Surendranath Banerjee (English: Surendranath Banerjee, born- November 10, 1848, Calcutta; died- August 6, 1925, Barrackpore) was a famous freedom fighter, who was elected President of the Congress twice. He is also known as the ‘Maker of Bengal’ of 1905. He founded the Indian National Committee, one of the early Indian political organizations, and later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress.
Surendra Nath Banerjee was born on 10 November 1848 in Kolkata city of Bengal, in a Bengali Brahmin family. Surendranath Banerjee’s father’s name was Dr. Durga Charan Banerjee and he was greatly influenced by his father’s deep liberal and progressive thinking. Surendranath Banerjee was educated at Parental Academic Institution and Hindu College. After graduating from the University of Calcutta, he traveled to England in 1868 to complete the Indian Civil Service examinations with Romesh Chandra Dutt and Bihari Lal Gupta. He became a graduate in 1868 AD, he was an important leader of liberal ideology. In 1868 he passed the Indian Civil Services Examination. Before this, in 1867 AD, Satyendranath Tagore I.C.S. He had become the first Indian to become one. In 1877, he was appointed to the post of Assistant Magistrate of Sylhet but soon the government dismissed him from this post.
After graduation, Surendranath Banerjee applied to England for admission to the Indian Civil Service (Indian Administrative Service). At that time there was only one Hindu in this service. Banerjee was not included on the grounds that she had misrepresented her age. Alleging discrimination on the basis of caste, Banerjee argued in his appeal that as per Hindu tradition, he had added his age from the time of conception and not from the time of birth and he won. Banerjee was appointed to Sylhet (now Bangladesh), but he was removed amid great controversy and protest in 1874 on charges of administrative irregularities. He then attempted to enroll as a barrister, but was refused permission because he had been dismissed from the Indian Civil Service. This was a severe blow to him and he felt that being an Indian he had to suffer all this.
After failing to become a barrister, he became a professor on his return to India in 1875; First at the Metropolitan Institute (now called Vidyasagar College) and later at Ripon College (now called Surendranath College), which he founded. As a teacher he inspired his students with the spirit of patriotism and public service. His speeches on Mazzini’s life and topics like Indian unity created great enthusiasm among the students. He also participated in politics and made a major contribution in establishing the Indian Association in 1876 and organizing the first All India National Conference in Calcutta in 1883.
The All India National Conference was the first attempt towards establishing a national organization. After the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, he took a major part in merging the All India National Conference with it and since then he started being counted among the prominent leaders of the Congress. He presided over the eleventh session of the Indian National Congress held at Poona in 1895 and the eighteenth session held at Ahmedabad in 1902. He traveled across the country and gave speeches in big meetings and made a valuable contribution in awakening public opinion about the need for national unity and greater involvement of Indians in the administration of the country. He led the opposition to the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 and took a prominent part in supporting the Ilbert Bill. At the time of Surat split of Congress, Banerjee was a member of the Moderate Party. He expressed gratitude to the British Empire for the Marley-Minto Reforms of 1909 AD, but he wanted an end to the partition. In 1913 AD, he was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Council and the Imperial Legislative Council. He did not support the Gandhian movement of 1919-20 AD. In 1921 AD, the British government gave him the title of ‘Sir’. He was a minister in the Bengal government in 1921-23 AD.
He led intense movements in Bengal and all over India against the laws passed by Curzon, Calcutta Session Act, University Act and Partition of Bengal. But in the anti-partition movement, he was against sabotage and unconstitutional methods. Regarding the partition of Bengal, he said, ‘The partition of Bengal has fallen on us like a bomb. We felt that we had been gravely insulted. His view about Swadeshi was that ‘Swadeshi can save us from famine, darkness and disease. Take the vow of Swadeshi. Consume Swadeshi in your thoughts, actions and conduct. After the said law was passed, he refused to participate in the corporation. He also strongly opposed the partition of Bengal and launched a strong movement against it, due to which he was accepted as the undisputed leader of Bengal. He came to be known as the uncrowned king of Bengal. The partition of Bengal was canceled in 1911, which was a major victory for Surendranath. But by this time a new class had emerged among the countrymen, who were of the view that the legislative movements of the Indian National Congress had proved unsuccessful and a more effective policy should be adopted to achieve independence in India.
The new class, which was called the extremist group, was not afraid of adopting selfish methods, even if it might lead to revolution. But Surendranath Banerjee, who was educated on eighteenth-century English literature, especially the principles of Burke, had no faith in revolution or revolutionary methods and could not even think of complete separation between India and England. In this way, Surendranath Banerjee, who was once considered by the British administrators as a extremist with extreme views, was now considered by his own countrymen to be a moderate personality. After the Surat Congress (1907), he was successful in preventing the extremist groups from taking over the Congress. But soon after this the Congress came under the control of the extremists. The result was that when the Government of India Act of 1919 was passed on the basis of the Montague Chelmsford Report, Surendranath Banerjee accepted it on the basis that what the Congress was demanding in its initial days was to a great extent different from this Act. It has been completed, but Congress itself rejected it.
break with congress
Thus, Surendranath Banerjee’s relations with the Indian National Congress were severed. He founded the Liberal Federation with other old Congress leaders which did not garner much public support. Nevertheless Surendranath Banerjee was elected member of the new Bengal Legislative Council. In 1921 AD, the Calcutta Municipal Bill was passed by the Legislature, which repealed the earlier law made by Lord Curzon and established complete popular control over the Calcutta Corporation.
Creator of Indian Nationalism
The Indian National Movement, which had been started by Surendranath Banerjee in 1876, had by this time developed greatly and the demands for making laws for the country and being given a greater share in the administration of the country, for which Surendranath Banerjee had been protesting for more than fifty years, The countrymen were no longer satisfied with the fulfillment of the demands for which they had struggled for a long time. They were now demanding independence, which was beyond Surendranath’s imagination. At the time of his death, he was not counted among the popular leaders of the country, but there is no doubt that he was one of the architects of modern Indian nationalism, to which independent India is a contribution.
death
Surendranath Banerjee did not agree with the non-cooperation movement started in 1920 AD. As a result, despite his important legal achievements in the field of local self-governance, he could not get the support of the countrymen like before. He lost the 1923 elections and thereafter remained mostly away from public life until his death on August 6, 1925.
