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There was not just one Bose who made it difficult for Britishers to survive in India. There were two and the elder one has somehow been lost to the pages of history. Sarat Chandra Bose was the visionary and pragmatist behind Subhash Chandra Bose's efforts.
Died on 20th Feb 1950
Bose - who does this word remind you of?
Well, there was not just one Bose who was the snake in the grass for Britishers. There was another, forgotten by history, but brought into the light of the day by us - who construct history one day at a time.
Sarat Chandra Bose, born in 1889, in Cuttack was the fourth child of Janakinath and Prabhabhati Bose, elder to Subhash Chandra Bose. He was a man of exemplary talents, a visionary, freedom fighter, patriot, parliamentarian, lawyer, philanthropist, journalist, politician, humanist, political thinker and non-conformist!
Though he wasn't the first lawyer in the family, he was the first one to have obtained his degree for practising from England. He had a knack for advocacy and cross-examinations and did amazingly well as a barrister. This brought him huge success financially and the elder Bose became famous for his lavish lifestyle. But the lesser-known fact about him remains that he helped many poor people and students and also his younger Bose brother.
Sarat Chandra Bose assisted the freedom movement for years with the power of his prestige, his purse and his press (Forward)!
He started working with Congress in the 1920s and became a member of the Swarajya Party in Bengal. He worked in many public posts - served as a Parliamentarian and a Councillor. His work was based on one principle - that which is morally incorrect can never be politically correct. When Congress launched the Civil Disobedience Movement, he left his practice and joined it. He even financed secretly the revolutionary movements in Bengal.
He was arrested in 1932 and was later put under House Arrest. He was recognized as the snake in the grass who was a part of Congress, the power behind Shubhash Chandra Bose and the financier of Civil Disobedience in Calcutta.
More reports followed about him which led to the conclusions of how dangerous the elder Bose was given his intellectual prowess and attainments. He was seen as a danger to the 'peaceful' rule of Britishers. Though subtle in his ways as compared to his younger brother, Sarat Chandra was seen as the one who was more dangerous because of his insidious ways.
He was a great visionary. When the younger brother formed the Azad Hind Fauj, he formed the Progressive Coalition Party in Bengal. He was vehemently and forwardly against the partition of India and resigned from the Congress Working Committee when Mountbatten's plans became final.
With his post-Independence plans for India, visions of India's neighbouring relations and building a strong left in India, Bose went to rest on 20 February 1950.
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