Remembering Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das: The Stormy Petrel of Indian Politics

Today, June 16, is Chittaranjan Das’s 98th death anniversary.

Chittaranjan Das, whose life is a landmark in the history of India’s freedom struggle , was endearingly called ‘Deshbandhu’ (friend of the country). Born on November 5, 1870, in Calcutta, he belonged to an upper middle class Vaidya family of Telirbagh in the then Dacca district. His father, Bhuban Mohan Das, was a reputed solicitor of the Calcutta High Court. An ardent member of the Brahmo Samaj, he was also well-known for his intellectual and journalistic pursuits. Das’ patriotic ideas were greatly influenced by his father.

After receiving his early education at the London Missionary Society’s Institution at Bhowanipore in Calcutta, Das passed Calcutta University’s entrance examination in 1886 as a private candidate and graduated from the Presidency College in 1890. He then went to England to compete for the Indian Civil Service but he was “the last man out” in his year. Therefore, he joined the Middle Temple and was called to the Bar in 1893.

It was Bankim Chandra who partly influenced him in his political ideas. While at the Presidency College, Das was the leading figure of the student’s association; and from Surendranath Banerjea he took his first lesson in public service and elocution. Das was the defence counsel in the Dacca Conspiracy Case (1910-11). He was famed for his handling of both civil and criminal law.  

However, it was in 1917 that Das came to the forefront of nationalist politics when he was invited to preside over the Bengal Provincial Conference in Bhowanipore. At the Conference, Das gave his memorable presidential speech in Bengali, animated by lofty idealism and patriotic fire. 

Das’ political career was brief but meteoric. His advent into politics in 1917 took place at a crucial moment and, in the course of only eight years (1917-25), he rose to all-India fame by virtue of his ardent patriotism, sterling sincerity and oratorical power. 

He played a significant role in the controversy over the election of Annie Besant as President of the Indian National Congress for its Calcutta session. During this period (1917-18) he also took part in the agitation against the government policy on internment and deportation under the Defence of India Actm 1915. On the eve of the Calcutta Session (1917) of the Congress, he had been on a lecturing tour in Eastern Bengal, addressing large gatherings of self-government.

In 1918, both at the Congress special session in Bombay and the annual session in Delhi, Das opposed the scheme of Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms as wholly inadequate and disappointing. The demand for Provincial Autonomy was successfully propounded in the teeth of vehement opposition from Besant and others. In 1919, Das went to the Punjab as a member of the non-official Jallianwala Bagh Enquiry Committee. At the Amritsar Congress (in 1919) he made the first advocacy of obstruction while opposing the idea of co-operation with the government in the implementation of the 1919 Reforms.

A special session of the Congress was held in Calcutta in September, 1920 to give a call for non-cooperation under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The Non-Cooperation Resolution was initially opposed by many senior Congress leaders including Lala Lajpat Rai, Chittaranjan Das and Madan Mohan Malaviya. But Motilal Nehru’s support to the Mahatma proved crucial and the Calcutta congress passed the resolution in favour. At the Nagpur session held in December the same year to ratify the Calcutta resolution, Lajpat Rai and Das even supported the resolution. In fact both of them were chosen to respectively move and second it.

In December 1921, Deshbandhu was due to preside over the Congress’ Ahmedabad session. Since he was in prison, Hakim Ajmal Khan acted as the President and Deshbandhu’s presidential address was read out by Sarojini Naidu. After the session, Gandhi gave notice to the Viceroy of a mass civil disobedience with a no-tax campaign to be started at Chauri Chaura in UP’s Gorakhpur district. Infuriated by police excesses, a mobi in Chauri Chaura surrounded a police station and set it on fire, burning a number of policemen alive. On hearing the report of this incident, Gandhi called off the whole movement without consulting any one. All the Congress leaders criticised this action though with varying degrees of vehemence. 

Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal wrote strong letters to Gandhi from prison. K.M. Munshi said he was ashamed to see his leader lose his nerves in the midst of the battle. Lala Lajpat Rai sent a 70-page indictment of Gandhi’s arbitrary action. Writing later, Jawaharlal said in his autobiography: “We were angry when we learnt of this stoppage of our struggle at a time when we seemed to be consolidating our position and advancing on all fronts.”  

The first session of the Indian National Congress (INC), after the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-21, was held in Gaya in December 1922. It was here that Das was elected to preside over the session. Das and Motilal Nehru, who had presided over the Congress three years earlier, were in favour of the council entry as they felt that it was the best forum to present the country’s legitimate demands.

The other eminent leaders who supported the move were Hakim Ajmal Khan and Vithalbhai Patel (elder brother of Vallabhbhai Patel). They were called pro-changers. Those who were opposed to council entry were C. Rajagopalachari, Dr M.A. Ansari (later President, INC in 1927) and Vallabhbhai Patel. This group came to be known as no-changers. 

Jawaharlal Nehru did not join either of the groups. Though his sympathy lay with the no-changers, Jawaharlal tried to bring about a compromise between the warring groups. Both sides were adamant and refused to compromise following which Jawaharlal resigned from the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Motilal Nehru and Das formed the Swaraj Party within the Congress, contested elections throughout the country and were met with resounding success. Mahatma Gandhi, who presided over the Congress’ December session in May 1924,, met Motilal Nehru and Das and told them that the council entry and non-cooperation were not compatible with each other. At an All India Congress Committee session in Ahmedabad in June that year, a resolution was passed to debar those who did not believe in the policy of boycott of courts and legislatures from holding an executive office in the Congress. 

Another resolution made it compulsory for all Congressmen to give ten tolas of self-spun yarn in lieu of an annual fee of four annas (twenty-five paisa). Both these resolutions were not accepted by the Swarajists and they walked out of the session. He felt ‘defeated and humbled’, wrote Gandhi in Young India. However, the great liberal and democrat that he was, Mahatma left the Swarajist free to follow their own programme. But the death of Das, in June 1925 seriously affected the fortunes of the Swaraj Party which was merged with the INC in 1935. This was also due to the fact that the Viceroy had veto power over all the decisions of the Assembly which both Das and Motilal Nehru found frustrating.

Das passed away at the age of 55 on June 16, 1925 in Darjeeling. Great as a jurist, Das was the greatest and most dynamic leader of the then Bengal province.

In a touching tribute to him, Mahatma Gandhi who attended the cremation of the Deshbandhu at Calcutta said: “One who has served the world can never die. His moral body has perished, his spirit of service. His liberality, his love of the country, his self-sacrifice, his fearlessness-can we say that these, too, have perished? They will go on increasing in strength among the people, whether in greater or smaller measure.”

Praveen Davar is a columnist and author of Freedom Struggle and Beyond.