𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺
(About Mihir Sen)

Mihir, born of a poor Bengali middle-class family settled in Cuttak, finished his law and went to UK to study. To support himself, he took up the job of a night porter at a railway station.
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Not being able to juggle his education AND night porter work, he was eventually sacked from his position. Fortunately, he had heard about Indian students finding work at the India House, which housed the High Commission of India in London.
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After landing the job, he enrolled at the Lincoln’s Inn, a prestigious society of barristers, in 1951, to study law. But that job too proved to be a rigorous affair. He barely found time to attend class. So, he taught himself law by borrowing textbooks from the library.
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There, coming across a newspaper clipping of the English Channel crossing by Florence Chadwick, an American, and the first woman to do so, he got inspired and wanted to prove that Indians can do it. Thus he joined the local YMCA and learnt swimming for the 1st time.
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THE SWIM AGAINST THE TIDES

He was India's 1st long-distance swimmer. He was the 1st Indian to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958 and did so in the 4th-fastest time (14 hrs & 45 mins). In the following year, Sen was awarded the Padma Shri by PM Nehru.
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He then set out to swim the seas of all the 5 continents. He became the only man to swim the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966). These included the Palk Strait, Dardanelles, Bosphorus, Gibraltar, and the entire length of the Panama Canal.
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He was chased by sharks in Gibralter. But he survived. He didn't have sponsorship money to cross the Palk strait, but was sponsored by PM IG then. This unique achievement earned him a place in The Guinness Book of Records as the "world's greatest long-distance swimmer".
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On receiving the award, he said: “I had undertaken this perilous swim not to gain fame or trophies but to prove once again to world that Indians are no longer afraid.”

He had a point. Indians DID look upon themselves then. Mihir Sen wanted to assault this idea. He did it.
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His daughter, Supriya Sen, wrote "Being a young nationalist of uncommonly strong views & ambition, he wanted to show the world what Indians are made of,to set for young Indians an example of courage & to tell them that one of the best things to do with life is to risk it."
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THE NEW ADVENTURE

But Mihir Sen didn't rest on his laurels. He came back to to do more for his country. Despite being a lawyer, he decided to start a business & became a successful silk exporter. His firm was recognised by GoI as country’s 2nd-largest silk exporter.
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He sent off young men to explore the wilderness & lived vicariously through their experiences of exploring the deserts & oceans, urging them to always be brave. He sponsored many expeditions through the Explorers club.
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In 1972, he helped B'deshi refugees re-settle in thru the Explorers club. Without financial support from GoI, he cared for 300 families, exhibiting pics of refugees and charging a visitor’s fee. Any shortfall of funds was compensated by his own personal contribution.
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THE TURNING OF TIDE

In 1977, with the end of the emergency and the tide squarely against Congress, Jyoti Basu was engineering how to bring in Communism into West Bengal. He approached Mihir Sen and asked him to stand as a CPI(M) candidate.
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A non-believer in communism, Sen rejected the offer and instead decided to stand against Basu as an Independent candidate. He lost to Jyoti Basu, but opposing the eventual CM came at a cost. Basu vindictively went after Mihir, systematically destroying his business.
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The CPI(M)’s Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) formed its unit in Mihir’s office and factory in Khidderpore and regularly created harassment and organised disturbances to disrupt progress at work. To crush the spirit of Mihir Sen.
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-Slogans and graffiti filled the walls of Mihir’s office, factory and his retail shop in Russell Street.
-Sit-ins were staged on a regular basis, which usually lasted for days/weeks.
-Finally, strikes were called in the factory, which brought work to a complete standstill.
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-Mihir’s garment factory was turned into a tea shop by the CITU and he was eventually forced to close down the factory.
-Police were instructed by the CPI to ignore repeated requests to intervene and disruptions continued until the business was completely destroyed.
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-In Khidderpore, where Mihir owned a silk screening and silk block print factory, truckloads of merchandise ready for export were set on fire. Police refused to help.
-False cases were started against him.
-His house & office were raided repeatedly and all assets seized.
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Thus, Mihir’s flourishing business was maliciously & systematically destroyed by CPI(M) & he became bankrupt.

Due to all this, he suffered a stroke. Later on, he was diag. with Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s. He passed away,in pecuniary, a broken man in 1997 at the age of 67.
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Meanwhile, Jyoti Basu ensured that each and every business which started in Bengal gave him a %.
Basu,who would project his 'simplicity' in white kurta and dhoti, would dress as a proper Englishman & dine in the best of the rest. , the bill being paid by the Businessmen.
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Close to 30,000 industrial enterprises were closed down and more than 27,000 units became ‘sick’ under Basu.

All entrepreneurship went away from Bengal. But family business DID prosper, @ 15% of all corporate stakes.

Never Forget the True Colors of Communism !

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Original Post and research by Avi Das, posted on Facebook.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/avi.das1/posts/10157586290955863

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