Chittaranjan Das (C.R.Das) (Bengali: চিত্তরঞ্জন দাস)(popularly called Deshbandhu) (November 5, 1870 - June 16, 1925) was a Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement. Educated in England, his public career began in 1909 when he successfully defended Aurobindo Ghosh on charges of involvement in the previous year's Alipore bomb case. 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 taking up "desi" Khadi clothes. With Motilal Nehru, he founded the Swaraj Party to express his non-moderate opinions.
He brought out 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. He presided over the Gaya session of the Indian National Congress. Throughout his political life, he was plagued with ill health but despite that, he showed valor, courage and determinism in rising up to the British.
He was a believer of non-violence and constitutional methods for the realisation of national independence, and advocated communal harmony and championed the cause of national education. His legacy was carried forward by his disciples, and notably by Subhash Chandra Bose. He is generally referred to by the honorific Desh Bandhu meaning "comrade of the nation." He belonged to the famous Das family of Telirbagh, Bikrampur, Dhaka, now in Bangladesh. He was son of Bhuban Mohan Das, and nephew of the Brahmo social reformer Durga Mohan Das. Amongst his cousins the better known were: Satish Ranjan Das, Sudhi Ranjan Das, Sarala Roy and Lady Abala Bose.
Legacy
The Central Avenue in Kolkata was renamed Chittaranjan Avenue (C.R. Avenue) after him. A few years before his death in 1925 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 specialities are present including the treatment of cancer. Chittaranjan Park, a renowned enclave in New Delhi bears his name, as does Chittaranjan Bhavan, a hospital in Chittaranjan Park. A renowned poet of his generation, his collection of poems called Sagar Sangeet is most popular. Das's wife Basanti Devi (1878-1974) was an extra ordinary woman and became a matriarch figure in the freedom movement. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose regarded her as 'Ma' or 'mother'.
See also
