1998 - Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das | Commemorative Coin

In the year 1998, the commemorative coin was released in memory of the freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das.

Chittaranjan Das, popularly called Deshbandhu (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925) was an eminent Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement. He was a leading figure in Bengal during the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1919-1922, and initiated the ban on British clothes, setting an example by burning his own European clothes and wearing Khadi clothes.

He brought out a newspaper called Forward and later changed its name to Liberty to fight the British Raj. When the Calcutta Corporation was formed, he became its first Mayor. He resigned his presidency of the Indian National Congress at the Gaya session after losing a motion on "No Council Entry" to Gandhi's faction. He then founded the Swaraj Party, with veteran Motilal Nehru and young Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, to express his immoderate opinions.

He was a believer of non-violence and constitutional methods for the realisation of national independence, and advocated Hindu-Musim unity, cooperation and communal harmony and championed the cause of national education. His legacy was carried forward by his disciples, and notably by Subhash Chandra Bose.

In 1925, Das's health began to fail and in May he withdrew to a mountain home in Darjeeling, On 16 June 1925, with a severe fever, he died.