"Let the word Unity be inscribed therein characters of glittering gold. There may be religious difference between us. There may be social difference between us. But there is a common platform where we may all meet, the platform of our country's welfare" (1/6) 
Thus spoke "RastraGuru" Surendranath Banerjee in 1878. Two years earlier, along with Anandamohan Bose, he had formed the first Indian political body, the Indian National Association. Surendranath was one of the foremost nationalist leaders (2/6)
He was also the political mentor to figures like Gopal Krishna Gokhale & Sarojini Naidu. When Lord Curzon announced the Partition of Bengal in 1905, it was Surendranath who led a fierce nation-wide protest against it (3/6)
He was also a strong proponent of "Swadeshi" - boycott of English goods in favor of local made alternatives. In 1879, he bought Girish Ghosh's newspaper "The Bengalee" & ran it for 40 years. In 1883, he became the 1st Indian journalist to be imprisoned (4/6)
Banerjee cleared the ICS examination in 1869. In 1884, he founded the Ripon College in Kolkata, now renamed as Surendranath College. As a minister in the Bengal govt, he is credited with effecting widespread democratic reforms in the CMC (5/6)
For his tenacity, the British had labelled him "Surrender Not" Banerjee. At the peak of his popularity, he was known as the "uncrowned king of Bengal." Rastraguru Sir Surendranath was born #OTD in 1848 (6/6)
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