Ananda Mohan Bose
(1847-1906)
President - Madras, 1898
India's first Wrangler, leader of the Brahmo Samaj, pioneer of the
freedom movement, educationist and social reformer, Ananda Mohan Bose was
born on September 23, 1847 in Myrmensingh (Bengal) in an upper middle
class family. After his schooling he left for England and enrolled himself
as a student of Higher Mathematics at Christ Church College, Cambridge.
Simultaneously, he was called to the Bar in 1874.
On returning home, Ananda Mohan plunged into his public career
alongside Surendranath Banerjea and Sivanath Sastri. During this time he
came also under the influence of Devendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra
Sen, for both of whom he entertained the highest regard.
Ananda Mohan's interest in the political scene in India may be dated
from 1871 when he first met Surendranath Banerjea in England. On his
return to India in 1874 and right up to the days of the Swadeshi movement
in 1905, the two were closely associated in all their political
enterprises. With Surendranath as his mentor and his own organisational
ability, Ananda Mohan set up a number of pioneering institutions. The
Calcutta Students Association was the earliest attempt made to organise
students for constructive political work. The Indian Association was the
first political organisation at the all-India level to institute a
vigorous constitutional agitation for the rights and privileges of the
Indian citizens. One of its by-products was the convening of the, first
National Conference in 1883 which became a precursor of the Indian
National Congress (1885).
Ananda Mohan was associated with the Congress since its inauguration
and was elected President of its Madras Session in 1898.
As a social reformer, his services for the uplift of women and the
illiterate masses, his crusade against social vices and the work he did to
promote temperance are still remembered with gratitude. Under his
enlightened direction, the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, of which he was a joint
founder (1878) became not only a church and a congregation but also an
active centre for the spread of education and social uplift.
Although a moderate and a constitutionalist in his political outlook
Ananda Mohan was a man of progressive outlook and was one of the earliest
to have pleaded for large scale technical education and
industrialization.
He is remembered in particular for the last speech that he made on
October 16, 1905 at a public meeting organised in Calcutta to protest
against the partition of Bengal. What he said then might sound almost
ironically pathetic in the context of what happened in 1947 when the
Province of Bengal was sundered once again 'by an official fiat'. Carried
practically from his sickbed to preside over the foundation of the
Federation Hall, Ananda Mohan described the meeting as a 4 great and
historic occasion, which will live in the annals of Bengal, and mark an
epoch in its history'. He added: '. . . this Federation Hall, the
foundation stone of which is being laid to-day, not only on this spot of
land but on our moistened and tearful hearts, is the visible symbol of
this spirit of union, the memorial to future generations yet unborn of
this unhappy day and of the unhappy policy which has attempted to separate
us into two parts'.
Shortly after this crowning act of his career, he passed away in
Calcutta on August 20, 1906 at the somewhat premature age of 59.
- Kshitis Roy
I will tell you what they have done. They have dared to think for
themselves; and not only for themselves, but for millions of poor ignorant
people who compose our Indian Empire. They have been content to sacrifice
their own interests and to brave the displeasure of Government in order to
lend a helping hand to those poor people.
From the Presidential Address - Ananda Mohan Bose
I.N.C. Session,
1898, Madras |
