Among the personages who shaped the destiny of the Indian struggle for freedom, Chittaranjan Das ranks as one of the most outstanding and prominent patriots who sacrificed his all for the country's cause. " If I die in this work of winning freedom, I believe I shall be born in this country again and again, live for it, hope for it, work for it with all the energy of my life, with all the love of my nature till I see the fulfillment of my hope and the realisation of this idea", said the patriot whom his countrymen rightly called "Deshbandhu."

Born on 5th November 1870, C. R. Das had his early education in the London Missionary Society Institution, Bhowanipur, and graduated in 1890 from the Presidency College, Calcutta. He then proceeded to England where he joined the middle temple and was called to the Bar in 1892. He returned to India in 1893 and enrolled himself at the Bar of the Calcutta High Court. During his early years as a lawyer intimately associated as a budding poet with Rabindranath Tagore. After a series of sensational criminal cases in which he appeared to use his vast knowledge of British Law for the defense of patriots and the advancement of the cause of India's freedom, the most famous of which was the case in which he defended Sri Aurobindo Ghose accused in the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy case, and his success in a number of civil cases, particularly the Dumroun adoption case, his reputation as a brilliant lawyer was established. A great legal luminary of his time, he used his acumen and ability in defending patriotic causes. He gave up his lucrative practice, which was fetching him a princely income while at the height of his profession in order to through his weight fully into the freedom struggle.

Although revolutionary in his ideas, he was apposed to violence and was a staunch votary of constitutional methods. A founder of the Swaraj Party within the freedom movement, he advocated fighting the British Raj from within the council chambers. true to his own statement "If I live, I live for Swaraj, If I die, I die for swaraj", Chittaranjan Das thought, dreamt, talked and worked for the freedom of India and nothing else till the very day of his untimely death on 16th June, 1925. A brilliant barrister, poet, journalist and philanthropist, Chittaranjan Das's claim to greatness lies more than anything else on his ardent patriotism.

"Man truly reveals himself through his gift and the best gift that Chittaranjan Das has left for his countrymen is not any particular political or social programme, but the creative force of a great aspiration that has taken a deathless form in the sacrifice which his life represented" said Rabindranath Tagore. In the words of mahatma Gandhi, "Chittaranjan das was one of the greatest men... one of the jewels among the servants of India. His service and his sacrifice were matchless. May their memory ever remain with us and may his example inspire us to noble efforts."

The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department takes pride in honouring this great patriot by bringing out a commemorative stamp on 5th November 1965, the occasion of his birth anniversary.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India