Born on 6 September 1889, Sarat Chandra Bose‘s life was multi-faceted.
Law was his profession. He rose to the top and was called a “Prince of Barristers“. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 and was always in the vortex of the freedom struggle. He led the Congress Party and was the Leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Legislative Assembly for many years. He was President of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee.
He was Leader of the Congress Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Central Legislative Assembly after elections in 1946 till the transfer of power in 1947. He was a member of the Congress Working Committee and became a member of the Congress Central Parliamentary Board in 1946, sparing no efforts to bring in the Congress Party with a massive majority.
He became a member of the Interim Cabinet but resigned to allow Muslim League members to join the Cabinet.
An excellent journalist, he took charge of the paper “Forward” renamed “Liberty” started by Deshabandhu. Later, he brought out daily papers “The Nation” and the Bengali issue “Mahajati”.
He suffered incarceration for two terms. He gave up his lucrative practice and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was imprisoned from February 1932 to September 1935.
He was a source of inspiration to the revolutionaries and extended financial and other support to them. He was the defence counsel for some of the accused in the famous Chittagong Armoury Raid Case.
In 1941, he endeavored to unite the Hindus and Muslims and with Fazlul Haque formed the Progressive Coalition Party which assumed power in Bengal. On the eve of his joining the Ministry, he was arrested in December 1941 and imprisoned till September 1945.
The mentor and guiding spirit behind his brother Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, participated in the freedom struggle side by side with him.
He resigned from the Indian National Congress in 1946 in protest against the decision of the Congress to agree to the partition of the country and formed the Socialist Republican Party and fought hard and alone for a United India. An astute statesman, he could visualize the after of Partition.
He was the pioneer in the movement for unification and consolidation of the leftist forces in India and succeeded in launching the United Socialist Organisation, in which many leftist parties joined.
He passed away on the 20 February 1950, fighting till the last for realising his principles.
His dauntless spirit knew no compromise. A statesman, philosopher, a sensitive thinker, a man of action, a child of the Indian Renaissance – that was Sarat Chandra Bose.
Source: Information Brochure of Commemorative Postage Stamp issued by Department of Posts.