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Role of women and foreigners in India freedom struggle
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The entire history of the freedom movement is replete with the saga of bravery, sacrifice and political sagacity of hundreds and thousands of women of our country. Their participation in the struggle began as early as 1817 when Bhima Bai Holkar fought agaist the British Colonel Malcolm and defeated him in guerilla warfare. At a very critical time for our motherland when the British East India Company was fast expanding its empire in India, when Tipu Sultan had been eliminated (1799), the proud Marathas had been humbled (1815), Chennamma the widowed queen of Raja Malla Sarja frustrated the machinations of British to annex her kingdom Kittore, a tiny principality in the present Belgaum District of Karnataka. She fought against the mighty British army and scored initial success. Indian history bears proud testimony to the unbeatable valour of the ladies who fought for their pride.
2.0 RANI LAKSHMIBAI
No other woman warrior in the history of India has made such a powerful impact on the minds of the Indian people as the Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmi Bai. She was the second wife of the ruler of Jhansi Raja Gangadhar Rao who protested against the 'Doctrine of Lapse' propounded by the then viceroy Lord Dalhousie. She refused to surrender Jhansi and fought bravely attired as a male during the Revolt of 1857, and died in the battle field fighting the British forces. Her courage inspired many Indians to rise against the alien rule.
In the year 1842, she got married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Raja Gangadhar Rao Niwalkar. On getting married, she was given the name Lakshmi Bai. In the year 1853, Gangadhar Rao fell sick and became very weak. So, the couple decided to adopt a child. To ensure that the British do not raise an issue over the adoption, Lakshmibai got this adoption witnessed by the local British representatives. On 21st November 1853, Maharaja Gangadhar Rao died.
During that period, Lord Dalhousie was the Governor General of British India. The adopted child was named Damodar Rao. As per the Hindu tradition, he was their legal heir. However, the British rulers refused to accept him as the legal heir. As per the Doctrine of Lapse, Lord Dalhousie decided to seize the state of Jhansi. Rani Lakshmibai went to a British lawyer and consulted him. Thereafter, she filed an appeal for the hearing of her case in London. But, her plea was rejected. The British authorities confiscated the state jewels. Also, an order was passed asking the Rani to leave Jhansi fort and move to the Rani Mahal in Jhansi. Laxmibai was firm about protecting the state of Jhansi.
Jhansi became the focal point of uprising. Rani of Jhansi began to strengthen her position. By seeking the support of others, she formed a volunteer army. The army not just consisted of the men folk, but the women were also actively involved. Women were also given military training to fight a battle. In the revolt, Rani Lakshmibai was accompanied by her generals.
From the period between Sep-Oct 1857, Rani defended Jhansi from being invaded by the armies of the neighboring rajas of Orchha and Datia. In January 1858, the British army headed towards Jhansi. The conflict went on for two weeks. Finally, the Britishers succeeded in the annexation of the city. However, Rani Laksmi Bai managed to escape along with her son, in the guise of a man.
She took refuge in Kalpi, where she met Tatya Tope, a great warrior. She died on 17th June, during the battle for Gwalior. It is believed that, when she was lying unconscious in the battlefield, a Brahmin found her and brought her to an ashram, where she died. For her immense effort, she is referred to as the 'Icon of the Indian Nationalist Movement'. Throughout the uprising, the aim of Rani was to secure the throne for her adopted son Damodar. Her story became a beacon for the upcoming generations of freedom fighters. Lot of literature has been written on the life history of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. Heroic poems have been composed in her honor, including Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s “khoob ladi mardani woh toh Jhansi wali Raani thi”.
3.0 PRITILATA WADDEDAR
Pritilata Wadedar was a real embodiment of flaring devotion and dedication. She was born on 5th May 1911 in a culturally-advanced middle-class family at Dhalghat village in Chittagong (Chattogram), a breeding place of a large number of heroic revolutionaries who believed in armed struggle to free India from the bondage of British imperialism. It lay in undivided Bengal in undivided India, now in South Samura in Subdistrict Patia in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Her parents were Sri Jagabandhu Waddedar and Smt. Pratibha Waddedar who arranged for the best possible education for their daughter available there at that time and put her into Dr. Khastogir's school (a renowned school for children) directly in class III, where she was awarded a scholarship which proved her genre and brillance. She passed the Matriculation examination, the school leaving examination at that time, in 1928 and got admitted in Eden College in Dhaka. After that she returned to Kolkata (then Calcutta) for her graduation in English and was admitted in famous Bethune College and came out successful in B. A. examination. After completion of her graduation, she was appointed directly as the Headmistress of Aparna Charan Girls' School in Chittagong (Chattogram).
Her career: When she was a student of class - VIII she witnessed Surya Sen, imprisoned by the British Police on the charge of looting the Railway money, and her patriotic spirit flared up after witnessing the oppression unleashed by the British Police on the revolutionary activists. Gradually she started collecting books on revolutionary philosophy and biographies of great revolutionary leaders. While in Dhaka for her studies, she associated herself with a secret revolutionary women's organizaiton - Dipali Sangha - and had direct contact with a number of revolutionary leaders which formed a firm spirit in her. She directly took part in the anti-British movement when she was a student of Bethune College.
During this period she met Ramkrishna Biswas, the great revolutionary activist awaiting his execution by hanging, in Alipore Jail. She would introduce herself as his sister, day after day, for forty times and the long conversations with him cast a concrete foundation of revolutionary-mentality already dormant in her. The conversations convinced her of the revolutionary dreams which she believed was the only way to earn freedom in its true sense. Secretly she arranged for collecting arms & ammunition and sent those successfully to Chittagong for boosting up the arms struggle there. After her graduation she came permanently to her birth place and was waiting with anticipation to meet her revolutionary idol - Masterda Surya Sen - and that came true in a secret meeting held in the residence of Sabitri Devi. [ Surya Sen was a Bengali freedom fighter who is noted for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid in Chittagong of Bengal in British India. Sen was a school teacher by profession and was popularly called as Master Da. ]
This meeting proved catastrophic as the information of the meeting was somehow leaked to British Military Police who raided the house and Masterda and Pritilata escaped death narrowly. Some great revolutionary activists - Apurba Sen Bhola, Nirmal Sen and Capt. Cameroon (the notorious British police officer) died in the direct encounter. As Biritish Police started suspecting her after this incident, she went underground as directed by Masterda himself. After this, Masterda initiated and attacked the hill side (Pahartoli) European Club which was a racist breeding ground, which remained unsuccessful and masterda Surya Sen offered Pritilata the baton of leadership to organize further attempts to attack the club.
She went to Kotowali Sea Side for arms training and chalking out plans to organize a guerilla attack on the European Club. On the eventful night of 24th September 1932, she along with her comrades stormed the club. She got a bullet injury while fleeing after the successful attack and chose to embrace death rather than get arrested by the British. She swallowed a cyanide capsule (that she always kept with her) in order not to be captured. She, at that time, was a mere youth of 21! The sacrifice of hers incited a revolutionary spirit in many women which enriched the armed struggle in the following years.
4.0 KALPANA DATTA
Kalpana Datta was an Indian independence movement activist and a member of the armed resistance movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930.
She was born at Sripur of Chittagong district on 27 July 1913 in a middle-class family. Having matriculated in 1929 from Chittagong, Kalpana Datta went to Calcutta and joined the Bethune college. Greatly influenced by the examples set by the revolutionaries Kshatriya Basu and Kanailal Datta, she soon joined the Chhatri Sangha. Purnendu Dastidar drew her into the revolutionary circle of Masterda Surya Sen. The Chittagong Armoury Raid took place on 18 April 1930 and Kalpana quickly came back to Chittagong and came in contact with Surya Sen in May 1931. In the interim, many of the leaders of the Raid like Ananta Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Loknath Bal had been arrested and were pending trial. Kalpana was entrusted with the safe -carrying of heavy volatile materials from Calcutta. She also secretly prepared 'gun-cotton' and planned to plant a dynamite fuse under the court building and inside the jail to free the revolutionary leaders, who were individually tried by a special Tribunal.
The plot was discovered and certain boundaries were imposed on Kalpana's movements. She, however, managed to visit regularly the village of Surya Sen, sometimes even in the dead of night. She also used to have training in revolver shooting, along with her comrade Pritilata Waddedar.
In September 1931, Surya Sen decided to entrust Kalpana and Preetilata with a plan to attack the European Club at Chittagong. A week before the action Kalpana was taken under arrest while moving out for a survey work in a boy's attire. While in jail, she was told about the Pahartali action and the heroic suicide of Preetilata. Being unrestricted on bail, she went underground at the bidding of Surya Sen and in the early hours of 17 February 1933 the police encircled their hideout. Surya Sen was captured while Kalpana, along with Manindra Datta, escaped.
On 19 May 1933 Kalpana, with some comrades, was arrested. In the second additional trial of Chittagong Armory Raid case, Surya Sen and Tarakeswar Dastidar were sentenced to death, and Kalpana was sentenced to transport for life. After being released in 1939 she graduated from the Calcutta University in 1940. Soon she joined the CPI and resumed her battle against the British rule. She turned Kalpana Joshi in 1943 when she married PC Joshi, the leader of the CPI. She went back to Chittagong and organised the Kisan and women fronts of the party. In 1946 she contested, though ineffectively, in the elections to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. After 1947 she migrated to India and became submissive from active politics.
In 2010, Deepika Padukone starred as Kalpana Datta, in a Hindi movie, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, which dealt with the Chittagong armoury raid and its aftermath. Kalpana Datta breathed her last at New Delhi on 8 February 1995.
5.0 CAPTAIN LAKSHMI SEHGAL
Lakshmi Sehgal (also Sahgal) née Swaminathan, also known as Captain Lakshmi (born October 24, 1914 in Madras, Madras Presidency, British India) was an activist of the Indian independence movement, an ex-officer of the Indian National Army (INA) raised by Netaji Bose, and the Minister of Women's associations in the Azad Hind Government. Lakshmi Sahgal later became involved in politics in independent India, as a member of parliament in the Upper House and later running for President as a left wing candidate.
She is commonly referred to as Captain Lakshmi in India, referring to her rank at the time of being taken prisoner in Burma, as widely reported in Indian newspapers at the end of the war and which captured the public thought.
She was born as Lakshmi Swaminathan, daughter of Dr. S. Swaminathan, a leading trial lawyer practicing Criminal Law at Madras High Court. Lakshmi Sahgal’s mother was A.V. Ammukutty, better known as Ammu Swaminathan, a social worker and freedom fighter and hailed from the famous Vadakkath family of Anakkara in Palghat, Kerala.
Lakshmi decided to study medicine because she wanted to be of service to the poor, particularly to poor women. She received an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College in 1938. A year later, she received her diploma in gynecology and obstetrics.
In 1940, she left for Singapore where she established a clinic for the poor, mostly wanderer labourers, from India. She became one of the most popular and prosperous gynecologists in the city. She was not only a competent doctor but also played an active role in the India Independence League which contributed greatly to the freedom movement in India.
In 1942, during the historic surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, she worked hard in serving the prisoners of war (POWs) who were hurt during the skirmishes. In the process, she came in contact with many Indian Prisoners of War (POWs) who were thinking of forming an Indian liberation army.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on July 2, 1943. In the next few days, at all his public meetings, Netaji spoke of his determination to raise a women's regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, which would also "fight for Indian Independence and make it complete".
Lakshmi joined the new regiment, called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, and got the rank of a Colonel. The unit had the strength of a Brigade. In a regular army, this womgen's army unit was the first of its kind in Asia. The army fought on the side of the Axis powers against the British. Lakshmi was active both militarily and on the medical front. Later, she became the Minister in charge of women's organization in Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India), led by Subhas Chandra Bose.
Lakshmi Sahgal held this portfolio over and above her command of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Lakshmi was captured and brought to British India on March 4, 1946 where she received a heroine's welcome. The British realised that keeping her a prisoner would prove counter-productive and she was later released.
In 1998, Sahgal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by Indian president K. R. Narayanan. Laxmi Sehgal passed away on 23 July 2012, aged 97. She was a true Indian national leader who contributed to scaring the British away from India earlier than otherwise possible.
6.0 WOMEN CONGRESS LEADERS
Sarojini Naidu holds pride of place among women freedom fighters of India. She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She was the first woman President of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1925 at the Kanpur Session. In 1928, she came to the USA with the message of the non-violence movement from Gandhiji. When in 1930, Gandhi was arrested for a protest, Sarojini took the helms of his movement. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Gandhiji and Pundit M M Malaviya. She was also the acting President of the Congress in 1932. In 1942, she was arrested during the 'Quit India' protest and stayed in jail for 21 months. She was a gifted poet of the English language and was popularly known as the Nightingale of India. After independence, she became the first ever woman Governor of an Indian state (Uttar Pradesh).
Aruna Asaf Ali played a leading role during the Quit Indian Movement. Her moment of reckoning came in 1942 during the Quit India Movement and she rose to the occasion. She unfurled the national flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay to signify the commencement of the Quit India Movement and became a legend for thousands of youth who rose in confidence to emulate her. She became a full time activist in the Quit India movement, and went underground to evade arrest. She edited 'Inquilab', a monthly journal of the Indian National Congress. She was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
Madam Bhikaji Cama was influenced by Dadabhai Naoroji and was a source of inspiration for Indian youth in the UK. She unfurled the first National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart (Germany) in 1907, organized Free India Society and began the journal 'Bande Mataram' to spread her revolutionary thought. She travelled a lot and spoke to people about Indians struggling for independence. She could aptly be called "Mother India's first cultural representative of USA".
Rani Gaidineliu was a prominent Naga nationalist woman leader from Manipur who took over the movement of Naga nationalists against the British. Her movement was active during the Civil Disobedience Movement of Gandhiji, to oust the foreigners from Manipur. For her remarkable patriotism, she received praise from the nationalist leaders. She was arrested in 1932 and released after 15 years post the Indian independence. "Rani of the Nagas" the popular title was bestowed upon her by Jawaharlal Nehru for her influence and work for the Nagas.
Sarojini Naidu's daughter Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of the nation like her mother. At the age of 21, she entered the national scene and became the joint founder of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign goods. She was jailed for taking part in the "Quit India" movement in 1942. After Independence, Padmaja became the Governor of West Bengal. During her public life spanning over half a century, she was associated with the Red Cross. Her service to the nation and especially her humanitarian approach to solve problems, will long be remembered.
Sucheta Kriplani was an ardent nationalist with socialistic orientation. She was a close associate of Jai Prakash Narayan who actively participated in the Quit India movement. This St. Stephen's educated politician sang Vande Mataram in the independence session of the Constituent Assembly on August 15, 1947. She was a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946 and general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and also the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967.
Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur was a close follower of Gandhiji from 1919 onwards. A Congress member, she actively participated in the 1930 Salt Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement. She became the first Health Minister in post-Independent India. She was the founder-President of Indian Council of Child Welfare and the founder-member of All India Women's Conference.
Smt Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was elected President of the Youth Congress in December 1929 and appealed to the National Congress leaders to declare Poorna Swaraj as their goal. On January 26, 1930, Kamaladevi captured the imagination of the entire nation when in a scuffle, she clung to the Tricolor in order to protect it. Blows rained on her as she stood like a rock to protect the flag, bleeding profusely. She galvanized the All India Women's Conference into a dynamic movement.
Beside the hundreds and thousands of Indian women who dedicated their lives for India's freedom, there were many foreign women who saw in India a hope for the redemption of the world. A famous disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita was an Irish lady named Miss Margaret Nobel who arrived in India in January, 1898 in search of truth. She propagated for the cause of India throughout America and Europe. She attended the Benares Congress Session in 1905 and supported the Swadeshi Movement.
7.0 FOREIGNERS IN THE INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE
7.1 Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a British theosophist, women's right's activist, writer and orator who supported Indian and Irish home rule. Born in London on 1 October 1847, to a middle-class Irish family, Annie Besant was extremely aware of her Irish heritage from young age and supported the cause of Irish home rule throughout her life. In 1893, Besant became a part of the Theosophical Society and went to India. While in India, a dispute between the American section of the society led to them setting up an independent organization. Annie Besant, along with Henry Steel Olcott, led the original society which is even today based in Chennai and is known as the Theosophical Society Adyar. After the division of the society, Besant spent most of her time on the betterment of society and even towards India's freedom struggle.
Annie Besant went on to establish the All India Home Rule League (in parallel with Tilak), which was a political organization which aimed at self-government, termed as "Home Rule". The league wanted to secure for India the status of a dominion within the British Empire, such as countries like Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Newfoundland then.
Besant's league had an All India character, but was founded on Besant's Theosophical contacts; it was set up in 1916 and reached its zenith in 1917 with 27,000 members. The Home Rule League organized discussions and lectures and set up reading rooms, also distributing pamphlets educating people of what they sought to achieve through this movement. Members of the league were powerful orators and petitions of thousands of Indians were submitted to the British authorities.
The Home Rule League got a lot of support from the Tamil Brahmin community of Chennai and also communities like the Kayasthas of Uttar Pradesh, Kashmiri Brahmins, some Muslims, Hindu Tamil minority, young Gujarati industrialists and traders and lawyers in Mumbai and Gujarat. The philosophy of the league was a combination of theosophy, social reform, ancient Hindu wisdom and the claims of achievement of the West which had already been anticipated by Hindu Rishis many years before they happened. The league influenced a lot of people by its philosophy, primarily because the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj had not reached the majority by then. A lot of young men groomed by the home rule movement went on to become future leaders in Indian politics, namely Satyamuri of Chennai, Jitendralal Banerji of Kolkata, Jawaharlal Nehru and Khaliquzzaman of Allahabad, Jamunadas Dwarkadas and Indulal Yajnik, among others.
The Home Rule League had 2600 members in Mumbai and held meetings attended by 10,000 to 12,000 people at the Shantaram Chawl area, comprising of government employees and industrial workers. The league was also responsible for creating a political awareness in areas like Sindh, Gujarat, United Provinces, Bihar and Orissa. In 1917, following the arrest of Annie Besant, the movement gained strength and made its presence felt in India's rural areas. By late 1917, Annie Besant was highly influenced by Montague's promise of a "responsible government" and it wasn't long before she became his loyal follower.
She had a difference of opinion with Gandhiji on Montague-Chelmsford reforms (Montford reforms), the non-cooperation movement and boycott of foreign goods. In the last 10 years of her life, Ms. Beasant quit active politics and freedom struggle altogether.
7.2 Charles Freer "Dinbandhu" Andrews
Charles Freer Andrews (1871 - 1940) was an English priest, educator and Indian freedom fighter who is best known as an associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Andrews greatly admired the philosophy of the young Mohandas Gandhi and was instrumental in convincing him to return to India from South Africa, where Gandhi was a leading light in the Indian civil rights struggle there.
Charles Freer Andrews is remembered by many in India, for his work in the Indian Trades Union Congress which took him to all parts of the Indian subcontinent and indeed throughout the British Empire. There are many places in India named after him, schools, colleges, villages, and the area of Delhi known as Andrewsganj, and the centenary of his birth was commemorated on a stamp.
Andrews was elected President of the All India Trade Union congress in 1925 and 1927. He accompanied Gandhi to the second Round Table Conference in London, helping him negotiate with the British government on matters of Indian autonomy and devolution.
While working for Indian independence, Andrews developed a dialogue between Christians and Hindus. He spent a lot of time at Shantiniketan, in conversation with the poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore. He also supported the movement to ban the 'untouchability of outcastes'. In 1925, he joined the famous Vaikom Satyagraha, and in 1933 assisted B.R. Ambedkar in formulating the demands of the Dalits. He extended his wholehearted support to the freedom struggle and criticized the British for their unjust and racial policies.
He advocated the rights of Indian settlers in South Africa, East Africa, West Indies, Fiji and the English colonies in other parts of the world and used his influence in England to arouse public opinion against colonial exploitation.
From 1935 onwards, Andrews began to spend more time in Britain, teaching young people all over the country about Christ's call to radical discipleship. Gandhi's affectionate nickname for Andrews was Christ's Faithful Apostle, based on the initials of his name, "CFA". He was widely known as Gandhi's closest friend and was perhaps the only major figure to address Gandhi by his first name, Mohan.
Charlie Andrews died on 5 April 1940, during a visit to Calcutta, and is buried in the 'Christian Burial ground' of Lower Circular Road, Calcutta.
7.3 Miraben (Madelein Slade)
Madeleine Slade was the daughter of an English aristocratic family. After she read French novelist and essayist Romain Rolland's 1924 biography of Gandhi, she became a believer in non violence.
Upon her arrival at the ashram, Gandhi gave her the nickname Mirabehn ("Sister Mira"), named for Mira (or Meera) Bai, the Hindu mystic and great devotee to the god Krishna. Mirabehn often accompanied Gandhi on his tours and looked after his personal needs. She became one of Gandhi's confidants and an ardent champion internationally for India's freedom from British rule and was with Gandhi at the London Round Table Conference in 1931.
A devoted worker, Mirabehn was active in spreading the spirit of non-violence, and she was considered by the British to be important to India's independence movement. She was arrested multiple times, including during a period of civil disobedience in 1932-33, when she was detained on the charge of supplying information to Europe and America regarding conditions prevailing in India; and in 1942, when she was imprisoned in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune along with Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba (the latter died there in 1944).
In 1946, Mirabehn was appointed as honorary special adviser to the Uttar Pradesh government to assist in a campaign to expand agricultural production. In 1947, she set up an ashram near Rishikesh. Following Gandhi's assassination in 1948, Mirabehn decided to stay in India.
Mirabehn returned to England in 1959 and a year later moved to a house near Vienna, where she remained till her death in 1982 . A year before her death, the Indian government conferred on her the Padma Vibhushan medal, the country's second highest civilian honour.
Among her writings are New and Old Gleanings, published in 1960 (an updated edition of Gleanings Gathered at Bapu's Feet, originally published in 1949), and her autobiography, The Spirit's Pilgrimage, also published in 1960.
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