Kiran Shankar Roy, also credited as Kiron Sankar Roy (; 25 October 1891 – 20 February 1949) was an Indian politician, academic, and freedom fighter. He was one of the leading figures of the

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922. Chauri Chaura The Swaraj Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by Indi ...

in the anti-British independence movement of the Indian subcontinent and one-time colleague of

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

and associate of

Sarat Chandra Bose Sarat Chandra Bose (6 September 1889 – 20 February 1950) was an Indian barrister and independence activist. Early life He was born to Janakinath Bose (father) and Prabhabati Devi in Cuttack, Odisha on 6 September 1889. The family origina ...

. He was one of Bengal's big five prominent Congress leaders during the two decades 1920s and 1940s. Roy was also a Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Bengal Assembly Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Basu, eds., ''সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান (1976)'', Part I, সাহিত্য সংসদ, কলকাতা, আগস্ট ২০১৬, পৃষ্ঠা ১৩৯,

Early life

Kiran Shankar Roy was born to Hara Sankar Roy on October 25, 1891, in a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

zamindar family of Teota village of Shivalaya Upazila,

Manikganj District Manikganj District (; ) is a district in central Bangladesh and part of the Dhaka Division. Manikganj is called the land of rivers & cultural heritage of central Bangladesh.It was established in 1845 as a subdivision of Faridpur District, then in ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. His early education was at Teota Academy, a village school. Later he studied at

Hindu School Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...

and St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and later

Bangabasi College Bangabasi College is a Kolkata-based liberal arts, commerce and sciences college. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses of the University of Calcutta. It was founded by Girish Chandra Bose, an educationist, social reformer and agric ...

where he studied intermediate arts. During his time in college, Roy was influenced by the radical nationalist movement during the

First Partition of Bengal The Partition of Bengal in 1905, also known as the First Partition of Bengal, was a territorial reorganization of the Bengal Presidency implemented by the authorities of the British Raj. The reorganization separated the largely Muslim eastern ...

. To keep him away from participating in the movement, his family sent him to England to pursue his higher education. He studied history at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

in 1909 where he was a prominent member of the Oxford Indian Majlis and was appointed its President for a term. He returned to the country in 1914 and taught history at Presidency College and

Sanskrit College Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It focuses on liberal arts, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Be ...

. But as protested against the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law, applied during the British India period. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919 ...

, he resigned in displeasure with the British Ruler and went to England to study law again in 1919 at Lincoln's Inn but did not complete the course. He returned home as a barrister and joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in 1921. He became Vice-Principal and Professor of English Literature at National College (Calcutta Vidyapeeth). Subhash Chandra Bose was the principal at that time. Later became the Vice-Chancellor of the National University (Gauriya Sarva-Vidyayatana).

Political career

Political activities (1921–1946)

In 1921, Roy became actively involved in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

and participated in the

non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

under the leadership of

Chittaranjan Das Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (friend of the country), was a Bengali freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian Independence Movement and the political guru of Indi ...

. During this period, he was detained by the British authorities for writing a seditious article. But in 1922, when the non-cooperation movement was withdrawn and the Alternative

was formed under the leadership of Chittaranjan Das and

Motilal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist, and politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He served as the Congress President twice, from 1919 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1929. He was a patriarch ...

, he was one of the five main members of the party. In 1923 he became the party's secretary. Roy had been a member of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee and the All-India Congress Committee since 1922 and held important positions both in parliamentary and non-parliamentary wings. He was Leader of the Congress Party, and Leader of the Opposition, in the Bengal Assembly in the late 1930s and 1940s. He was arrested and imprisoned in the

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

Colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spice trade, spices. The search for ...

. He re-joined the

in 1933 and was elected to the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

as a member of the Congress. He worked as a colleague of

and later became the secretary of the Ad. Hoc Congress Committee. After the

1946 Indian provincial elections Provincial elections were held in British India in January 1946 to elect members of the legislative councils of the Indian provinces. The Congress, in a repeat of the 1937 elections, won (90%) of the general non-Muslim seats while the Muslim ...

, Roy led Congress negotiations with

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (8 September 18925 December 1963) was an East Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to ...

to form a Muslim-League coalition government but negotiations broke down due to disputes over issues such as the release of political prisoners and distribution of ministerial offices between Congress and the Muslim League coalesced with opposition to a Congress-Muslim League coalition by the Congress and Muslim League high command. Roy critiqued Suhrawardy for his complicity in the

Direct Action Day Direct Action Day (16 August 1946) was the day the All-India Muslim League decided to take a "direct action" using general strikes and economic shut down to demand a separate Muslim homeland after the British exit from India. Also known as ...

communal riots in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Roy also was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946 on a Congress party ticket.

United Bengal (1947)

Like Sarat Chandra Bose, Roy was vehemently and persistently opposed to the partition of Bengal and was naturally a supporter of the Provincial Coalition Party and Forward Bloc Congress led by Sarat Bose. Roy was against C.R. Rajagopalachari's 1944 Rajaji formula which essentially conceded Pakistan on condition that it come about with plebiscites in Muslim-majority regions and the Partition of Punjab and Bengal. Kiran Shankar supported Sarat Bose's United Bengal scheme, which was in turn supported by Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim. Roy nonetheless had doubts about the viability of an independent Bengal at first but was converted to it. Roy supported

Frederick Burrows Sir Frederick John Burrows (3 July 1887 – 23 April 1973) was a British politician who served as the last British Governor of Bengal during the British Raj in India. Biography He was Governor of Bengal from 19 February 1946 to 14 August 19 ...

and Louis Mountbattens proposal for the representative coalition government and joint electorates in Bengal. However, the United Bengal scheme failed given it had no mass support among Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, despite Bose and Suhrawardy's initial insistence that most people in Bengal (including Hindus) were against Partition. The Bengal Provincial Congress and Indian National Congress high command led by

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

vehemently opposed the defiant and lone efforts of Bose and Roy in agitating against the Partition of Bengal in 1947, calling for them to conform to Congress's official policy. Whilst

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

initially provided tacit support to the United Bengal scheme, the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

high command would also oppose the scheme with the Nazimuddin faction, in contrast to the Suhrawardy faction, of the

Bengal Provincial Muslim League The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) was the branch of the All India Muslim League in the British Indian province of Bengal. It was established in Dhaka on 2 March 1912. Its official language was Bengali. The party played an important rol ...

supporting Partition and inclusion in a unitary Pakistan.

Last years (1947–1949)

After independence, he also became the Congress party leader in the

East Bengal Legislative Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

and Pakistan Constituent Assembly. However, he returned to India in 1948 and took charge of the Home Minister in the Cabinet of Ministers of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

led by

Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician and politician who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1950 until his death in 1962. He played a key role in the founding of several institutions and cities like ...

. He died on 20 February 1949.

Key writings

Kiran Shankar Roy, alongside his political career, was interested in literature. He was a prominent member of the Sabuj Patra Patrika edited by

Pramatha Chaudhuri Pramathanath Chaudhuri (7 August 1868 – 2 September 1946), known as Pramatha Chaudhuri, ''alias'' Birbal, was a Bengali essayist, poet, and writer. He was the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore as his mother was Sukumari Debi, the second sister of ...

and the Monday Club by Sukumar Roy. His articles and short stories were regularly published in the '' Sabujpatra'', ''

Prabasi ''Prabasi'' () was a monthly Bengali language literary magazine edited by Ramananda Chatterjee. History and profile ''Prabasi'' was founded by Ramananda Chatterjee in 1901 and ran for over 60 years. It published many important Bengali author ...

'' and ''Atmashakti''. They were highly appreciated in the reading community. The stories published in ''Sabujpatra'' were later published in book form as ''Saptaparno''.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Kiran Shankar 1891 births 1949 deaths Indian barristers 20th-century Indian politicians State cabinet ministers of West Bengal Bengal MLAs 1937–1945 East Bengal MLAs 1947–1954 Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Bengali Hindus Pakistani Hindus Politicians from East Pakistan Pakistani emigrants to India Naturalised citizens of India Indian independence activists from Bengal Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata Alumni of New College, Oxford University of Calcutta alumni St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni People from Manikganj District Leaders of the opposition (Pakistan)