaya. Deshbandhu Chitta Ranjan Das was introduced to the delegates at Gaya by Mahatma Gandhi. In his Presidential Address, C R Das declared: 'What is freedom? It is impossible to define the term; but one may describe it as that state, that condition, which makes it possible for a nation to realise its own individuality and to evolve its own destiny. The history of mankind is full of stirring stories as to how nations have fought for freedom in order to keep their nationalism and their individuality inviolate and untarnished'. C R Das wanted 'Swaraj' for the masses, not the classes.

        Through the efforts of C R Das and the Swarjists, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was elected President of the Congress Special Session at Delhi in the first half of 1923, where the programme of 'Council entry' recommended by C R Das was approved. This proposal of C R Das was later confirmed at the Cocanada Session of the Indian National Congress held in December, 1923.

        C R Das believed in non-violent and constitutional methods for the realisation of our national independence. In the economic field, he stressed the need of constructive work in villages. He was a champion of national education in vernacular medium and felt that all the masses should be properly educated to participate in the nationalist movement. His religious and social outlook was liberal. A believer in women's emancipation, he supported the spread of female education and widow re-marriage. An advocate of inter-caste marriage, he gave his own daughters in marriage to Brahmin and Kayastha families.

        Deshbandhu Chitta Ranjan Das passed away on June 16, 1925 at Darjeeling at the age of 55. His body was brought down from Darjeeling to Calcutta by train, and a procession, over two miles long and consisting of more than 300,000 men and women with Mahatma Gandhi at their head, followed his body to the cremation ground. In is conception of self-Government he was ahead of his time and regarded it as freedom and well-being, not only for the privileged few, but for the toiling masses of India.