Jiban Ratan Dhar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jiban Ratan Dhar (April 1889 – 19 January 1963) was an Indian politician.[1][2] He headed the municipality of Jessore during the Partition of India, represented the Bangaon constituency in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly twice and served as Minister for Jails and Health in the state government.
Dhar was the son of Prasanna Kumar Dhar, a lawyer.[2]
Dhar went to school in Jessore and Calcutta.[1] In 1913 he set up a students' mess at 110 College Street, Calcutta.[3] He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine degree in Calcutta in 1916.[1] He joined the Indian Army as a Commissioned Officer during World War I in 1916.[1][4] On 18 September 1916 he was named Lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service.[5] He remained an officer until 1926, reaching the rank of captain.[1][4]
Independence struggle and Partition
During the struggle for Indian independence, Dhar was jailed in 1930, 1941 and 1942.[1] He was a member of the All India Congress Committee 1930–1950.[4] He served as president of the Jessore Congress District Committee for 15 years.[1] Between 1946 and 1950 he served as chairman of the Jessore municipality.[1] He played a key role in the Bengali language movement in Jessore in 1948 and was the chairman of the National Language Action Committee of Jessore.[6][7] Dhar migrated to India in 1950 and settled in Bangaon.[1] Whilst Dhar had wished to stay in East Pakistan, he felt obliged to leave as he was threatened with being arrested.[8]