Sarat Chandra Bose

Early life

Sarat Chandra Bose's forefathers had served the Afghan rulers of pre-Mughal Bengal with great distinction. He was born to Janakinath Bose (father) and Prabhabati Devi in Howrah on 6 September 1889. Prabhabati Devi was part of the famous Dutt family of Hatkhola in north Kolkata. She gave birth to fourteen children, six daughters and eight sons, among whom were nationalist leader Sarat Chandra Bose, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and distinguished cardiologist Dr. Sunil Chandra Bose.

Sarat Bose studied in Presidency College, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta, and then went to England in 1911 to become a barrister. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. He began a successful legal practice upon his return to India, but later abandoned it to join the Indian independence movement.

Political career

In 1936, Bose became the president of the Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, and served as a member of the All India Congress Committee from 1936 to 1947. From 1946 to 1947, Bose would lead the Congress delegation to the Central Legislative Assembly. He strongly supported the formation of the Indian National Army by Subhas Bose, and actively participated in the Quit India movement. Following his brother's reported death in 1945, Bose would lead efforts to provide relief and aid to the families of INA soldiers through the INA Defence and Relief Committee. In 1946, he was appointed Member of the Interim Government for Works, Mines and Powers – the position of a minister in a national executive council led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and presided over by the Viceroy of India.

Bengal partition and later life

However, Bose resigned from the AICC in disagreement over the Cabinet Mission Plan's call to partition Bengal between Hindu-majority and Muslim-majority regions. He attempt to construct a bid for a united but independent Bengal and North-East with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Bengali Muslim League leader, but this received no support from the Congress. Jinnah supported it and so did Gandhi. Hindu members of Indian Legislative Council from Bengal also opposed it. (History of Bengal by R. C. Mazumder) After India's independence, Bose would lead his brother's Forward Bloc and form the Socialist Republican Party, advocating a socialist system for Bengal and India. He died in 1950, in Calcutta.

Family

Sarat Bose married Bivabati Devi in 1910 and the couple had eight children. Their children included Dr. Asoke Nath Bose, a Doctorate in Chemistry from Germany and eminent engineer, Amiya Nath Bose who participated in the Quit India Movement, became a Member Parliament and was also the Indian ambassador to Burma, Sisir Kumar Bose, who became a pediatrician and Member of Parliament, and Subrata Bose, who was an electrical engineer and also a Member of Parliament. His youngest daughter Prof. Chitra Ghosh is a distinguished academician and a social scientist and also a member of the parliament. His grandson, Sumantra Bose, is a professor of comparative politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Honors

In January 2014, Sarat Chandra Bose Memorial Lecture was instituted and the maiden lecture was delivered by international historian Leonard A. Gordon, who has penned a joint biography of Sarat and his younger brother Subhas, titled Brothers Against The Raj. A statue of Sarat Chandra Bose is situated beside Calcutta High Court.