Unforgettable 'Surrender Not' Banerjee forgotten

On Kolkata's busy Bowbazar street, the Indian Association founded in 1876. Today its ground floor is rented to furniture shops, its top floor to a primary school. In between, a chapter of Indian history lies buried almost out of sight and mind.

In this hall, great minds like Surendranath Banerjee sat and called or democracy in India, a call he echoed as Congress president in 1898 and 1904. Those struggling today to keep his legacy alive feel Banerjee deserved more recognition than he got.

Says Satyabrata Choudhury, secretary, Indian Association: "From the Congress there is difficulty.  He disassociated with the Congress. There was a lot of division of ideas. So Congress will not give him recognition. But government,  I don't think they have given him the recognition he deserved."

Today, the Indian Association keeps its body and soul together by letting this historic hall out for debates, seminars and even college socials. Every 15th August, the state unit of the Congress promises to bring the association's plight to the notice of the high command.

Manash Bhuiyan of the Congress says: "From the Congress side I will take really sincere initiative to approach our supreme leader Madam Sonia Gandhi so she can take initiative to take appropriate measures to protect this historical institution now."

Surendranath Banerjee fell out with the Congress and left the party in 1917. But surely that episode could now be buried to give him his due. After all, he was not called 'Surrender Not Banerjee' by the British for nothing.