New Delhi [India], September 23 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday paid homage to freedom fighter Ananda Mohan Bose on his birth anniversary. He noted that Bose stood firmly against social evils, advocating progressive thought and reform.
"We pay homage to freedom fighter, educationist, social reformer, leader of the Brahmo Samaj, and Former Congress President Ananda Mohan Bose on his birth anniversary," Kharge said in a post on X.
"As a social reformer, he championed women's rights and stood firmly against social evils, advocating progressive thought and reform, an enduring legacy remembered with deep gratitude," he added.
Leader of the Brahmo Samaj, pioneer of the freedom movement, educationist and social reformer, Ananda Mohan Bose was born on 23 September 1847 in Mymensingh, Bengal, in an upper middle-class family.
According to Congress's official website, after his schooling, he left for England and enrolled himself as a student of Higher Mathematics at Christ Church College, Cambridge. Simultaneously, he was called to the Bar in 1874.
On returning home, he plunged into his public career alongside Surendranath Banerjea and Sivanath Sastri. During this time, he also came under the influence of Devendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen, for both of whom he entertained the highest regard.
Bose's interest in the political scene in India may be dated from 1871, when he first met Surendranath Banerjee in England. On his return to India in 1874 and right up to the days of the Swadeshi movement in 1905, the two were closely associated in all their political enterprises.
With Surendranath as his mentor and through his own organisational ability, Ananda Mohan Bose set up a number of pioneering institutions. The Calcutta Students Association was the earliest attempt made to organise students for constructive political work. The Indian Association was the first political organisation at an All-India level to institute a vigorous constitutional agitation for the rights and privileges of the Indian citizens.
One of its by-products was the convening of the first National Conference in 1883, which became a precursor of the Indian National Congress (1885). Bose was associated with the Congress since its inauguration and was elected President of its Madras Session in 1898.
As a social reformer, his services for the upliftment of women and the illiterate masses, his crusade against social vices and the work he did to promote temperance are still remembered with gratitude. Under his enlightened direction, the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, of which he was a joint founder (1878), not only became a church and a congregation but also an active centre for the spread of education and social uplift.