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“Keshob” (as
P.P.Doctorjee was popularly known among his friends during his medical studies
at the National Medical College at Kolkatta) staged an amazingly successful
war of words against the oppressive British regime in the days prior to the
formation of Sangha. This story is an utterly stunning testimonial to his
superb organizational skills.
Keshob and many other Indian students studied for their medical degrees at
the National Medical College (NMC)
which had Indian faculty, and Indian administrators. It was also
significantly less expensive, to study there due to low fees. The NMC students were subject to the same curriculum and
university examinations as the students from other medical colleges operated
by the British, with their own (expensive) British professors.
To undermine the growing reputation of excellence of the NMC, the British
regime came up with a mischievous law. Essentially this law called the
degrees won by the NMC students as “Bogus Medical Degrees”. Its aim was to
prevent the proliferation of medical degrees, medical knowledge among
Indians.
Keshob (P.P.Doctorjee’s nickname in those days) readily accepted the
challenge posed by this Bogus Medical Degrees Act. He met with Shri. Ashutosh
Mukherjee (father of the famous freedom fighter Shri. Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee) who was, in those days, the symbol of Indian resistance to the
oppressive British regime in India. Keshob explained his ideas to Shri.
Ashutoshji, whose eyes sparkled with enthusiasm at the brilliance of the
plan. He encouraged Keshob, and advised him to make full use of newspaper
publicity. Keshob then met with Shri. Motilal Ghosh, the editor of the “Amrit
Bazaar Patrika” which was a highly respected and well-known daily newspaper.
Shri. Ghoshji promised his help and gave his blessings to young Keshob.
Like lightening, news of protest marches and mammoth meetings against the
“Bogus Act” (as it was called by Keshob) began to spread far and wide.
Reports appeared daily in the Amrit Bazaar Patrika. The police and British
officers began to inquire about the rallies and meetings. They all had been
pre-briefed; they confirmed story after story. The poor British police and
CID could never fathom that this “mammoth” uprising was in fact just a
“mammoth” idea in the mind of a penniless, pauper medical student who eked
out a living, often going hungry, in a small dark room under staircase, in a
dingy ghetto of Kolkatta. Such was the storm of the “protests” and newspaper
reports that the British governor and other administrators began to lose
their sleep. Other, less well-known newspapers and periodicals, trusting the
famous “Amrit Bazaar Patrika”, followed suit by printing their own reports –
no one wanted to miss the bandwagon! To boot, Keshob and his friends
organized one massive rally in Kolkatta, piggybacking it on popular “Durga
Pooja” festival (which brought together over 200,000 people).
The British regime was truly fooled. In a precipitate action, they withdrew
the “Bogus Medical Degree Act” - lock, stock and barrel in order to stop the
situation from going to an extreme.
Keshob had thus succeeded in killing the “Bogus Medical Degrees Act” by a
“mammoth” nationwide propaganda war!
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