Tantia Tope

Tatia Tope, like other freedom fighters, was one of the great heroes who fought courageously for India’s freedom in 1857. He was born in 1814 in a village Yeola in Maharashtra. His father Pandurang Rao Tope shifted with Peshwa to Bithur. Tantia and the adopted sons, Nana Sahib and Maharaja Madhav, of Peshwa became good friends. All his loved ones called him Tatia because he always used to wear a hat that was gifted to him by Peshwa.

Tatia moved his first step against the British in 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprived Nana Sahib of his father’s pension. In May 1857, he joined the political movements and established Nana Sahib’s authority. Britishers were trying to grab everything- the wealth, kingdom and the whole empire of the country. This became the biggest reason of discontent and revolt. He occupied Kanpur and then shifted to Kalpi to join Rani Lakshmi Bai to occupy Gwalior. Unfortunately, they lost the battle, Rani was killed and Britishers expanded their rule in Gwalior. After losing, he collected a huge force to fight against Britishers and was successful in capturing many forts of India. In Kalpi, he had established a center to manufacture arms. When he came to know that Britishers are short of resources, he took advantage of it and confronted Kanpur. Altogether, he fought 150 battles.

Tantia, the name of terror for the English, was the one who shook the established niche of the British Empire. He was constantly fighting to win over the whole of India but unfortunately he was betrayed by one of his friend. Britishers caught hold of him and hung him to death on April 18, 1859. This incident brought tears in all eyes and he became the Supreme Commander of India’s independence.

                   lal bahadur shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India, was born on October 2, 1904 at Mughalsarai, a railway colony located at seven miles away from Varanasi. He imbibed boldness, courage, selflessness, self-respect and other virtues from his parents Shradha Prasad and Ramdulari Devi.

In 1921, Gandhi Ji launched Non Cooperation Movement and called to the youth to fight for the noble cause of freedom. Shastri was highly influenced by the movement and joined the freedom struggle at the age of 17. He was arrested during the movement but was later released. He then joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and earned the degree of ‘Shashtri’. After earning this degree, he joined ‘The Servants of the People Society’ that was started by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921, with the aim to train youth who were resolved to dedicate their lives for the country.

Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi in 1927. Being a true follower of Gandhi Ji, he took a spinning wheel and few yards of khadi in dowry. In response to the call of Gandhi Ji, he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Quit India Movement for which he was sentenced to imprisonment several times. Finally, in 1947 Britishers were forced to quit India. Thereafter, in 1947, he was appointed as Minister of Police and Transport in Pant’s Cabinet and in 1964 as Prime Minister of India.

In 1965, war started between India and Pakistan. During this war, Shastri played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country. He coined a slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ to bring unity within the country and finally led India to victory. He died on January 10, 1966 at Tashkent after he had signed the Joint Declaration with President Agha Khan of Pakistan.

                        lala lajpat rai

Lala Lajpat Rai, popularly known as Punjab Kesari or Lion of Punjab, was born on January 28, 1865 in Jagraon in Ludhiana. He was the eldest son of Munshi Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi who inculcated strong moral values in him. He studied law from Government College in Lahore and thereafter started his legal practice in Hissar.

His political career started in 1888 with the Indian National Congress Session at Allahabad. At the next session at Bombay in 1889, he was linked with other two leading freedom fighters Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The trio was popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal. Lalaji was actively involved in struggle against partition of Bengal. During the struggle he galvanized Indians for a campaign of Swadeshi and was imprisoned for six months for creating turmoil.

After his release in 1907, he went to Britain in April 1914 to explain the position of India. During his stay in Britain, the First World War broke out but he was unable to return. So, he went to USA for promoting the cause of India’s freedom struggle. There he founded the India Home League Society of America. He returned to India in 1920 and formed the Congress Independence Party in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Non Cooperation Movement.

In 1928, Simon Commission that came to India to discuss constitutional reforms was protested by Lalaji because the commission had no Indian members. The shrewd Britishers brutally lathicharged Lalaji during the protest and because of severe head injuries he expired on November 17, 1928.

                Indian Freedom Fighters

‘Free India’ was a dream of all Indians under the British rule. Everyone during that rule fought in some way or the other with a common aim of ending British and other colonial authorities in India. After a century of revolutions, struggle, blood shedding, battles and sacrifices, India finally achieved independence on August 15, 1947.

India was free in 1947 from the British Empire but the country lost many men and women who were filled with undaunted courage and spirit of patriotism. Today, they are known as freedom fighters because they sacrificed their lives for their motherland.

Indian freedom fighters with their true spirit and undaunted courage had faced various tortures, exploitations and hardships to earn us freedom.

The pioneers of the freedom movement were Mangal Pandey, Tantia Tope, Rani of Jhansi and the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi who introduced non-violent ways of fighting the enemy. Other notable freedom fighters of India are Annie Besant, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Bipin Chandra Pal, Sukhdev, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Chandrashekhar Azad, Sarojini Naidu>, Dadabhai Naoroji, Sucheta Kriplani and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari.

There are endless number of men and women other than the above list who daringly fought for India’s freedom.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of independent India, was born on December 3, 1884 in Ziradevi village in Bihar’s Siwan district.

He was the youngest son of Mahadev Sahay and Kamleshwari Devi. As per their custom, he was put under a Maulavi to learn Persian at the age of 5. Later on, he also learnt Hindi and arithmetic. He got married to Rajvanshi Devi at the age of 12. After marriage, he gave the entrance examination for Calcutta University and got scholarship there. He was a brilliant student and earned Masters Degree in Law.

In 1905, Dr Rajendra Prasad plunged a headlong into the Swadeshi Movement and later on joined the Dawn Society run by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and Sister Nivedita.

A new awareness was dawning into him under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Highly impressed by Gandhi Ji’s dedication, courage and conviction, he joined him in the freedom struggle. He was actively involved in the Non Cooperation Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Champaran Agrarian Agitation.

In 1934, while Prasad was in jail, a devastating earthquake struck Bihar. Prasad was soon released after that and he completely dedicated himself to raise funds for the victims of earthquake. He was successful in doing so and further to it in 1935 during the Quetta earthquake he had set up relief committees.

In 1934, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and in 1950 as President of independent India. As a President, he served the country for twelve years and was retired in 1962.

In the subsequent year he was honored with the Bharat Ratna Award, the nation’s highest civilian award. He lived for almost a year after that and then left for his heavenly abode on February 28, 1963.

                             Bhagat singh

Bhagat Singh, a symbol of heroism, was born in a Sikh family in Layalpur, Punjab on September 27, 1907. He was a national hero who gave a new wave to the revolutionary movement in India. His only goal in life was the destruction of British Empire.

Bhagat started his education in DAV School in Lahore but was not able to complete his studies because he was highly disturbed and influenced by the Jalianwala Bagh massacre at the age of 12. His desire to drive British out from India became stronger and he joined the Non-Cooperation Movement called by Gandhi Ji in 1921. The incidence of Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur made Bhagat violent and he decided to earn freedom with armed revolution rather than non-violence. He then joined the National College in Lahore, a center of revolutionary activities.

To spread message of revolution in Punjab, Bhagat formed a union of revolutionaries by the name ‘Naujavan Bharat Sabha’ and gave a call for mass mobilization. In 1928, he went to Delhi to attend a meeting of revolutionaries’ and there he came in contact with Chandrashekhar Azad. With a common aim to establish republic in India they both formed ‘Hindustan Samajvadi Prajatantra Sangha’. There were protests against of Simon Commission visit to India and in this protest Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally lathi charged and later on he died. This added to the anger and discontent of Bhagat and he was determined to kill the British official and Deputy Inspector General Scott responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. By mistake, he killed assistant superintendent Saunders and ran from Lahore to escape punishment. He threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on April 18, 1929 and was sentenced to death on March 23, 1931.

Though dead, Bhagat Singh is still living in the history of humanity and remembered as a prominent face of the freedom struggle.

Mohandas karamchand gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi popularly known as ‘Father of the Nation’ was one of the charismatic Indian leaders who fought for the freedom of the country. This great leader was born in Porbandar, Gujarat on Oct 2, 1869. He was the youngest of the three sons of Putlibai and Karamchand Gandhi. He completed his primary studies in Rajkot and was married to Kasturba at the age of 13.

In 1891, Gandhi went to London to study Law but after having admitted to Britisah bar he returned to India and began law practice in Bombay. After a span of two years he was called by an Indian company in South Africa to work as a legal advisor. There he found that he was ill-treated and abused because of inferior race and color discrimination. This was a common problem with all Indians. He then decided to throw himself into the freedom struggle to secure rights for Indian people. For this cause, Gandhi stayed in South Africa for almost 25 years.

Influenced by the Bhagvad Gita and Hindu beliefs, the Jain religion and the Christian teachings of Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi moved on the path of Satya and Ahimsa. ‘Satya’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘ahimsa’ meaning ‘non-violence’ were the two weapons that Gandhi used to fight the enemy. He led the campaign in South Africa with the principle of Satyagraha for Indian rights and was arrested many times for his political activities. In 1914, many of Gandhi’s demands were accepted by the Government of the Union of South Africa. After his struggle in South Africa he returned to India and started Non-Cooperation movement there.

Gandhi, after returning to India inspired people to boycott British goods and refuse earthy possessions. This movement was known as Swaraj and was economically significant because Indian home industries were virtually destructed by British industrialists. He advocated renewal of native Indian industries and began to use a spinning wheel as a token of return to simple village life. Thereafter, he constantly began promoting satyagraha, non-violence, non-cooperation and swaraj to achieve independence. Finally, in August 1947, the British were forced to leave India.

Mahatma Gandhi, symbol of Free India, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in January 1948. His mortal frame has already turned into ashes years ago but he still lives in the hearts of millions of people. Mahatma Gandhi, an embodiment of eternal love and truth, will live for immortal ages.

                         Rani lakshmibai

Rani Lakshmibai was one of the leading warriors of India’s freedom struggle who laid an outstanding influence on the succeeding women freedom fighters. She was a symbol of bravery, patriotism, respect of girl child, perseverance, generosity and resistance to British rule. She fought till her last breath for the welfare of women in the country and for the noble cause of India’s independence.

Rani Laxmibai, popularly known as ‘Rani of Jhansi’ or ‘Rani Lakshmi Bai’, was born on November 19, 1835 at Poona in a wealthy high class Brahmin family. She got married to Raja Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja of Jhansi, in 1842. In 1851, she gave birth to a child who unfortunately died just four months after his birth. Being highly affected by this tragic incident Raja adopted Damodar Rao as his son. Even after that he was unable to come out of the tragedy of losing his son and ultimately died on November 21, 1853. Rani had faced great tragedies in life; she lost her mother at a very young age and then her husband at the age of eighteen. But, no tragedy was able to break her apart and courageously she took over all her responsibilities.

After the death of Raja of Jhansi, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General of India, planned to annex Jhansi on the ground that it did not have any legal heir. Britishers refused to accept Damodar as the legal heir of Jhansi and in 1854, Rani of Jhansi was ordered to leave the fort after giving a pension of 60,000.

Being a patriotic woman, Rani was not willing to give the dominion of Jhansi to Britishers and called for an armed force. She successfully assembled an army of rebellions including women and was supported by many freedom fighters like Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Deewan Raghunath singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh.

In March 1858, Britishers attack on Jhansi forced Rani Lakshmi Bai’s army to fight back for the defense of the city. The war continued for two weeks but unfortunately Britishers were successful in extending their empire. Under the cover of darkness Rani along with her son and army of rebellions rode to Gwalior where again a battle was fought. The second day of the war in Gwalior unfortunately turned to be the last day of Rani’s life. Bravely fighting for India’ freedom, she died on June 18, 1858.

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