द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

DESHBANDHU C. R. DAS IN POWER 119
and public opinion in India. It is to be regretted, therefore,
that this understanding was not followed up by appropriate
action.
Not content with his activities in the legislature, the
Municipality and in other directions, the Deshbandhu
launched another important movement at this time—the
Tarakeswar Satyagraha movement. Not far from Calcutta,
at a place called Tarakeswar, there is an old temple of 'Baba
Taraknath' or 'Shiva.' As in the case of other holy shrines,
there was considerable property attached to the temple, which
had been endowed in order to provide for its upkeep. Fol-
lowing the Hindu custom, there was a trustee, called the
Mohunt, in charge of the temple and the attached property.
Though the Mohunts are expected to live a chaste and
abstemious life, there were allegations against the Mohunt of
Tarakeswar with regard to his personal character and to his
administration of the endowed property. As Tarakeswar
happens to be one of the most holy places of pilgrimage in
Bengal and is visited every year by people from all parts of
the province, the allegations made against the Mohunt were
widely known. After the success of the Akali movement in
the Punjab, pressure was brought to bear on the Bengal
Congress Committee for starting a similar movement at
Tarakeswar. Notices were served on the Mohunt calling upon
him to mend his ways but as these attempts were of no avail,
in April 1924, the Deshbandhu launched a movement for
taking peaceful possession of the temple and the attached
property, with a view to placing them under the administra-
tion of a public committee. The Mohunt appealed to the
Government for help and as soon as volunteers began to
move towards the temple and the palace of the Mohunt—the
police appeared on the scene. The usual Satyagraha scenes
were re-enacted at Tarakeswar—peaceful volunteers moving
up from one side and the police attacking them mercilessly on
the other and occasionally making arrests. Owing to the
intervention of the Government, the issue became a political
one. Once again, in order to set an example to the people,
the Deshbandhu sent his son to prison at the head of the
volunteers. Within a short time, the movement became