Rup Narayan Das
At a time when disparity and inequality among and within the nations is rising with the rich becoming richer and poor becoming poorer, it is imperative to recall the contributions of socialism and its protagonists the world over and also in India, including Odisha. Odisha had produced a galaxy of socialist and progressive leaders who have made seminal contributions in the socialist movement in the country. To name a few they include the unsung Sarangadhara Das, Surendranath Dwibedi and Rabi Ray. One such leader was Rabindra Mohan Das whose 110th birth anniversary falls today.
Born in Balasore on 12th February 1912, late Das, a Gandhian, dedicated his life for public service and uplift of the poor and down trodden. Like a moth driven to fire, he joined the protracted freedom struggle at a very young age of seventeen. In 1930, he joined the Civil Disobedience Movement and Salt Satyagraha at the call of Mahatma Gandhi. Rusticated from the school for taking part in Salt Satyagraha, he was arrested by the British police for one-and-half months. During the year 1932-1933, he was jailed twice for two months and six months respectfully. He went to Calcutta for higher studies and job, but was driven to trade union and labour movement being influenced by indomitable Dr Suresh Chandra Benerjee and Deven Sen, who became the national president of Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) in 1959, 1965 and in 1976. He organised free distribution of medicine among the slum dwellers of Calcutta and also helped to set up a dispensary and a dedicated school for Harijans. He worked for the welfare of the jute mill workers and the underprivileged people working in gun shell factory, electric company. He organised the Calcutta Electric Supply and became its secretary and fought for the legitimate demands and rights of the workers.
His role and involvement in the freedom struggle was no less impressive. While in Calcutta he came in contact with Netaji Subash Chandra Bose in 1939. Later, he moved to Odisha in 1940 and was associated with organizational work of Congress. In Odisha, he organised workers in Talcher Coal Field, Barbil Iron Mines, and Jatni Rice Mills. He participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942 and was arrested on 9th August 1942 for three years. During his life time he spent total four years and ten months in different jails of the country such as Patna Central jail, Balasore and Berhampur jai, New Central Jail Howrah, District Jail Calcutta, Presidency Jail, Dumdum and Hugli Jails, Calcutta. In the post-Independent India, he played a very important role in the socialist movement in Odisha. He became the acting general secretary of Socialist Party in Odisha, formed 28th October 1946. He left the Congress Party along with other leaders and got actively involved with the socialist movement. He organised peasants and agricultural labourers. Besides he also participated in the Gadjat movement and abolition of Zamindari in Odisha. He was imprisoned for “Seema Andolan” in 1955.
He was elected to Odisha Assembly in 1957 and 1967 from Balasore constituency on Praja Socialist Party (PSP) ticket and was leader of the Opposition party in the House from 1967 to 1971. The Odisha government had nominated him to participate in the ‘Exppo 70’ held in Tokyo Japan in 1970. He left active politics in 1986 and associated himself with socio-economic activities such as setting up the Vyasakabi Institute of Post Graduate Studies, which later became Fakir Mohan University. The then President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam conferred on him honourary doctorate degree in December 2005 in recognition of his long social service, ceaseless work for the society and the nation. He was married to an equally accomplished woman Godavari Devi, a renowned Gandhian and writer of eminence, who taught Odia to Gandhi during his visit to Odisha in 1934. Rabindra Mohan Das breathed his last on 1st January 2011 at the age of ninety-nine. Political leaders cutting across party lines paid fulsome tribute to him. He was indeed a man of simplicity, modesty, character and conviction having empathy for the poor.
The writer, a retired joint secretary of Lok Sabha Secretariat, is a senior fellow of Indian Council of Social Science Research at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.