Swami Vivekananda gave India the concept of Poorna Swaraj — before Subhash Bose ever used the word. Bengal’s revolutionary legacy starts there.

This panel recovers Bengal’s role as the seedbed of India’s independence movement through the lens of the Guru-Shishya Parampara — from the Kulguru of ancient monarchies to Vivekananda’s return in 1897. Panellist Surjit Roy traces how Vivekananda’s February 1897 Chennai speech laid out three imperatives — Poorna Swaraj, woman empowerment, and the building of Shakti — that became the blueprint Subhash Chandra Bose would follow, having internalised all nine volumes of Vivekananda’s writings. The British police’s perplexity at finding Vivekananda’s portrait in every raided revolutionary’s room captures the phenomenon: ideas outlived the man, and Bengal was their incubator.

About the Speakers:
Shri Surya Sarathi Roy – Heritage Conservationist, Historian, Author, Director IHAR (N. India)
Shri Rabi Ranjan Sen – Academician, President, Vidya Bharati, South Bengal
Shri Prasun Roy – Author, Entrepreneur, IHAR Convenor (West Bengal)

Moderator:
Reetwika Banerjee – Author, Cyber Security Strategist