Events crowd in upon us and because of their quick succession, we are apt to miss their significance. Sensational events that seem to happen almost daily make us tend to forget legendary personalities and historic events. It is in the fitness of things that we remember and pay tribute to Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, a prince among patriots, a day ahead of his 150th birth anniversary. We cannot forget the enduring relevance of the past and its torchbearers.
The recall of the past is important; it necessarily presages a future. This is an occasion for celebration, remembrance and introspection. Chittaranjan was born on 5 November 1870 as the eldest son of Bhuban Mohan Das, a well-known attorney at the Calcutta High Court, and Smt. Nistarini Devi. He graduated from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1890. He went to England to qualify for and enter the Indian Civil Service, but having failed therein, he turned to law.
He was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple in 1892. While in England, he met Dadabhai Naraoji, who was then contesting for a seat in the House of Commons, and campaigned for him. Dadabhai won and became the first Asian to be in the British Parliament. C R Das started legal practice in Calcutta in 1894. He made a mark in the profession as a defence counsel on behalf of Aurobindo Ghose in the Alipore Bomb Case. He was opposed by the redoubtable Eardley Norton on behalf of the Crown.
Summing up his soul-stirring defence of Aurobindo, hailing him as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity, he said that Aurobindo was standing before the bar of the High Court of History and long after he was dead and gone, his words would be echoed and re-echoed not only in India, but across distant seas and lands. This is one of the most moving perorations.
C R Das argued the case admirably well. Aurobindo and some accused were acquitted while a few others were held guilty and awarded capital punishment. On appeal, all the accused were saved from capital punishment. Chief Justice Lawrence Jenkins, in his judgment, paid a handsome tribute to C R Das. His reputation in criminal cases reached such a high watermark that the Government of India retained him as the Crown counsel in the Munition case, offering him higher fees than Mr Gibbon, the Advocate General of Bengal.
At the height of his legal career, C R Das gave up his lucrative practice. He simply stormed the citadel of leadership. With stoic indifference to material comforts, unconcerned about personal privations and physical sufferings, he sacrificed colossal professional income. He gifted all his property, including his house, to the nation. This monumental sacrifice, which reduced him from affluence to poverty, raised him in the estimation of the people, who were simply electrified. He was given the honorific ‘Deshbandhu’—friend of the nation.
He became the most influential political leader of Bengal. His political career spanned less than a decade but was stellar and sufficient enough to leave an indelible mark on our national life. His political disciples included Netaji Subas Chandra Bose, whose chosen political guru he was. Even in the august company of the remarkable people who were in the forefront of the freedom struggle, C R Das stood out for his utter selflessness that endeared him to his followers and the people at large.
Deshbandhu presided over the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. He had the triple crown on his head—he was the President of the Bengal Provincial Congress, the first elected Mayor of Calcutta and the leader of Swaraj Party in the Council. Apart from his scholarship and eminence in the legal world, he was well-versed in devotional literature and was a distinguished poet. Deshbandhu’s wife Basanti Devi shared his ideas and ideals and was a remarkable personality herself. They were a model couple.
He passed away suddenly on 16 June 1925 at a relatively young age of 55, after a meteoric career, both at the Bar and in public life. The whole of India and especially Bengal were under a pall of sorrow and gloom. The funeral at Calcutta witnessed a sea of humanity. The procession was led by Mahatma Gandhi, who said that Deshbandhu was one of the greatest of men; he dreamed and talked of freedom of India and nothing else, and looked upon all Indians as his brethren without any differences based on religion and the like. Eloquent tributes to his memory were paid by the Bench and the Bar.
We reach a point when, as we perceive greatness, we are left with a feeling: that of which we cannot speak intelligibly is something about which we are bound to keep silence. It is the silence of reverence and worship, not of ignorance. This is the spirit in which we endeavour to understand and appreciate all-time greats like Deshbandhu.
Many noble and patriotic hands have laboured at the erection of the edifice of free India; the contribution of Chittaranjan Das to this great endeavour was indeed momentous and inspiring. His greatness was defined not by wealth or power, but by selfless service and sacrifice at the altar of Mother India. He has written himself into the slender volume of our national history and literature. As his sesquicentennial birth anniversary approaches, we can have no better wish than that his great spirit may always abide with us.
V Sudhish Pai
An expert on constitutional law (vsudhishpai@gmail.com)