Sarat Chandra Bose

Sarat Chandra Bose (September 1889 - February 20, 1950) was a barrister and Indian freedom fighter. He was the elder brother of Subhash Chandra Bose.

Early life

Born to Janakinath Bose, Sarat Bose left Calcutta to study in England in 1911. He began a successful legal practice upon his return to India, but later abandoned it to join the Indian independence movement. He joined the Indian National Congress and participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He was strongly influenced by the leadership of Chittaranjan Das, a leading Bengali nationalist.

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 Subhash Bose, and actively participated in the Quit India movement. Following his brother's 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 with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Bengali Muslim League leader, but this received no support from the Congress or the League, nor the common public. 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

The Bose family remained prominent in public life in Bengal. His son Sisir Kumar Bose was a leading doctor and a freedom fighter, and his daughter-in-law, Prof. Krishna Bose, is an academic and a member of parliament. His grandchildren Sugata Bose and Sarmila Bose are well known Indian historians, and grandson Sumantra Bose is a political scientist.

External links

• Bose biography
• Brief note
• Bose stamp

Sisir Kumar Bose was not the only child and son of Sarat Chandra Bose. Sarat Chandra Bose married Bivabati Dey in 1910 who hailed from a prominent aristocratic family of North Kolkata. She was the grandniece of Shyama Charan Dey, a well known public figure of early 19th Century Bengal. Sarat-Bivabati's marriage was attended by luminaries of the hey day including the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who also sang few songs in that occasion. Sarat Chandra and Bivabati had a large family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Among his sons were Ashokenath Bose- a chemical engineer, Amiyonath Bose- a barrister, Sisir Kumar Bose- a pediatrician and Subrata Bose- an electrical engineer. Among his daughters are Mira Roy, Gita Biswas, Roma Roy Choudhury and Dr. Chitra Ghosh, a political scientist, academician and social worker.