126 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
more eclectic range, with the presence of Dilip Kumar Roy and the
young sensation Uma Basu, whom Gandhi described as the “nightin-
gale of India.” Dilip had often sung devotional and pa tri otic songs in
this house, and the Bose brothers had listened with tears flowing down
their cheeks. For Gandhi, one evening, he sang “Abide with Me” and
other En glish prayer music; the Mahatma was deeply moved. Another
evening, a troupe from Orissa performed the “Chhow” dance for Gan-
dhi’s entertainment. Gandhi signed heaps of autograph books, taking a
fee of five rupees per signature for his Harijan Fund for the uplift of
the “untouchable” castes. With Gandhi, Nehru, and Bose present in the
house, this residential mansion was transformed during the Congress
meeting into a public place, with throngs gathered outside and forcing
their way inside seeking to catch a glimpse of their beloved leaders.^120
Beyond the symbolic issue of “Bande Mataram,” the question of
Bengali po lit i cal detainees was another explosive po lit i cal matter that
had to be addressed by the Congress leadership. Even though all Gan-
dhian votaries of satyagraha had long since been released from jail,
thousands of prisoners with alleged revolutionary connections were
still being held in detention. Talks between the Bengal Congress and
the Krishak Praja party exploring the possibility of a coalition govern-
ment in Bengal had collapsed in March 1937, because of disagreements
over whether to give precedence to the release of po lit i cal prisoners or
to the implementation of a pro- peasant agrarian program. After the
breakdown of negotiations with Bengal’s Congress leaders, the peasant
leader Fazlul Huq had formed a ministry in alliance with the Muslim
League. The Congress opposition, led by Sarat Chandra Bose, had been
hammering away against the government in the legislature demanding
a general amnesty for all po lit i cal detainees, as well as radical agrarian
reforms. In late October 1937, Subhas addressed a large and enthusias-
tic peasants’ rally in Shraddhananda Park in Calcutta, along with N. G.
Ranga, the leader of the All- India Kisan Sabha (“Peasants’ Associa-
tion”) in the chair. Subhas was helped on the peasant front by the Ben-
gali leader Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chaudhuri, of Tippera district in east
Bengal. Bose promised an end to all exploitation, whether by the Brit-
ish or by Indian vested interests. He also presided over a trade union
congress being held in Calcutta. On the question of po lit i cal prisoners,