The festival of Rakhi is celebrated across the country to mark the bond of a brother and sister. However, during the times of the Bengal partition, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore attempted to turn the turbulent times into a bond of brotherhood harmony.
Lord Curzon was the Viceroy of India when the British decided to divide Bengal and build a wall between the two sides. As soon as it was officially announced in January 1904, there was a clamour of opposition across the country. At that time, Tagore was composing several ‘Swadeshi’ poems and songs fearlessly.
During that riotous time of 1905, Tagore upheld the festival of Raksha Bandhan. He never gave place to paganism in his life. Though he bowed down to Brahma many times, the poet never gave place to institutionalised religion. So the poet used the Rakhi as a symbol of harmony against corruption when Lord Curzon had decided to split Bengal.
On 16 October 1905, Rabindranath Tagore, Bhupendranath Bose, Surendranath Bandyopadhyay, Hirendranath Dutta, Ramendrasundar Trivedi and Bipinchandra Pal called for unity to stand together against the law of partition of Bengal. Leaflets were distributed throughout the city.
The day was declared as Bengali Unity Day and everyone was asked to tie rakhi on everyone’s hands. The pamphlets that were distributed said that there will be no cooking in any house at Bengal on that day. It also said that the Bengalis will not eat hot food and will eat dry foods and fruits on that day.
Even though the Britishers were successful in forming two separate countries on the basis of religion East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now Pakistan), the Rakhi incident showed that people of India never wanted the partition.
The festival though has a religious inclination but it showcases a deep-rooted unity, fraternity and brotherhood.