Surendranath Banerjee: Life, Contributions, Ideas, Thoughts

Surendranath Banerjee was a distinguished nationalist, politician, orator, and journalist. During the early days of Congress, he was one of the moderate leaders. He was honoured with titles like “Rashtraguru” (National Teacher) and “The Uncrowned King of Bengal.” He supported reforms introduced by the British government and received the title of “Sir” in 1921 after accepting the position of minister in the Health and Administration Department of the Bengal Government. Due to his vigour and determination, British civilians called him “Surrender Not.” Below is a discussion about Surendranath Banerjee’s early life, education, political activities, and political ideology.

Early Life and Education of Surendranath Banerjee

• Surendranath Banerjee was born on November 10, 1848, in Calcutta in a Rarhi Kulin Brahmin family. Surendranath’s grandfather was an orthodox Hindu, and his father, Durga Charan, had deep faith in Western culture and civilization.
• Surendranath Banerjee received his early education in the Village Pathshala. In 1868, he went to England with Romesh Chunder Dutt and Behari Lal Gupta to take the Indian Civil Service test after graduating from the University of Calcutta in the same year. He competed successfully for the civil service examination in 1869 but was rejected on the grounds of being over age. Later, in 1871, Banerjee cleared the examination again and became an assistant magistrate in Sylhet. However, he was removed from service on certain allegations after two years.
• Surendranath Banerjee returned to India in June 1875, and in 1876 he was appointed as a professor of English at the Metropolitan Institution. In 1881, he joined the Free Church College as a professor of English literature. For 37 years, from 1875 to 1912, he was fully engaged in active teaching work.

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Political Thoughts of Surendranath Banerjee

• The political ideology of the early Congress leaders, i.e., the moderate leaders, was limited to the policy of petition and prayer. They preferred to proceed through understanding or compromise with the British government. Surendranath Banerjee believed in moderate politics. The moderates did not want to enter into any confrontation with the Britishers. Rather, they were in favour of the permanence of British rule. They considered British rule to be a divine contribution.
• They believed that it was not yet time for direct conflict with the Britishers because the country and nation were in the process of formation, in Surendranath Banerjee’s words, “A nation in making“. The main objective of Surendranath Banerjee and other moderate leaders was to secure some opportunities and benefits for the highly educated and wealthy people of society through the policy of petition and prayer. He believed that if demands for Indians could be properly presented to the British government, justice would be achieved.

Political Career of Surendranath Banerjee

• Sometime about 1875, Surendranath Banerjee started his political career. On July 26, 1876, he established the Indian Association in Calcutta. He was appointed to become part of the Calcutta Corporation in 1876. He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council four times, in 1894, 1896, 1898, and 1900. Sir Surendranath Banerjee had been selected for a position in the imperial council in 1913.
• Girish Chandra Ghosh established the newspaper “Bengalee” in 1862, which was later acquired by Surendranath Banerjee in 1879 and edited for 40 years. In 1883, because Surendranath Banerjee was jailed for publishing statements in his publication in contempt of court, riots and hartals broke out throughout Bengal and in Indian cities including Agra, Faizabad, Amritsar, Lahore, and Pune. The first Indian journalist to be imprisoned was Surendranath Banerjee, the moderate leader of the Congress.
• After the establishment of the Indian National Congress in Bombay in 1885, Surendranath Banerjee joined Congress in 1886 and strengthened the Congress. He was elected president at the annual session of Congress in Pune in 1895 and in Ahmedabad in 1902. In 1918, due to differences of opinion, he left Congress and formed the ‘Moderate Conference Party,’ which later became known as the “Indian National Liberal Federation.” He was appointed as Bengal’s minister of public health and local self-government in 1921.

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Political Contributions of Surendranath Banerjee

The various aspects of Surendranath Banerjee’s political contributions to India’s nationalist movement and freedom struggle were very important. Below is a discussion of his political activities.

Bengal Partition or Swadeshi Movement

• Ignoring the united protest of Bengalis against the partition of Bengal, Lord Curzon officially announced the plan for the Bengal Partition on July 19, 1905, and it was said that it would be implemented on October 16. In protest against this, a strong movement developed across India, which is known in history as the ‘Swadeshi Movement’ or ‘Bengal Partition Movement’. All extremist leaders and common people, including moderate leaders, participated in this movement. Among the moderate leaders, Surendranath Banerjee’s contribution to this movement was immense.
• When Lord Curzon said that “The Partition of Bengal is a settled fact,” it would not be changed. At that time, India’s undisputed leader, Surendranath Banerjee, challenged Lord Curzon, saying, “I will unsettle the settled fact.” The partition of Bengal was a huge challenge for Indians. The ‘Uncrowned King of Bengal,’ Surendranath Banerjee, came forward to lead the agitated masses of India in the Bengal Partition movement. This movement took on a formidable form centered around him.
• In his newspaper, ‘The Bengalee,’ he described the partition of Bengal as ‘A great national disaster’ and wrote, “We are humiliated, disgraced, and deceived. If the government does not change its stance on the partition of Bengal now, the independence movement will take a new turn. Fire will spread throughout India”. As the editor of the Bengalee newspaper, he warned the nation about the consequences of the partition and led constitutional protests through meetings and assemblies in the early stages of the Swadeshi movement.
• In the first phase of the movement, Surendranath Banerjee, and later Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh, took leadership of this movement. Under their leadership, this movement was not limited to just English-educated middle-class Hindus. Christians, rich and poor, common labourers, zamindars, youth society, and women society of all castes and religions joined this movement. Under their leadership, an unprecedented enthusiasm was seen throughout the country.

Indian Association 1876

• On July 26, 1876, Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose jointly established the ‘Indian Association’ at Albert Hall in Calcutta (now College Street’s Coffee House). Sivanath Sastri and Dwarkanath Ganguly were associated with this organization. The founding president was Krishna Mohan Banerjee, and the very first secretary was Ananda Mohan Bose.
• The main objectives of this establishment were to build strong, educated public opinion in India, to build unity between Hindus and Muslims, to involve the general public in mass movements, and to unite various communities and ideological groups of India based on all-India political aspirations.
• This institution had no European officials; all were representatives of the emerging middle class and individuals engaged in various professions. To popularize the ideals of the Indian Association, Surendranath Banerjee travelled throughout India to engage in all-India propaganda work. Inspired by his ideals, people in places like Lucknow, Meerut, and Lahore established branches of the Indian Association. This association participated in movements related to civil service, the Arms Act, the Vernacular Press Act, and many issues concerning public interest, forming public opinion across various parts of India.
• This association held a public meeting in Calcutta demanding racial discrimination between Indians and Europeans and reduction of the salt tax. In addition, the Indian Association also supported the Bengal Tenancy Act at this meeting and demanded self-government for India.

Civil Service

To prevent Indians from being appointed to higher administrative positions, on February 24, 1876, during Lord Lytton’s administration, the age limit for civil service examinees was reduced from 21 to 19 years. Through this association, he demanded to increase the I.C.S examination age limit to 22 years and also campaigned for simultaneous examinations to be held in England and India. Not only that, the Indian Association drafted an all-India petition regarding civil service and sent Barrister Lalmohan Ghosh to England to present it to the British Parliament. Eventually, the British government was compelled to largely accept Indians’ demands and introduce the ‘Statutory Civil Service.’

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Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act

The Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act, two reactionary policies, were introduced in 1878 under Lord Lytton’s administration. Through the Vernacular Press Act, Lord Lytton imposed various restrictions on newspapers published in native languages. According to the Arms Act, it was declared prohibited for any Indian to possess weapons without the permission of the British government.

One of the pioneers of the constitutional movement was Surendranath Banerjee. Therefore, he and the Indian Association protested and built a movement against the Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act of 1878. Under his initiative and Lalmohan Ghosh’s leadership, a protest letter was sent to the British Parliament against the Vernacular Press Act. Finally, on January 28, 1881, during Lord Ripon’s tenure (1880-1884 AD), the act was repealed. However, the Arms Act remained in place.

Ilbert Bill

During Lord Ripon’s administration, a tremendous upheaval was seen in India centering around the Ilbert Bill. The Ilbert Bill eliminated the discrimination between Indian and European judges, stating that from now on, Indian judges could try European offenders. As a result, there was intense protest among Europeans against this bill, and they organized movements in various places. In response to this movement of the Europeans, Lalmohan Ghosh and Surendranath Banerjee conducted movements by holding meetings and associations in various places in India and were the first to create all-India public awareness by conducting propaganda throughout the country. He also strongly condemned European activities through his ‘Benglee’ newspaper. Eventually, the government was forced to yield to European demands.

Indian National Conference

• The movement of Surendranath Banerjee and the Indian Association brought about a new consciousness in Indian public life. He realized that without an all-India institution, it was impossible to conduct any effective struggle against the government. For this reason, on the initiative of the Indian Association and through the efforts of Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose, an ‘Indian National Conference’ was organized at Albert Hall in Calcutta from 28th December to 30th December 1883, with about a hundred representatives from various regions of India, regardless of caste and religion.
• According to historian Tarachand, “It was the reply of educated India to the Ilbert Bill agitation”. Ramtanu Lahiri presided over the conference. During this three-day conference, resolutions were passed regarding self-government, the representative council system, general and technical education, greater employment opportunities, the separation of the judiciary, the appointment of more Indians to higher positions, the repeal of the Arms Act, and the establishment of a ‘National Fund’ for conducting national movements. According to Ananda Mohan Bose, this will be the “first stage towards a national parliament.”
• This conference served as the foundation for the establishment of the Indian National Congress. The first session of the National Congress began the day after the second session of the Indian National Conference concluded on December 25th to December 27th, 1885. The initiators of the National Congress collected the proceedings of the Indian National Conference from Surendranath Banerjee, and various resolutions were passed at this session following the pattern of the Indian National Conference. However, this observation has faced much criticism in historical circles. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the inspiration for the Indian National Congress originated from the Indian National Conference. For this reason, he is also considered one of the pathfinders of Congress.

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Social Ideas of Surendranath Banerjee

• Surendranath Banerjee was not only involved in political activities, but he also supported various social reform movements. He spoke out against various social superstitions that could harm common people, especially women, from Indian society and culture. He supported social reform movements such as the cause of widow remarriage, inter-caste marriage, abolition of child marriage, and removal of restrictions on foreign travel.
• According to Banerjee, India could be advanced politically only if all these evils were eradicated. He thought that rather than happening all at once, social transformation should happen gradually. He observed that the Hindu society was evolving and moving forward. He said, “The question of sea-voyage, or child marriage, or even enforced widowhood is not today where it was in the later part of the nineteenth century.”

Economic Ideas of Surendranath Banerjee

Similar to Dadabhai Naoroji and Justice M.G. Ranade, Surendranath Banerjee talked about the reasons behind India’s increasing level of poverty. The pitiful and pathetic condition of the Indian people affected him. According to him, “The economic condition of the people has an intimate bearing upon their political advancement.” Surendranath presented a set of five recommendations for preventing the nation’s material backwardness in his 1895 presidential address at the Poona Congress. Those recommendations are:

1. The development of new Indian industries and the resuscitation of old ones.
2. Moderation in the land tax assessment, which would be set for a considerable amount of time to protect the peasants from financial exploitation.
3. The removal of those taxes that have a negative impact on the poor people.
4. The implementation of appropriate government policies to stop India’s economic drain and exploitation.
5. The increasing percentage of Indians working in the public service rather than an expensive foreign administrative organization.

Surendranath appealed to the administration to help people with their economic problems. Additionally, he suggested using Swadeshi items instead of Videshi or foreign ones.

Regarding this, Surendranath Banerjee stated, “Swadeshism will save us from famine and pestilence and the nameless horrors that follow in the train of poverty. Take the Swadeshi vow, and you will have laid broad and deep the foundations of your industrial and political emancipation. Be Swadeshi in all things, in your thoughts and actions, in your ideals and aspirations. Bring back the ancient days of purity and self-sacrifice. Restore the Aryavarta of olden times when the rishis sang the praises of God and did good men… Swadeshi does not exclude foreign ideals, foreign learning or foreign arts and industries but insists that they shall be assimilated into national systems, be moulded after the national pattern, and be incorporated into the life of a nation. Such is my conception of Swadeshism.”

Surendranath Banerjee’s Death

Surendranath Banerjee died in Barrackpore On August 6, 1925, leaving a legacy of nationalist ideals and political engagement.

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