Surendranath Banerjee was one of the pioneers of modern India and an advocate of home rule within the British Raj. He played an influential role in the country’s independence. Starting a career as an eminent professor to stepping into politics through INC, his impact became more and more exponential.
This article discusses his life and all historically pivotal events associated with him that constitute an important part of the UPSC Syllabus.
Birth and Early Life of Surendranath Banerjee
Surendranath Banerjee was born on 10th November 1848 in Calcutta, India.
After completing his graduation from the University of Calcutta, he aimed for Civil Services. He travelled to England in 1868, along with Behari and Lal Gupta Romesh Chunder Dutt, to attempt the Indian Civil Service examinations. At that time, he was the only Hindu who made it through the interview board despite facing challenging questions.
Bannerjee finally cleared that competitive examination in 1871 got his first posting in Sylhet as an assistant magistrate. Nevertheless, the British Government dismissed him in 1874 upon some charges of jurisdictional impropriety during a controversial protest. His disappointment towards the British due to this bitter experience brought him back to India.
He stepped into the teaching profession as an English professor of Metropolitan Colege. He devoted himself to a teaching career for the next 37 years, in which he founded Ripon College in Calcutta. Later, this college was renamed and presently known as Surendranath College. He utilised the classroom as a medium to ignite and awaken the ideas of nationalism in his students.
Political Life and Historical Events
Surendranath Banerjee’s political career started when he founded the Indian Association on 26th July 1876 with Anandamohan Bose. The objective behind establishing it was to integrate Hindus and Muslims for movements against the British. Alongside, he addressed the pitfall of the age limit of Indian aspirants to appear in ICS examinations.
He acquired “The Bengalee” newspaper (founded in 1862 by Girish Chandra Ghosh) in 1879 and edited it for 40 years. He was the first Indian journalist to be arrested for publishing nationalist remarks in his paper. Complete West Bengal and other Indian cities such as Lahore, Faizabad, Pune, Amritsar and Agra blew out into hartals and protest rallies.
He merged his organisation Indian Association with the Indian National Congress after its formation in 1885 in Bombay. In the same year, he staged an arousing speech at the first conference of INC. After this event, he consecutively won INC’s president election twice in 1895 (Poona conference) and 1902 (Ahmedabad conference).
Surendranath Banerjee, as an Indian, was one of the most conspicuous protestors of the Partition of Bengal in 1905. He led the protest from the front line by organising petitions, protests and immeasurable public support. It finally compelled the British to nullify the Bengal province’s division in 1912. Although he was one of National Congress’s senior moderates, he advocated continual agitation against the British Raj.
Later Career
His political career started getting influenced by the declining reputation of moderates. He welcomed the scanty 1909 Morley-Minto reforms, which a sizeable Indian population and leaders mocked. Another event that took down the public’s faith from INC’s moderators was to criticise Gandhi’s Civil Disobedient movement. He also supported the 1918 Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and advocated self-governance.
After leaving the National Congress, he founded the Liberal Federation, which later became impertinent in the freedom movement. He lost the Bengal Legislative Assembly election to Bidhan Chandra Roy. However, in 1921 he became a minister of local self-government in Bengal and founded Calcutta Municipal Corporation to serve the citizens. In 1924, his political career came to an end after a Swaraj candidate defeated him in the dyarchy elections.
Despite some undesirable decisions in political life, Indians remember Surendranath Banerjee for his leadership. He is one of the earliest leaders to pioneer the idea of liberalisation and nationalism.
This concludes everything about him that includes all pivotal information for IAS Exam.
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