Chittaranjan Das
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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: S.R.Das, Sarala Roy and Lady Abala Bose.
[edit] Legacy
The Central Avenue in Kolkata was renamed Chittaranjan Avenue (C.R. Avenue) after him.
[edit] See also
Topics
History of Bengal · British Raj · Bengali literature · Bengali poetry · Bengali music · Brahmo Samaj · Asiatic Society · Fort William College · Young Bengal · British Indian Association · Swadeshi · Satyagraha · Tattwabodhini Patrika · Sulava Samachar · Anandabazar Patrika · Tagore family · Rabindra Sangeet · Santiniketan · Visva Bharati University · Complete Works of Kazi Nazrul Islam · Vangiya Sahitya Parishad · Sambad Prabhakar
People
Raja Ram Mohan Roy · Ramakrishna Paramahamsa · Henry Derozio · Debendranath Tagore · Keshub Chandra Sen · Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar · John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune · Michael Madhusudan Dutt · Rajnarayan Basu · Dwarkanath Ganguly · Akshay Kumar Datta · Harish Chandra Mukherjee · Sambhunath Pandit · Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan · Kadambini Ganguly · Aghore Nath Gupta · Girish Chandra Sen · Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay · Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay · Sri Aurobindo · Swami Vivekananda · Rabindranath Tagore · Kazi Nazrul Islam · Satyendranath Tagore · Ram Chandra Vidyabagish
