Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

May 28, 1883 – February 27, 1966   Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is known to people as one of the fervent freedom fighters of India . But he was not just a freedom fighter. He was a bold warrior, good orator, prolific writer, a poet, a historian, a philosopher, a social worker, a cautious leader, a bard and staunch supporter of Freedom and much ore. The following article is a glimpse of what we mean by his multifaceted personality. His biography is like a thrilling novel. It inspires readers with patriotism. He hailed from Maharashtra, Born in Bhagur, Dist. Nashik on 28th May 1883, he spent his youth in fighting against British Raj. As an extremely brilliant, outspoken and confident school boy, he was famous amongst his teachers and friends. In 1898 when Chaphekar brothers were hanged for assassinating the British Officer - Mr. Rand, Savarkar was just 15 years old. But Chaphekar's martyrdom impressed him and he decided the freedom of the country as his foremost aim. Right from his childhood he used to like reading. Invariably found in Library, he used to read the news papers like Kesari, Kal, Dnyanprakash etc. He read "Short History of the World" in childhood. He studied History of India from Vedic time. History was his favorite subject. He had good command over Sanskrit and thoroughly read Sanskrit as well as English literature. Amongst other books, he was impressed by the biographies of Mazini, Garibaldi, Napoleon etc. He read Bible, and Holy Koran, philosophers like Spencer, Mill, Darwin, Huxlay , Emerson etc. He also studied Economics, Geology etc. He could by heart half of Ravindranath Tagore's literature. He had also carefully studied Lenin and Trotsky. After matriculation in 1901, he took admission in Fergusson College of Poona. He was however more interested in India 's freedom from British rule. The young college students in Poona were charged by the speeches by the patriots and political leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhopatkar etc. The news papers in Poona were also actively participating in creating anti-British atmosphere in the society and appealing society's feelings of Nationalism. Savarkar was the uncrowned leader of the youth in this movement. In 1905 he burnt the imported clothes as a token of India 's protest to imported clothes. In May 1904, he established an International Revolution Institute named "Abhinav Bharat". His instigating patriotic speeches and activities irritated the British Government. As a result his B.A. degree was withdrawn by the Government. In June 1906 he left for London to become Barrister. However, once in London , he united and inflamed the Indian students in England against British. He believed in use of arms against the foreign rulers and created a network of Indians in England , equipped with weapons . Although he passed Barrister Examination in England , because of his anti-government activities, he was denied the Degree. He was the prime inspiration for the Indian students to rise against British rule. The British Government Officers were waiting for some opportunity to arrest him. He was arrested in London on 13 March 1910 on some fabricated offenses. The case against him was to be heard by the court in India . So he was to be sent to India . During his travel in a ship, as the ship neared Marseilles in France , he jumped through a porthole and swam to the port. This was on 8 July 1910. As per the plan, his colleagues were to reach there beforehand. However, they reached late and he was caught by French Police. The French Government denied him asylum. After the case was decided in India , he was sentenced to 50 years rigorous life imprisonment in Andaman on 24 December 1910. Since 4 July 1911, he was in Andaman Jail in solitude. On 2nd May 921 he was brought to India from Andaman. Since 1921 to 1922, he was in Alipur (Bengal) and Ratnagiri ( Maharashtra ) Jails. On 6th January 1924, he was released from the jail on two conditions viz. a) He will not actively participate in politics and b) he will stay in Ratnagiri District. He was in house arrest at Ratnagiri. Thereafter he spent his life in different fields of social work. He breathed his last at the age of 83, on Saturday, February 27, 1966. "Prayopveshana" , meaning fast till death, was what he observed and refused any intake of food. His death was like a true warrior. Death did not grab him, he approached death with erect head.

Vallabhbhai Patel

31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950 The Iron-Man of India, Vallabhbhai Patel's role in uniting provinces after 1947 is immeasurable. His political views and thoughts are still a touchstone of India's home and foreign policies. He was born on October 31, 1875 in Gujarat. He was the son of Zaverbhai who had served in the army of the Queen of Jhansi and Ladbai. Vallabhbhai started his education in a Gujarati medium school and after middle school he switched over to English medium in the Nadiad High School. He passed his high school examination in 1897. Patel refused to join college and started preparation for law examination. Patel hated to work under the British. Therefore, he s tarted practising law at Ahmedabad. In 1891 he married Zaverbai and they had two children. But after she passed away in 1909, the following year he went to England to study law. He completed his law studies in 1913 and came back to India and started his law practice. He joined the Gujarat club and started following a western lifestyle. One day Gandhiji came to the club to give lectures. Sardar Patel was greatly influenced by this master spokesperson. As soon as he came in contact with the Mahatma he decided to discard his foreign clothes and follow the rules of Satyagraha as laid down by Gandhiji. A relationship of teacher and student began to develop in between them. In Ahemdabad, he got so much popularity that he got elected in the Municipal Corporation in 1917. His effort to bring together the farmers of his area brought him the title of 'Sardar' to his name. In 1918 when there was a flood in Kaira, the British insisted on collecting tax from the farmers. This time the Sardar made optimum use of Satyagraha and asked the farmers not to give in to the demands of the government. All of this was done peacefully and the farmers followed his guidance. The British got fed up and eventually returned the land confiscated by them earlier. In 1928 the farmers faced a similar problem and Vallabhai came to their rescue again. The British were as usual demanding an unjust tax and the farmers of Bardoli under the supervision of Vallabhbhai did not budge. The government in retaliation seized the lands. This agitation took on for more than six months until Patel's brother, Vithalbhai, an important figure in the Central Legislative Assembly struck a truce. This event immensely delighted Gandhiji and the title of 'Sardar' was conferred on him. When he was assisting Gandhiji in the Salt Satyagraha, he faced imprisonment for the first time With great wisdom and political foresight, he consolidated the small kingdoms. The public was with him. He tackled the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Junagarh who intially did not want to join India . There were a lot of problems connected with the reunion of the numerous states into India . Sardar Patel's untiring efforts towards the unity of the country brought success. Due to the achievement of this massive task, Sardar Patel got the title of 'Iron Man'. He is one of the prestigious leaders of the world who became immmortal by uniting a scattered nation without any bloodshed. When India became free and Pakistan attacked Kashmir, it was Patel who asked to withhold the cash balances left by the British for Pakistan. Gandhiji felt this was immoral and went on a fast until death. Sardar withdrew his argument because he could not bear to see his teacher's suffering. In independent India he held the portfolio of Home Minister, Minister of state and the Minister for information and broadcasting. One of his major achievements included the integration of the princely states into the union of India . On 30th January 1948, when Gandhiji was assassinated, Sardar Patel was a totally shattered. He had lost a dear friend and the guiding force of his life. He died in Bombay in December 1950.

Udham Singh

26 December 1899 - 31 July 1940   Udham Singh, a militant nationalist, was born Sher Singh, on 26 December 1899, at Sunam, in the princely state of Patiala. His father, Tahal Singh, was at that time working as a watchman on a railway crossing in the neighbouring village of Upall . Sher Singh lost his parents before he was seven years and was admitted along with his brother Mukta Singh to the Central Khalsa Orphanage at Amritsar on 24 October 1907. As both brothers were administered the Sikh initiatory rites at the Orphanage, they received new names, Sher Singh becoming Udham Singh and Mukta Singh became Sadhu Singh. In 1917, Udham Singh's brother also died, leaving him alone in the world. He received education and crafts training. Udham Singh left the Orphanage after passing the matriculation examination in 1918.He set up a painters shop with the signboard of Ram Mahammad Singh Azad. He was present in the Jallianvala Bag on the fateful Baisakhi day, 13 April 1919, when a peaceful assembly of people was fired upon by General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, killing over one thousand people. The event which Udham Singh used to recall with anger and sorrow, turned him to the path of revolution. On this day, General Dyer changed the course of Sardar Udham Singh life. He resolved to wreck vengeance on the perpetrators of this heinous crime, General Dyer, Sir Michael O'Dwyer the Lieutenant Governor, Punjab and Lord Zetland Secretary of State of India. Sardar Udham Singh moved from one country to another country to shoot the murderers of his countrymen.. He felt thrilled to learn about the militant activities of the Babar Akalis, in the early 1920's, and secretly kept with him, some revolvers and was arrested by the police in Amritsar, and sentenced to four years imprisonment under the Arms Act. On release in 1931, he returned to his native Sunam, but harassed by the local police, he once again returned to Amritsar and opened a shop as a signboard painter, assuming the name of Ram Muhammad Singh Azad. This name, which he was to use later in England , was adopted to emphasize the unity of all the religious communities in India in their struggle for political freedom.. He reached London through Germany where he joined a training course to hoodwink his activities to trace General Dyer, Sir Michael O' Dwyer and Lord Zetland. It took him twenty years to meet Sir Michael O'Dwyer and Lord Zetland. The third culprit General Dyer had already expired. After 21 years, it was on the 13th March. 1940 when Sir Michael O' Dwyer and Lord Zetland had come to attend a meeting in the Caxton Hall in London, that Sardar Udham Singh entered there with his revolver hidden inside a book. Sardar Udham Singh gunned Sir Michael O'Dwyer down with his revolver. There ws great panic and pandemonium in the Hall. He in fact made no attempt to escape and continued saying that he had done his duty by his country. Sardar Udham Singh stood firm and he was chained. On 1 April 1940, Udham Singh was formally charged with the murder of Sir Michael O'Dwyer. When produced before the Magistrate, he said 'I did the deed because Sir Michael O'Dwyer wanted to cresh all our aspirations for freedom. I had been after him for full 21 years. I am happy that I have fulfilled my job. I am not afraid of death'. On 4 June 1940, he was committed to trial, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, before Justice Atkinson, who sentenced him to death. An appeal was filed on his behalf which was dismissed on 15 July 1940. On 31 July 1940, Udham Singh was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London . Udham Singh was essentially a man of action and save his statement before the judge at his trial, there was no writing from his pen available to historians. Recently, letters written by him to Shiv Singh Jauhal during his days in prison after the shooting of Sir Michael O'Dwyer have been discovered and published. These letters show him as a man of great courage, with a sense of humour. He called himself a 'guest of His Majesty King George', and he looked upon death as a bride he was going to wed. By remaining cheerful to the last and going joyfully to the gallows, he followed the example of Bhagat Singh who had been his beau ideal. During the trial, Udham Singh had made a request that his ashes be sent back to his country, but this was not allowed. In 1975, however, the Government of India, at the instance of the Punjab Government, finally succeeded in bringing his ashes home. Lakhs of people gathered on the occasion to pay homage to his memory.

Tatia Tope

Tatia Tope was the hero of the first fight for freedom in 1457. He was among the first to raise his voice for the freedom of his country. His very name made the mighty English generals tremble. Deceived by his friend, he faced death like a hero, for the sake of his country. The British troops had pitched their tents on the parade grounds near the fort of Shivpuri, 75 miles from Gwalior . The day was April 18, 1459. It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when under guards he was taken to the hangman's post. He had been condemned to death. He stepped towards the post fearlessly and there was no hesitation as he stepped upon the platform. It was the custom to cover the eyes of the condemned man with a scarf. When soldiers stepped forward with the scarf, he smiled and made signs to say, 'I don't need all this.' Nor did he allow the hands and feet to be bound. He himself put the noose around his neck. It was a heart-rending scene, which moved the whole country to tears. The man who was hanging lifeless on the gallows of the English was no criminal. He was not a thief, he was no cutthroat. He was the Supreme commander in the War of Indian Independence in 1457, and challenged the hold of the British over India . It was he who, more than anybody else, shook the mighty British Empire to its foundations. Holding aloft the flag of freedom, he sought to break the chains of slavery and fought the military might of the English heroically.

Sukhdev

It was late Twenties when the whole country was agitated over the Police assault on Lala Lajpat Rai while leading an anti-Simon procession in Lahore. The injuries claimed one of the stalwarts of Indian politics as its victim.  \ The revolutionaries of Northwest took the vow of avenging the death while watching the funeral flames devouring the mortal remains of the Lion of Punjab, on the 17th December 1928, the Asst. Commissioner of Police, Saunders, was done to death in broad day light. A Conspiracy case soon followed and Sukhdev found his place as one of the principal accused. It was during this case that Jatin Das sacrificed his life for the vindication of the political prisoners by restoring to a hunger strike, which cost him life but earned him the epithet of 'McSwiney of India'.  Born at Lyalpur, Sukhdev had his training in the revolutionary movement along with Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh. He had set up a small factory at Lahore for the manufacture of bomb and was arrested there. In the trial that followed he had equal, honor with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru in receiving capital punishment. On the 20th March, 1931, the 'Three Musketeers' went up the gallows inside the Lahore Central Jail.

Rash Behari

May 25,1886-January 21,1945   Rash Behari was born on May 25, 1886, in Palara-Bighati (Hoogly) village. His mother passed away in 1889 when Rash Behari was still a baby. He was brought up thereafter by his maternal aunt Vama Sundari. Rash Behari's was initially educated at Subaldaha under the supervision of his grandfather, Kalicharan, and later in Dupleix College at Chandernagore. At the time Chandernagore was under French rule thus, Rash Behari was influenced by both British and French culture. The French Revolution of 1789 had a deep impact on Rash Behari. Rash Behari was not a very attentive student. He was a day-dreamer, his mind preoccupied with revolutionary ideas. He was more interested in his physical prowess than his studies. Rash Behari got hold of a well-known revolutionary novel called "Ananda Math (Abbey of Bliss)" written by noted Bengali novelist, poet and thinker, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Rash Behari also read the famous Bengali poet, Navin Sen's, Plasir Yudha, a collection of patriotic poems. In course of time he read other revolutionary books. He read nationalistic speeches by orator and revolutionary, Surendranath Banerjea, and Swami Vivekananda. In Chandernagore, his teacher Charu Chand, a man of radical ideas, inspired Rash Behari along revolutionary lines. Rash Behari did not get a chance to complete college because his uncle got him a job at Fort William . From there he transferred to the Government press in Shimla on his father's wish. He was appointed the copy-holder in the press and was able to master English and typewriting. After some time he moved to the Pasteur Institute in Kasauli. Rash Behari was not happy with these jobs. On a colleague's advice, Rash Behari went to Dehra Dun as a guardian tutor in the house of Pramantha Nath Tagore. He got a clerical post at the Dehra Dun Forest Research Institute where through hard work, Rash Behari became a head-clerk. The partition of Bengal in 1905 and the events that followed in its wake drew Rash Behari headlong into revolutionary activities. Rash Behari concluded that the Government would not yield without revolutionary action on the part of the patriots. He started gearing up his revolutionary activities under the guidance of Jatin Banerjee, an eminent revolutionary leader. Rash Behari made Benaras one of his headquarters. Propaganda among the Indian soldiers was taken up with a view to including them in a rebellion all over northern India . Contacts were established with Indian soldiers from Dinapore to Jalandher cantonment. The plan was that on the night of February 21, 1915, the Indian sepoys would attack the English soldiers. At the same time telegraph wires would be cut, the treasury looted and prisoners released. Accomplishing this the revolutionaries would meet in Lahore . A spy, Kirpal Singh, secretly communicated the date to the police. As soon as this was known the date was changed to February 19. Kirpal Singh was under strict vigilance but he managed to send word of the change of plans to the police. The Government swooped down and arrested the suspects. Rash Behari managed to escape. Rash Behari planned the attempt on Lord Harding's life, Viceroy to India . On December 23, 1912, Lord Harding was to make his entry into Delhi in a procession. At 11.45am the procession reached Dhulya Katra in Chandni Chowk. A bomb ripped through the procession. The Viceroy escaped, but the man to his right in his howdah was killed and 20 spectators were injured. In the ensuing man-hunt Master Amir Chand, Avadh Behari and Bal Mukund were arrested and hanged in Delhi jail. The Maulana Azad Medical College is located at the site of the old jail. The portion where the hanging took place is preserved and every year people gather to pay homage to the martyrs. Basanta Viswas, who threw the bomb disguised as a lady, was hanged in Ambala jail. Rash Behari averted arrest owing to a clever disguise. The event, as observed by Sir Valentine Chirol, had a "tremendous effect on the subsequent revolutionary activities." Rash Behari remained on the move from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh to Bengal in different disguises. A police officer noted that Rash Behari could have been a "great stage actor" instead of a revolutionary if he so desired. In the mean time Rash Behari came in contact with the Ghadar Party, and revolutionaries like Sachin Sanyal, Pingley and Satyen Sen and began planning an another armed uprising. The Ghadar Party was established in 1913 in U.S.A. by expatriate Indians who were sympathetic toward India 's struggle. Sachin Sanyal was Rash Behari's right-hand man. He formed the Hindustan Republican Association and emerged as a great leader of the revolutionaries. The plan for the armed uprising was discovered. Sanyal was arrested and awarded transportation for life under the Benaras Conspiracy Case. Pingley, a Maharashtrian, was arrested with some bombs in 1915 and was executed. Rash Behari decided to leave India for Japan . He went to Benaras and stayed with Swami Vidyanand of Sandhya in a math. Rash Behari left Calcutta on May 12, 1915. He went to Japan as Raja P.N.T. Tagore, a distant relative of Rabindranath Tagore. Some historians say that Rabindranath Tagore was aware of this impersonation. Rash Behari reached Singapore on May 22, 1915 and Tokyo in June. Between 1915 and 1918, Rash Behari lived almost like a fugitive, changing his residence 17 times. During this period he met Herambalal Gupta and Bhagwan Singh of the Ghadar Party. Japan was an ally of Britain 's in the First World War and tried to extradite Rash Behari and Herambalal from Japan . Herambalal escaped to U.S.A. and Rash Behari ended his hide and seek by becoming a Japanese citizen. He married Tosiko, daughter of the Soma family who were sympathetic toward Rash Behari's efforts. The couple had two children, a boy, Masahide, and a girl, Tetaku. Tosiko died in March 1928 at the age of 28 Rash Behari learned Japanese and became a journalist and writer. He took part in many cultural activities and wrote many books in Japanese, explaining India 's viewpoints. It was due to Rash Behari's efforts that a conference was help in Tokyo from March 28 to 30, 1942, for discussion on political issues. Another conference was held in Bangkok from June 15 to 23, 1942, where Rash Behari hoisted the Indian tri-color and inaugurated the Indian Independence League. Rash Behari gained prominence during World War II. He, with the help of Captain Mohan Singh and Sardar Pritam Singh, formed the Indian National Army (I.N.A.) on September 1, 1942. Rash Behari was elected President and later gave Supreme Command of the I.N.A. to Subash Chandra Bose in 1943. Rash Behari expired before the end of World War II, on January 21, 1945.

Rani Lakshmi Bai

19th November 1828– 17 June 1858 Rani Lakshmi Bai, the fiery Queen of Jhansi, also known as the Rani of Jhansi, one of the great nationalist heroine of the first war of India freedom, a symbol of resistance to the British rule in India was born on 19th November 1828 at Kashi (Presently known as Varanasi ). Her father Moropanth was a Brahmin and her mother Bhagirathibai was a cultured, intelligent and God fearing lady. Mannikarnika (Manu) was the name of Rani Lakshmi Bai in her childhood. Manu lost her mother at the age of four. The Complete responsibility of the young girl fell on the father. She completed her education and also learned horse riding, Sword fighting and shooting on a target with a gun. She was married to Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842, and became the Rani of Jhansi. After the marriage She was given the name Lakshmi Bai. The Marriage ceremony was perform in Ganesh Mandir, the temple of Lord Ganesha situated in the city of Jhansi . Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son in 1851, but unfortunately this child died when he was about four months old. After this tragedy, Damodar Rao was adopted as son. Later on Maharaja Gangadhar Rao also died on 21st November 1853. After the death of Maharaja Gangadhar Rao, Rani Lakshmi Bai was left alone. At this time she was eighteen years old. Rani Lakshmi Bai did not lost her courage, She always remembered her responsibility. At that time Lord Dalhousie was the Governor -General of India. Though little Damodar Rao, adopted son of late Maharaja Gangadhar Rao and Rani Lakshmi Bai was Maharaja's heir and successor as per the Hindu tradition, but the British rulers rejected Rani's claim that Damodar Rao was their legal heir. Loard Dalhousie decided to annexe the state of Jhansi as Maharaja Gangadhar Rao had left no legal heir. This misfortune of Jhansi was used by the Britishers to expand there Empire. In March 1854 the British ruler announced 60,000 ( Sixty Thousand) annual pension for Rani and also ordered to leave the Jhansi fort. Jhansi was in humiliating condition but it was like a silent volcano before eruption.Rani Jhansi was determined not to give up Jhansi . She was a symbol of patriotism and self respect. Britishers were making every effort to destroy the freedom of country whereas Rani was determined to get rid of Britishers. Rani Lakshmi Bai strengthened the defense of Jhansi and she assembled a volunteer army of rebellions. Women were also given Military training. Rani was accompanied by her brave warriors, some of them were Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan Raghunath singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh. Along with all these warriors the local population of Jhansi irrespective of their religion or caste were always determined to fight and give their lives with pleasure for the cause of Independent and their beloved Rani. The Britishers attacked Jhansi in March 1858. Rani Jhansi with her faithful warriors decided not to surrender. The fighting continued for about two weeks. Shelling on Jhansi was very fierce. In the Jhansi army women were also carrying ammunition and were supplying food to the soldiers. Rani Lakshmi Bai was very active. She herself was inspecting the defense of the city. However, after this great war, Jhansi fell to the British forces. On that black day, the British army entered the Jhansi City . Rani Lakshmi Bai, still full of courage and deathless patriotism dressed as a man, took up arms, her son Damodar Rao was strapped tightly to her back. She was holding the reins of her horse in her mouth. In the fierce fighting she was using the sword with both her hands. When the situation was not in control, Rani of Jhansi with some of her warriors departed from Jhansi . Rani Lakshmi Bai reched Kalpi. Many other rebellions force joined her. Tatia Tope from Kalpi was also one of them, from Kalpi Rani departed to the Gwalior . Again a fierce battle took place. Rani Jhansi fought with deathless patriotism and martyrdom. However on the second day of fighting, the great heroine of the first struggle for India freedom, at the age of 22 years, lost her life. That unfortunate day was 18th June of 1858.

Shiv Ram Hari Rajguru

1906 - 1931 Shiv Ram Hari Rajguru was born in an average middle-class Hindu Brahmin family at Khed in Poona district in 1906. He came to Varanasi at a very early age where he learnt Sanskrit and read the Hindu religious scriptures. He had a good memory and learnt by heart the 'Laghu Siddhant Kaumudi'. He loved physical exercises and was associated with a number of such associations. He had great admiration for Shivaji and his guerilla tactics.  At Varanasi, he came in contact with revolutionaries. He joined the movement and became an active member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (H.S.R.A). He was known in the party under the pseudonym of Raghunath. Rajguru had fearless spirit and indomitable courage. The only object of his adoration and worship was his motherland for whose liberation he considered no sacrifice too great. He was a close associate of Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Jatin Das and his field of activity was U.P and Punjab, with Kanpur, Agra and Lahore as his headquarters. Rajguru was a good shot and was regarded as the gunman of the party. He took part in various activities of the revolutionary movement, the most important being Saunder's murder. Lala Lajpat Rai, an eminent nationalist leader and popular amongst the revolutionaries, was fatally wounded in a police lathi- charge on 20 October 1928, while leading a procession against the Simon Commission, and died on 17 November 1928. The revolutionaries planned to avenge Lalaji's death by killing the Police Superintendent, Scott and the Deputy Superitendent of Police, Saunders who were responsible for the lathi charge leading to the death of Lalaji. Chandra Shekhar Azad, Shiv Ram Rajguru, Bhagat Singh and Jai Gopal were deputed for the work. On 17 December 1928, while Saunders came out of his office and started his motor- cycle, he was shot dead in front of the police headquarters at Lahore by Rajguru. Azad shot dead Channan Singh, a Head Constable, who wanted to chase the three revolutionaries. All of them escaped through the D.A.V. College compound: The same night posters of the HSRA declaring "Saunders is dead. Lalaji is avenged" were put up throughout the city of Lahore. On 20 December, Rajguru left Lahore disguised as Bhagat Singh's servant, who travelled in a first class compartment with the wife and the young son of the revolutionary Bhagawati Charan. He left Bhagat Singh at Lucknow and went underground.  Later Bhagat Singh was arrested in the Assembly Bomb Case and several other revolutionaries were arrested with the help of approvers (Jai Gopal, Phanindra Nath and Hansraj Vohra). Rajguru was arrested at Poon on 30 September 1929 and a revolver with fourteen cartridges was recovered from a box where he was sleeping. The Government started a case against sixteen persons (including Rajguru), known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Judgement was delivered on 7 October 1930, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced to death and the other accused were awarded various terms of imprisonment. The whole nation was awakened and the names of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev became as popular as that of Mahatma Gandhi. Meetings, processions and representations were made for commutation of their death sentence. Mahatma Gandhi and the leaders of the Indian National Congress attempted to save their lives, but they failed. An appeal to the Privy Council was alos rejected. Rajguru along with his two comrades was hanged in the Lahore jail in the evening of 23 March 1931 and their bodies were burnt under police supervision. At the time of his martyrdom, Rajguru was hardly twenty- three years of age.  The execution of the young revolutionaries was regarded as a national disaster and national mourning was observed throughout the country. The A.I.C.C session at Karachi (1931) met under gloom and passed a resolution "placing on record its admiration of the bravery and sacrifice of the late Sardar Bhagat Singh and his comrades Sukhdev and Rajguru and mourning with the bereaved families the loss of these lives. The Congress is of opinion that the triple execution is an act of wanton vengeance and is a deliberate flounting of the unanmious demand of the nation for commutation."

Netaji Subash Chander Bose

January 23rd 1897   Known as Netaji (leader), Mr. Bose was a fierce and popular leader in the political scene in pre-independence India. He was born on January 23rd 1897 in Cuttack as the ninth child among fourteen, of Janakinath Bose, an advocate, and Prabhavati Devi, a pious and God-fearing lady. A brilliant student, he topped the matriculation examination of Calcutta province and passed his B.A. in Philosophy from the Presidency College in Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings and was known for his patriotic zeal as a student. His parents' wishes kept him away from the Indian freedom struggle and led him into studies for the Indian Civil Service in England. Although he finished those examinations also at the top of his class (4th), he could not complete his aprecentship and returned to India, being deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. He came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress (a.k.a. Congress). Gandhiji directed him to work with Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, the Bengali leader whom Bose acknowledged as his political guru. Bose was outspoken in his anti-British stance and was jailed 11 (eleven) times between 1920 and 1941 for periods varying between six months and three years. He was the leader of the youth wing of the Congress Party, in the forefront of the trade union movement in India and organized Service League, another wing of Congress. He was admired for his great skills in organization development . The Influence of Bose Bose advocated complete freedom for India at the earliest, whereas the Congress Committee wanted it in phases, through a Dominion status. Other younger leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru supported Bose and finally at the historic Lahore Congress convention, the Congress had to adopt Poorna Swaraj (complete freedom) as its motto. Bhagat Singh's martyrdom and the inability of the Congress leaders to save his life infuriated Bose and he started a movement opposing the Gandhi-Irvin Peace Pact. He was imprisoned and expelled from India. But defying the ban, he came back to India and was imprisoned again! Clouds of World War II were gathering fast and Bose warned the Indian people and the British against dragging India into the war and the material losses she could incur. He was the president of the Indian National Congress twice in 1937 and in 1939, the second time defeating Gandhiji's nominee. He brought a resolution to give the British six months to hand India over to the Indians, failing which there would be a revolt. There was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block (1939). The second World War broke out in September of 1939, and just as predicted by Bose, India was declared as a warring state (on behalf of the British) by the Governor General, without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress party was in power in seven major states and all state governments resigned in protest. Subhash Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing Indian resources and men for the great war. To him, it made no sense to further bleed poor Indians for the sake of colonial and imperial nations. There was a tremendous response to his call and the British promptly imprisoned him . He took to a hunger-strike, and after his health deteriorated on the 11th day of fasting, he was freed and was placed under house arrest. The British were afraid of violent reactions in India, should something happen to Bose in prison. Bose suddenly disappeared in the beginning of 1941 and it was not until many days that authorities realized Bose was not inside the house they were guarding! He traveled by foot, car and train and resurfaced in Kabul (now in Afghanistan), only to disappear once again. In November 1941, his broadcast from German radio sent shock waves among the British and electrified the Indian masses who realized that their leader was working on a master plan to free their motherland. It also gave fresh confidence to the revolutionaries in India who were challenging the British in many ways. Fight For Freedom The Axis powers (mainly Germany) assured Bose military and other help to fight the British. Japan by this time had grown into another strong world power, occupying key colonies of Dutch, French, and British colonies in Asia. Bose had struck alliance with Germany and Japan. He rightly felt that his presence in the East would help his countrymen in freedom struggle and second phase of his saga began. It is told that he was last seen on land near Keil canal in Germany, in the beginning of 1943. A most hazardous journey was undertaken by him under water, covering thousands of miles, crossing enemy territories. He was in the Atlantic, the Middle East, Madagascar and the Indian ocean. Battles were being fought over land, in the air and there were mines in the sea. At one stage he traveled 400 miles in a rubber dingy to reach a Japanese submarine, which took him to Tokyo. He was warmly received in Japan and was declared the head of the Indian army, which consisted of about 40,000 soldiers from Singapore and other eastern regions. Bose called it the Indian National Army (INA) and a government by the name "Azad Hind Government" was declared on the 21st of October 1943. INA freed the Andaman and Nicobar islands from the British and were renamed as Swaraj and Shaheed islands. Bose wanted to free India from the Eastern front. He had taken care that Japanese interference was not present from any angle. Army leadership, administration and communications were managed by Indians only. Subhash Brigade, Azad Brigade and Gandhi Brigade were formed. INA marched through Burma and occupied Coxtown on the Indian Border. A touching scene ensued when the solders entered their 'free' motherland. Some lay down and kissed, some placed pieces of mother earth on their heads, others wept. They were now inside of India and were determined to drive out the British. 'Delhi Chalo' (Let's march to Delhi) was the war cry. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed the history of mankind. Japan had to surrender. Bose was in Singapore at that time and decided to go to Tokyo for his next course of action. Unfortunately, there was no trace of him from that point. He was just 48 and his death or disappearance is still a mystery. The Indian people were so much enamored of Bose's oratory and leadership qualities, fearlessness and mysterious adventures, that he had become a legend.

Master Tara Singh

24th June 1885 - 22nd November, 1967 Master Tara Singh, a veteran Akali leader and freedom fighter, was a prominent figure in Sikh politics for more than forty years, was born on 24th June, 1885 in village Haryal, Teh. Gujarkhan, Distt.Rawalpindi now in Pakistan. His earlier name was Nanak Chand. His father Bakshi Gopi Chand was a village patwari and belonged to a Sehajdhari Sikh (Hindu) family. He took Amrit from Sant Attar Singh at the age of sixteen, was renamed Tara Singh and became the first to convert to Sikhism in his family. His primary education was in the village school and later education in mission school, Rawealpindi. He graduated from Khalsa College, Amritsar. He captained his college Hockey and Football teams and was known as a 'Pathar' (rocklike). Once the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Indian Army impressed by the game, offered him a direct commission which he refused as he wanted to be an educationist. After getting his teacher's training from Govt. Training College, Lahore, he started his career as the Headmaster of Khalsa High School, Layalpur, drawing Rs.15 per month from his pay of Rs.150 and the rest he donated to the school funds. As a student, Master Tara Singh made up his mind to remain poor, and devote his life to the service of his people. Money and position had no allurement for him at any time and his dedication to the Khalsa Panth was unconditional. He was basically a religious man but circumstances involved him in active political life. His truthfulness, honesty, integrity and purity of character always remained above board. He actively participated in the Sikh Gurdwara Reforms Movement from its very inception, but after the Nankana Sahib tragedy in 1921 wherein more than 200 sikhs were killed, he left his teaching profession and became a whole time public worker. He was the first General Secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and later his President for various terms. After the successful end of the Gurdwara Reforms Movement, Master Tara Singh declared, 'Now it is our duty to struggle for the freedom of our biggest gurdwara, our country, from the clutches of British Imperialism.' He took active part in the Non-cooperation movement in 1930. During this movement the police opened fire on the Pathans (lal kurti) in Peshawar. Master Tara Singh took a group of 101 Sikh Satyagrahis from Akal Takht, Amritsar to Peshawar in protest. He was arrested and released after the Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931. He, along with other Akalis, remained a member of the Indian National Congress till 1940, with dual membership of Akali Dal and Congress.Later, he continued to participate in the National Freedom Movement as leader of Akali Party. In 1947, Master Tara Singh and the Akali Dal opposed the formation of Pakistan . He was the first to raise the slogan of 'Pakistan Murdabad', outside Punjab Assembly, Lahore , in the presence of the pro-pakistani crowds. He refused to be tempted by the Muslim League offer of an autonomous Sikh state within the political boundaries of Pakistan. After Independence, Master Tara Singh raised his demand for the re-demarcation of the boundaries of Punjab on linguistic basis. During this struggle he was arrested in 1949, 1953, 1955 and 1960. He died on 22nd November, 1967 in Amritsar.

Shri Mangal Pandey

The first freedom fighter and martyr Shri Mangal Pandey was born in village Nagwa District Ballia. He was famous for bravery amongst his colleagues.An english scholar "Fisher" has written that Shri Mangal Pandey was having all qualities of a good soldier. He was so brave and capable to embrace his death peacefully
According to the records available in Jabalpur museum( general order books). Shri Mangal Pandey was due to be executed on 18th April but he was hanged ten days before i.e. 8th April and it was kept secret. Because english rules were well aware of the fact that if Mangal Pandey remains alive it will endanger British rule.
Thus Mangal Pandey became the first freedom fighter & and martyr of 1457. The name of Mangal Pandey became an emblem of revolt against British rule.

Mahatma Gandhi

Date of Birth: October 2, 1869-January 30, 1949

Place of Birth: Porbandar

Biography Mahatma Gandhi is called the 'Father of the Nation'. He was born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in a modest Gujarati family in Porbander where his father was a Dewan, . He had an orthodox upbringing. As the youngest child, he was mischievous. As a youth, he was an average student who was very shy and unable to speak.During his childhood, Mohan became a victim of peer pressure. He experimented with smoking with his older brother.
Both would collect the stubs after their uncle had extinguished his cigarette, remove the tobacco from them and roll a cigarettes for themselves. This did not last long because Mohan found it discomforting and distasteful. Then he experimented with meat-eating with a Muslim friend who convinced Mohan that the only reason why the English were so tall and powerful and able to rule over India was because they ate meat. Unless Indians became meat-eaters, India would never become free was his argument. For almost a year, meat-eating became a clandestine affair which entailed lies, deception and even stealing. He had to find the money to pay for the food-which meant stealing from home; he had to make excuses for not eating at home-which meant lying and deception. Soon, this became intolerable, and Mohan made a confession to his father.
Mohan did not have the courage to tell him about his clandestine escapades, so he wrote a confession and handed it over to his father to read. Tears welled up in his father's eyes; he embraced Mohan, and both of them cried. Mohan writes in his autobiography that it felt as though their tears washed away the sin of deception that he had committed. He decided never again to indulge in such acts. At the age of 13, he was married to Kasturba, daughter of Gokuldas Makanji, the Mayor of Porbandar.
Mohan had no idea what the role of a husband should be, so he bought some pamphlets, which were written by male chauvinists and suggested that an Indian husband must lay down the rules for the wife to follow. Thus, Mohan laid down the first rule when he told Kastur,
"Henceforth, you will not go out of this house without my permission."
Kastur heard him quietly. She did not retort or say anything. A few days later, Mohan realized that she still flouted his rule and went out of the house to the temple and to the market and sometimes visiting friends and relatives. He confronted her that evening.
"How dare you disobey my orders?" he barked at her.
Once again, very calmly and without loosing her cool, Kastur asked: "Who is senior in this house? Are you superior to your mother? Should I tell her that I will not go out with her until you give me permission? If that is what you want let me know." She was so calm and collected that Gandhi had no answer. He never questioned her again. It is a lesson for all of us to learn. When we face such situations we retort and react angrily making the situation worse and sometimes leading to the breaking of the relationship. But calmly, with common sense, one can achieve the same results.

England: Study and Learning

When his father died, the family found itself in financial difficulties. By then, the British had entrenched themselves in India and controlled the affairs of the states making it difficult for a person to inherit his father's job. In the old days in India , a son usually took over when the father retired or died. The British, however, wanted people who were "qualified" for the job, so none of the sons could become Dewan of Porbandar after Karamchand's death. The family faced severe economic problems after Karamchand's death in 1885. The brothers-Laxmidas and Karsandas-did not have jobs, and there was no hope of any of them inheriting the title of Dewan. The older brothers learned to write legal briefs and earned a little to sustain the large family. None of them were educated beyond elementary school, so the burden of resurrecting the family fortunes fell on Mohan. Although his mother and other family elders could not contemplate his going abroad for further studies, the advice of more liberal counselors was that Mohan must go to England and study law. With the British entrenched in India , they were going to demand academic qualifications for all jobs.
Reluctantly, and after many promises, Mohan was allowed to go to England . He not only studied law but came in close touch with many eminent philosophers and thinkers and spent many hours a day in discussions. He was able to absorb a great deal from them and it was this group which contained George Bernard Shaw and others who one day asked Mohan to read with them the Bhagwad Gita and explain it to them. Mohan was ashamed that he had never read the scripture himself and did not know Sanskrit to be able to read the original. Instead, he read with them Edwin Arnold's English translation of the Gita-The Song Celestial-which revealed to him the richness of Hindu scriptures. He studied all the religions of the world and found there was a great deal in each one of them for all of us to absorb in our own lives. His respect for different religions and willingness to study them with an open mind is what broadened his perspective and enriched his mind

The Change

He returned from England in 1891 very much a "brown sahib." He tried to introduce his western habits in his traditional home in Porbandar and, indeed, spent so much time and energy in this pursuit that he forgot that he had to set up a legal practice and start earning to support the family. Weeks passed and once again it was Kastur who opened his eyes to his responsibilities when she gently chided him for his futile attempts to westernize the family rather than earning money to support it.
For someone as shy and timid as Mohan, setting up a legal practice was not easy. He was not successful in Porbandar, so he went to Bombay and met with no success there either. He tried to get a job as a school teacher to teach English but was astounded to learn that he did not have the requisite qualifications to teach English, only to practice law in English.
His brothers were very disappointed, especially since the family had taken enormous loans to send Mohan to England to study. How would they repay the loans if Mohan was going to end up writing briefs? Laxmidas had a Muslim friend, Dada Abdullah, who had gone to South Africa and made a lot of money as a trader. He now had a legal case with another Muslim trader which had been going on for a long time without resolution. Both traders had white, English-speaking lawyers, and since neither of them could speak English, communication was very poor. Dada Abdullah heard about Mohan through his brother and invited Mohan to come to South Africa on a one-year contract to work as an interpreter for him.
Mohan once again left India in 1893 to go to another new part of the world to try his luck. The urgency of finding a job and making money was impressed upon him, and he was conscious of his responsibilities, but he was also conscious of his "status" in life as an England-trained Barrister-at-Law. Consequently, a week after his arrival, when it was time for Mohan to go to Pretoria to attend the case in the Supreme Court, Mohan decided he must travel by first class. Anything lower than that would be undignified. He ordered his ticket by mail.

There were so many coincidences in Mohan's life that seemed to nudge him towards a transformation from a mere Mohan to Gandhiji. Had he not gone to England, had he not been exposed to English intellectuals, had he not studied law, had he not been a failure in India, had he become a school teacher, had he not accepted the invitation to South Africa, had he not had that false sense of dignity and, above all, and had South African whites not had aggravating racial prejudices, we would not be writing or reading about Gandhi today. It was the cumulative effect of all these and many other little coincidences that conspired to give us the "Apostle of Peace". The transformative experience was when he encountered a white co-passenger who boarded the train in Pietermaritzburg, who seeing a "black" Mohan sitting in a first class compartment, reacted with a total lack of dignity. Mohan was picked up and thrown off the train for refusing to vacate the first class compartment. This humiliation, Gandhi wrote later, first caused him to react in anger with a desire to respond violently. He saw the futility of such action and rejected it. The next thought was to leave South Africa and go back to India where he felt he could live in greater dignity and honor but rejected that also because he felt that it was not appropriate to run away from a problem. Besides, I feel that at the back of his mind was the overriding question, "What will I tell my wife and family? That I have failed once again?"

The third thought, which occurred to him as the dawn was breaking over Pietermaritzburg on that fateful day, was to seek justice through non-violent action. This is the point at which "satyagraha" was born. He used it effectively in South Africa for 22 years and won many concessions for his fellow Indians. The government, however, reneged on these concessions after Mohan left South Africa in 1915.
Gandhiji was unfamiliar with South Africa and the conditions and the language of the native Africans. He was also equally unfamiliar with the philosophy of non-violence which was being evolved one campaign at a time. It was hard enough for him to convince his own people about this philosophy without having to translate it for the native Africans who were known for their militancy. Much later, in 1939, when he was much wiser and more confident about his philosophy of satyagraha, he told a delegation of African American leaders led by Dr. Howard Thurman that he had to prove the success of his philosophy to his own people in India before bringing it to the United States. This was in response to Dr. Thurman's invitation to Gandhiji to lead the civil rights movement in the United States.
If he was so reluctant to enlarge the scope of his philosophy in 1939, how could he consider getting the native Africans involved thirty years earlier? I think it was more his sense of prudence than his prejudice that kept him away from dealing with the native African problems. In 1906 he witnessed the "Zulu War" closely as a Red Cross volunteer caring for the injured and the dead, mostly Zulus. He writes about this experience with total disgust. He had witnessed what was conventional war at the time and knew that there were certain rules that the soldiers observed. In the Zulu war he saw the British flouting all decency and decorum and massacring the Zulus mercilessly. They were hunted down like animals and butchered by the British. Until this event he was an admirer of western civilization. Now a crack had been formed, and this widened into a gulf after his visit to England in 1909 to plead the case of the Indians in South Africa . When he found the British politicians dismissing everything he had to say with contempt, he was filled with a total revulsion for western civilization

The Fight For Freedom

On his journey back from London to Cape Town-about 15 days by ship--he was overcome by a desire to write his first book "Hind Swaraj" formulating a plan for independent India . The obsession was so great that he began writing on the ship stationary with a pencil. The thoughts were coming so furiously that he could not stop writing. When his right hand began to ache, he switched to writing with his left. The book was completed before he reached Cape Town and became distinguished for its anti-western civilization message. He asked India to reject western civilization completely because it had nothing worthwhile to offer. He entered a period of exclusivism. In 1915, Gandhiji decided he would gain nothing for Indians outside India as long as Indians within India remained subjects of British Imperialism. They must be liberated first for Indians elsewhere to gain any respect or equality. Thus, he decided to move to India and explore ways in which he could participate in the freedom struggle.
He entrusted his work in South Africa and the Phoenix Settlement Ashram that he started in 1903 to the care of Mr. Albert West and Mr. Henry Polak, two British friends who had worked with him closely in South Africa . The whole family left South Africa in 1914 with Gandhiji, Kasturba and Hermann Kallenbach, and another Jewish South African friend going to England and the rest of the family sailing for India . Gandhiji wanted to help with the war effort in England , but soon after his arrival, he was struck by pneumonia and almost bed-ridden. For a while Kasturba nursed him and participated in sewing uniforms for English soldiers, but when the doctors realized the British winter was not going to help Gandhiji overcome his ailment, they suggested he leave for India
Kallenbach wanted to accompany them to India , but as a German Jew he was not given a visa by the British and so he had to return to South Africa . Gandhiji and Kasturba arrived in India and were given a welcome they had not anticipated. Gandhiji was not aware that his reputation had preceded him. He became a national leader on arrival. Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Gandhiji's political mentor in India , advised Gandhiji to spend a year traveling around India learning about the problems and making contact with the people. After his travels, he started an ashram at Bochraj in Gujarat and later was induced to visit Champaran in Bihar . The emissary of the poor and exploited peasants of Champaran was so persistent that Gandhiji could not refuse him. When Gandhiji went there and saw the conditions, he was shocked beyond belief and launched a legal campaign that forced the British farmers to abandon their exploitation and give relief to the peasants. It was his first significant and major victory in India achieved through non-violence. This incidence catapulted Gandhiji to the national scene. In 1919 he launched a national campaign against the Rowlatt Act which was designed by the British to oppress and suppress the Indians and their desire for independence. The movement generated some violence in parts of the country, especially in the north. In Punjab some misguided youth attacked a British school teacher and pushed her around. The British government appointed General Dyer as the military governor of the State of Punjab with the authority to ruthlessly curb all defiance of authority. He imposed martial law, prohibiting the assembly of more than five people and suspending all civil liberties in the state.
On April 13, 1919, more than ten thousand men, women and children assembled in the Jallianwala bagh in the heart of the city of Amritsar to non-violently protest against the martial law. General Dyer was unwilling to tolerate such an act of defiance. He brought in his troops, blocked off the only exit from the walled ground and ordered the troops to shoot into the crowd. Within an hour 386 men, women and children lay dead and 1605 were critically injured. These were the British figures of casualties while the India figures are very different. The Indians place the number of dead beyond 1,000. However, General Dyer followed with more draconian laws like commanding all Indians to crawl on their bellies when passing the street where the English school teacher was assaulted. Anyone who refused would be flogged to death. He also ordered that the injured in the firing should not be attended to by anyone for the next 72 hours, even if they died. This incident raised so much anger in India that a violent revolution could very easily have resulted, but Gandhiji stepped in to calm the people. He said we can not be to the British as they have been to us. It will not make us any different from them. The civilized thing to do is not to ever stoop down to the level of the oppressor, but to try at all times to raise the oppressors to new heights of awareness. This is the point at which Gandhiji reverted back to inclusivity. He urged Indians to remember that we must not only liberate ourselves politically but also liberate ourselves spiritually. Swaraj, he said, is not just external freedom; it is also internal freedom. Aldous Huxley, the eminent British historian, is perhaps the only one who has recognized the fact that in liberating India non-violently, Gandhiji also liberated the British from their own imperialism. In other words, the non-violent campaign in India elevated the British to a new awareness of themselves.

Freedom: Quit India Movement

However, after the 1919 campaign, the next major campaign was the Salt March in 1930. There were many smaller campaigns in between. The Salt March once again focused the attention of the world on India 's struggle for freedom. Instead of arousing derision or indifference as most violent freedom struggles around the world do, the Indian struggle evoked world sympathy. Suffering has a tendency to do that. The British were lacksadasical about this campaign. They did not think that the defiance of the tax on salt would arouse such emotions all over India and the world. They were not prepared for the consequences. The whole nation stood up in defiance of the British, and as some historians put it, another nail was hammered into the British coffin. Again what followed was smaller campaigns at regional levels until 1942, when the Congress passed the "Quit India" resolution. This campaign again roused national consciousness and the jails were filled to the brim. Gandhiji and his party were imprisoned in Aga Khan Palace near Pune. It was not a palace in the accepted sense, and only a part of it was cordoned off and used as a jail. Kasturba died in prison in 1944. This was a great blow for Gandhiji. Throughout his campaign for freedom, Gandhiji was concerned about the divisions in India which were exacerbated by the British who followed the "Divide and Rule" policy. There was the serious division between Hindus and Muslims and within the Hindus between the various castes. Short of leading a major revolution to bring about unity, Gandhiji did everything he could to break down the barriers and build bridges. He realized that political freedom from the British would be meaningless so long as we hated each other and were willing to kill because of our prejudices. Through fasts, through education, through example, through preaching he tried his best to teach the people to respect and appreciate each other
In 1935, Gandhiji realized the Indian National Congress had no intentions of pursuing his policy of non-violence after independence. He resigned his membership. The Congress, however, was unwilling to let go of his leadership of the freedom struggle. In the forties when independence became a possibility, the British opposed partition of the country to create Pakistan . Gandhiji was against this, but the Congress was inclined to accept it. When Gandhiji proposed allowing the Muslim League to form the interim government to placate its fears of Hindu domination, the Congress Party leadership threatened a civil war. The Congress leadership claimed the people would not accept this plan and there would be civil war. The question is were the leaders right in presuming how the people would react or could they have supported Gandhi in explaining to the people the wisdom of remaining one country and giving the plan a fair opportunity to prove its efficacy? There is the underlying feeling that the leadership was not willing to accept the plan so why take it to the people at all. At this point Gandhi gave up discussing the partition of the country and left it to the leaders and the British to do what they felt was right. The rest is history. The country was partitioned; there was a civil war which left both countries with a legacy of hate that will take centuries to heal. Was the price worth it? Could we have paid the same price for a unified country? Would the long-term results have been different? These are questions that can not be answered.
Bapu lost his desire to live. Until this point whenever anyone asked him how long he would like to live, he would say with a smile: I would like to live for 125 years because there is so much I need to accomplish. He had a zest for life and a mission that he wanted to see fulfilled. By 1946, this came to a sad end and he began speaking of death. Yet, he never showed outwardly the despondency that he must have felt within. He still continued to work, and he continued to guide people in their work for social and economic resurgence of India . He even went to Noakhali in Bengal that became East Pakistan , where rioting was at its worst on the eve of partition. Hindus and Muslims were literally butchering each other and some of the worst acts of inhumanity took place in this area. He went with a handful of helpers and brought about peace and sanity in the area. An accomplishment that was recognized by Lord Mountbatten when he wrote his biography was that Gandhi brought peace all by himself in East Pakistan while the Indian Army had to kill and crush many thousands in West Pakistan before peace was accomplished. The assassination of Gandhiji was ironically engineered by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) because it felt Gandhiji had agreed to the creation of Pakistan . It had made an avowed and ambitious program to reunite its country. Yet, had it not been for its militancy during the 1946/47 negotiations, India may have been one country. The RSS is to shoulder the entire blame for creating an atmosphere of violence and revenge in the country that made it impossible for sanity to prevail.
Having accepted partition, the Congress leadership tacitly accepted the consequences of partition. The bloodshed, the loss of lives and property on both sides were to be expected. No one was going to be uprooted from places where he/she had lived for generations with a smile and move to another place. For the Congress leadership to then succumb to militant Hindu demand that the cash assets due to Pakistan be confiscated to compensate the Hindus who lost their lives and property was unethical to say the least. They were playing populist politics without considering the long term consequences of their action. Gandhiji said if my country is to embark on its new and independent life on a blatantly immoral act then I would prefer death. He fasted and forced the government to release the money to Pakistan . Had the government kept the money as the RSS demanded, there would have been a worse civil war than the country had witnessed and India would have had no moral grounds to stand on when the international community judged the situation. We had lost our senses then but had we held onto the money, we would have lost our souls also. Within the country, in the bureaucracy and in the government, there was not much enthusiasm for Gandhiji's life. Secretly, everyone was interested in making him a martyr. A martyred Gandhi was more beneficial to the rulers than a living Gandhi. The bureaucracy had already experienced and enjoyed a princely lifestyle under the British which they were unwilling to give up. The politicians were eager to be participants in such a life. Gandhiji opposed this wholeheartedly, and had he lived long enough, he would most certainly have pressured the government to adopt a more simple lifestyle. He often said the government of independent India must reflect the poverty of the nation. The politicians and the bureaucrats, on the other hand, were eager to replace the British and maintain the oppressive and opulent structure created by the British.
Gandhi started the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. He called off the movement because of a violent incident at Chauri Chaura. He also launched the Civil Disobedience Movement after breaking the salt law in 1930. In 1942, Gandhi exhorted Indians to 'Do or Die' employing any measures they saw fit while opposing the British. On August 15, 1947, India attained Independence under his leadership. His life came to an end on January 31,1948 when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. Gandhiji was assasinated on January 30, 1949 at Delhi , India.

Mahadev Desai

Gandhiji made many men and they in their turn made the Mahatma what he was. One of these was Mahadev Desai who worked as Gandhiji's secretary for 25 years with unmatched devotion and affection.
He was born on 1 January 1892 at the Village of Saras in Olpad Taluka of Surat district, where his father Haribhai Desai was a school teacher. The family originally hailed from Dihen in the same district. Mahadev lost his mother Jamnaben when he was only seven years of age.
The family belonged to the Anavil Brahmin caste, one of the leading communities of the district. A keen mathematician and an avid reader of Gujarati literature, Hirabhai had great fascination for the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagvat Gita, and by sheer hard work and sincerity he rose to become the Principal of a Women's Training College at Ahmedabad. Mahadev too inherited many of his father's qualities. At the young age of 13 Mahadev was married to Durgaben in 1905 and later the couple had one son, Narayan.
Mahadev Desai received primary and secondary education at different places like Surat , from where he matriculated in 1906, winning a scholarship for higher education. He joined the Elphinstone College at Bombay in 107 and graduated from there in 1910. He joined the Law College thereafter and got his LL.B in 1913. Throughout this formative period, he was deeply influenced by his teacher at Dihen, Manishankar, a strict disciplinarian and a lover of English language; by Jivanram Vaidya, recounting stories from the Puranas and Upanishads; and by Surbhai, the village doctor, and his musical sessions.
The ardent devotion of Bhagat Purshottam Sevakram at Bulsar and that of Arjun bhagat at Ghadkhol near Ankleshwar (whose compositions he latter collected and published in 1925), also left a deep impression on Mahadev Desai. Moreover, Dayalji Desai, of his own caste and a prominent nationalist leader of the district, left a marked imprint on Mahadev's young mind by his patriotic feelings, idealistic way of life and utter simplicity, and inspired him to work on Gandhan lines.
After graduation Mahadev, while working for his livelihood, translated Lord Morley's 'On Compromise' into Gujarati and won the hand some prize of a thousand rupees. This work was later published in 1925. He tried to practice law in courts but was not successful, and through his friend Vaikunthlal Lallubhai Mehta secured a job in a Cooperative Bank. But Mahadev soon got tired of the irregularities being practiced there as well as a lot of traveling involved in the job, and left it.
He had already cultivated a taste for reading since his College days, and all through this drab life he made an extensive study of literature in Gujarati, English, Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. The month of August 1917, when Mahadev left Bank job, proved fateful, as he met Gandhiji on 31 August and found in him his Guru. Hereafter Mahadev as Gandhiji's Secretary moved like a shadow behind him till his death.
After Mahadev Desai joined Gandhiji, three important events took place in their life as well as that of the country. These were the Champaran Satyagraha (1917), the Bardoli Satyagraha (1930), and in all these Mahadev actively participated and courted arrest. In 1921 Gandhiji sent him to edit Motilal Nehru's periodical, the Independent, Allahabad , and there too he was arrested and jailed. After his release in January 1923, he returned to Ahemdabad and looked after the editorial work of the Navajivan.
His sharp editorials on the hollowness of 1919 constitutional reforms and his tirade against the British Government kept up the tempo of the freedom struggle. Between 1924 and 1928 he toured the country with Gandhiji, explaining the sailent features of the freedom striggle. He accompanied Gandhiji in 1931 to the Round Table Conference in London . In the Quit India Movement of 1942, he along with Gandhiji was arrested and sent to the Aga Khan Palace for imprisonment, where he died peacefully on 15 August 1942, deeply mourned by the nation and by Gandhiji in particular who now considered himself an orphan.
After 1917 it was of course Gandhiji who profoundly influenced Mahadev Desai. Mainly through his writings Mahadevbhai interpreted Gandhian philosophy. That is why his friend Dr. Verrier Elwin called him "Bapu's Boswell". Learned introduction to the English translation of Gandhiji's 'Anassakti Yoga' not only reveals Gandhiji's ideas but his own understanding of Eastern and Western philosophies and religions. He also very effectively wielded his pen to explain some of the basic Gandhian tenets like Hindu-Muslim unity, removal of untouchability, improving the lot of women, promotion of Khaddar and cottage industries, labour welfare, need for basic Education, freedom for suppressed nationalities and Truth and Non-violence.
He has to his credit scores of articles published in the Young India, the Navjivan and the harijan on a variety of subjects from 'Garud-Puran' to the British policy in India . Due to his profound scholarship, clarity of mind, lucid style and chaste language, they carried great weight. His habit of keeping a diary with meticulous details has given eight voluminous works, published after his death, called 'Mahadevbhai's Diary'.
His original works either in English or in Gujrati include: 'With Gandhi in Ceylon' (1928); 'The Story of Baardoli'; 'Swadeshi-True and False'; Unworthy of Wardha'; 'Eclipse of Faith' (1929); 'The Nation's Voice' (1932); 'The Epic of Travanancore' (1937); 'Gandhi Sevva Sangh' and 'Maulana Abul Kalam Azad' (1940); 'kheti ni Jamin' (Gujarati,1942); and 'The Geeta according to Gandhi' 1942); and 'The Geeta according to Gandhi' (1946).
His other Gujarathi works are on 'Veer Vallabhbhai', a biography of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan in 'Khudai Khidmatgar', 'Ek Dharmayuddha' and 'Sant Francis Xavier nun Jeevancharitra'. His translation include those from English and Bengali: 'Satyagrah ni Maryada' (a translation of Morley's 'On Compromise'), Sarat Chandra Chattopadhaya's 'Viraj Vahu', and Rabindranath Tagore's 'Prachin Sahitya', 'Chitrangada' and 'Viday abhishap'. Mahadev desai presided over the twelfth Gujarati Journalists' Conference.
Devdas Gandhi is recorded to have said, "I wonder if half a dozen sectaries could do the work which Mahadev did alone." Today, Mahadev Desai Samaj Mahavidyalaya in Gujrath Vidyapith, Ahmedbad, stands as a living monument to Mahadevbhai's memory.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

December 25,1861 - November 12,1946 Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of the Banares Hindu University, was born on December 25,1861, at Allahabad, in a literate but financially poor family. Madan Mohan's education began at the age of five when he was sent to Pandit Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala. He matriculated in 1879 and completed law education but his earnest eagerness to serve the nation prevailed upon his legal profession. He joined the Muir Central College and finally graduated from the Calcutta University in 1884. He was appointed as a teacher in his old school on forty rupees a month and soon became popular among his pupils. As there were no rules in those days preventing government servants from attending political meetings he attended the second Congress session held in Calcutta in 1886 and delivered a speech which held the audience spell-bound. A. 0. Hume the General Secretary of the Congress made a very appreciative reference to it in his annual report. Soon after his return from Calcutta he was offered the editorship of the Hindi weekly, the  Hindustan . He also edited another weekly, the Indian Union. Malaviya wanted to devote himself entirely to the service of the country. The legal profession did not attract him though he studied law and passed the LL.B. examination in 1891. On account of his services to the Congress, he was elected its President in 1909, 1918, 1932 and 1933. However, many nationalists raised eyebrows over him, when he laid the foundation of Hindu Mahasabha in 1906. But at no point of time during the freedom struggle was he neglected by contemporary leaders. He was invited to the Round Table Conference in 1931. Owing to his arrest by the Government of India, he could not beside over the 1932 and 1933 sessions which had been banned. Perhaps, he tried to popularise the national cause more than many other leaders. Although he was a strong supporter of the Congress he founded the Hindu Mahasabha in 1906. It was established, according to its supporters, to oppose not the just claims of the Muslim community but the "divide and rule" policy of the British Government. Malviya became a High Court Vakil in 1893. He always gave preference to public work over his legal work. He virtually withdrew from the legal profession in 1909 but he made an exception in 1922 in regard to the appeal of 225 persons condemned to death in connection with the Chauri Chaura riots (Gorakhpur District, U.P.) on account of which Mahatma Gandhi suspended the civil disobedience movement, and saved 153 accused from the gallows. Malaviya's zeal for public work made him realise the necessity of starting newspapers particularly in Hindi, for the education of the public. He started the Abhyudaya as a Hindi weekly in 1907 and made it a daily in 1915. He also started the Maryada a Hindi monthly in 1910 and another Hindi monthly, in 1921. He started the Leader, an English daily in October 1909. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. In consequence of the active work that he did as Senior Vice-Chairman of the Allahabad Municipality , he was elected to the Provincial Legislative Council in 1902. The ability and independence which marked his speeches in the Council led to his election in 1909 to the Imperial Legislative Council, of which he soon became one of the most important members. He participated in the debates on important resolutions, e.g. those relating to free and compulsory primary education, the prohibition of recruitment of Indian indentured labour to the British colonies, nationalisation of railways, etc. He took a keen interest in the industrial development of the country and was therefore appointed a member of the Indian Industrial Commission in 1916. In view of the non-cooperation movement started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, he did not seek election to the Indian Legislative Assembly in 1921. But he was a member of the Assembly from 1924 to April 1930. He resigned shortly after the salt satyagraha started by Mahatma Gandhi and took part in it. He supported the demand for the grant of full Dominion Status to India put forward by Pandit Motilal Nehru. He was invited to the Round Table Conference in 1931, but he inevitably returned dissatisfied with the attitude of the British Government. The Benares Hindu University betrays the keen interest that he took in the education of the mind and the spirit. The importance that he attached to the economic development of the country made him combine the teaching of science and technology with that of religion. Malaviya was a conservative in social matters. He believed in the 'Varnashrama Dharma' (caste system). He was, however, prepared to adjust himself to social changes in the country to a limited extent, but wanted to take the leaders of the Hindu community and the Benares pandits with him in matters of social reform. He felt strongly the injustice done to the depressed classes in connection with temple entry and pleaded their cause before the pandits in 1936. He also favoured the raising of the position of Hindu women.

Madabhooshi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar

Born on February 4,1891-March19,1978   Madabhooshi Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, the second Speaker of the Lok Sabha, was an outstanding parliamentarian of India. His role in formulating a healthy parliamentary system in the new independent India is unforgettable. Ayyangar was born on February 4, 1891 at Tiruehanur in Andhra Pradesh. After finishing his secondary education at Tirupati, he moved to Chennai for his graduation degree and a degree in Law. Then he joined a school as Mathematics teacher in 1912. But his passion for the legal profession brought him in to the field of judiciary. In 1934, Ayyangar was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly. His debating skills on issues brought him names like 'Emden of the Assembly'. In 1952, he was unanimously elected the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha. On 8 March, 1956 he was chosen as the speaker of Lok Sabha. His views on Adjournment Motions, Bills, Resolutions, Standing Committees, Notices etc, are today the settled parliamentary practices. He died on March 19,1978.

Laxman Nayak

2nd November, 1899 - 29th March 1943 Laxman Nayak, a folk-hero of Orissa and a cult-figure among its tribals, was born on 22nd November, 1899 in Tentuliguma village of Koraput district and his father padlam Nayak was a tribal chieftain and 'Mustadar' under 'Jeypore Samasthanam' in the then Madras Presidency. The local administration worked as an ant of the British Government. The tribals under this administration were treated like children of a lesser God and where subjected to top inhuman torture and performed even by petty revenue officials, forest guides and police constables.laxman nayak organised the tribals against exploitation by the officials of Jeypore Samasthanam and its British masters successfully. This brought him recognition as a potential tribal leader and the National Congress admitted Laxman nayak into its fold. During the course of his training in Naupuri training centre for Congress workers, Laxman Nayak had the opportunity to meet and interact with several Zonal and State level leaders and get a chance to broaden his horizons. This taining inculcated in him a spirit for Nationalism and indoctrinated him with the Gandhian principles of truth, nonviolence and peaceful non-cooperation with the British Government. He carried a Charkha, with the message of adult education and abstinence form alcohol to every tribal household of his area and brought about a total change in the rural scenario. He became the Chef de Mission in the Congress campaign in the Malkangiri Sub-division during the first ever election 1936. Howerver, greater things were in store for him. Responding to the call of Mahatma Gandhi, laxman Nayak led a procession on 21st August 1942 an demonstrated peacefully in front of Mythili Police Station . But the police fired at the demonstrators indiscriminately.which claimed forty lives and more than two hundred were injured. But the administration further falsely implicated Laxman nayak in a case of murder and the death sentence was pronounced on him on 13th November, 1942.He was hanged to death on 29th March 1943 in Berharmpur Jail. Nayak in Oriya means chief of a tribe, a leader and a hero. Laxman Nayak was all these and much more.

Lala Har Dayal

4th October, 1884 - March, 4,1939   Lala Har Dayal, a well known revolutionary nationalist founder of the Ghadar Movement and a thinker and scholar, was born on 14th October, 1884 in Delhi . His father shri Gauri Dayal Mathur was a scholar of Persian and Urdu. His mother was a pious and religious lady. First in every examination from the time he entered school, Har Dayal broke past records when he passed the Master's Degree examination in English Literature from Punjab University Part of Har Dayal's Legend is related to his 'encyclopaedic trend of mind' and 'phenomenal memory'. His contemporaries at St.Stephen's College in Delhi such as Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, and his teachers recalled their amazement at the learning and creative thinking of Har Dayal at that young age. In 1905 he was awarded state scholarship and he became a Government o India scholar in History and Economics (1905-1907),Sanskrit Scholar (1907) and in History (1907) at Oxford . He resigned from his Government scholarship in 1907 and before returning to India he adopted a life style of austerity and renunciation.Coming to India he worked as a political missionary. Soon after he went to Paris and joining with Madam Cama and S.R.Rana, started editing 'Bande Materam' from September 1909. Moving to USA in 1911,he joined the faculty of Stanfored Universities a lecturer in philosophy.He founded and edited an Urdu Gurmukhi Weekly 'Ghadar'(Revolt) from 1st November 1913. The radical movement thus started came to be known as Ghadar patriots returned to Punjab in India and attempted to launch an armed insurrection against foreign rule during the first year of World War I. Har Dayal was meanwhile arrested by the US Government in April 1914 for his alleged anarchist propaganda, but he jumped bail and left that country to join fellow revolutionaries such as Virendranath Chattopadhyaya,M. Barkatullah, Champakraman Pillai and Bhupendranath Dutt of the Indian Independence Committee in Berlin . For ten years after the end of the war he lived in Sweden lecturing on Indian Philosophy, art and literature. In 1930 he earned his doctorate on the dissertation 'The Bodhisatva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature', from the school of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London . Two years after the publication of his thesis in 1932, he brought out his most popular work 'Hints on Self Culture'. He lectured and wrote profusely on a variety of subjects in India , USA and various countries of Europe . He was equally proficient in Urdu, Sanskrit, English, French, German, and Swedish languages. He was known to be a rationalist, an agnostic and an atheist. He died in Philadelphia when his heart stopped on March, 4,1939. Har Dayal wanted to return to his country but the British Government never allowed him the freedom from his exile.

Khudiram Bose

3rd Dec 1889 - 11th August 1908

Khudiram Bose was born on 3rd Dec 1889 in Habibpur, Medinipur of Laxmipriya Devi and Troilokyanath Bose. He had to move on to Tamlook where he was admitted to Hamilton school. Like any other boy, he was interested in reading detective novels and loved to play flute.It was in his schooldays he was inspired by the activists, Satyedranath and Gyanendranath Bose who headed a secret society to campaign and fight against British supremacy
He played the role of a savior when Kangsabati flooded and was responsible for saving a number of lives. In 16th Oct 1905 Bengal was divided by Lord Curzon and this further infuriated the activists. The radicals swore blood. Aurobindo Ghosh and Barin Ghosh, along with Raja Subodh Mallik together formed a secret extremist outfit called the Yugantar.
Meanwhile, in 1906, February, Khudiram was running errands for the Medinipur based outfit of the extremists. He came to be known in those parts after hitting down a police officer and escaping after being arrested at the grounds of Medinipur old jail for distributing a nationalist propaganda called 'Sonar Bangla'. He also robbed mailbags to accumulate funds for the society's operations
By that time, in Calcutta , the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford had gained notoriety by passing out stiff sentences against the nationalist activists. Things got worse when he ordered to cane a youth called Sushil Sen held in contempt of the court. Sushil was left more dead than alive and this incident caused furore through out Bengal . The Yugantar passed Kingsford's death sentence and Khudiram and another youth, Prafulla Chaki were chosen for the job.
Khudiram and Prafulla trailed Kingsford to Mujafferpur in Bihar where he had been transferred. They waited for his carriage near the European Club which he frequented. This was the fateful evening of 30th April, 1908. They saw a carriage approaching and thinking it of Kingsford's and hurled bombs at it. The carriage with its passengers was destroyed but it was not Kingsford who was killed but two European women, Mrs. and Miss Kennedy. A massive manhunt followed and while Khudiram was arrested on 1st May 1908, Prafulla evaded arrest by shooting himself. Khudiram was tried and was sentenced to be hanged to death. On 11th August 1908, Khudiram went to the gallows in a calm manner. He faced death like a true martyr.

Kumaraswamy Kamaraj

July 15, 1903 - October 2, 1975 Kumaraswamy Kamaraj belongs to the galazy of selfless, dedicated and intrepeid freedom fighters whose sacrifice and service won us independence from alien rule. Kamaraj was born on July 15, 1903 in a trading family of Virudhunagar, Ramajathapuram District in Tamil Nadu. He had his early education in the Nadar Vidyalaya High School at Virudhunagar and left the school at the age of eleven to assist in his uncle's cloth shop. His inquistitiveness for understanding national affairs earned him a host of young friends who, infused with burning love for the country, tries to analyse with burning love for the country, tried to analyse in depth the social, economic and political plight of the nation.His interest in politics was accentuated when he heard of the 'Jallianwala Bagh massacre'.Kamaraj participated in the famous Vaikom Satyagraha, and , following Mahatma Gandhi's appeal for non-cooperation, he started propaganda for khadi and prohibition. Kamaraj was first jailed in 1921 for two years for participation in "Salt Satyagraha' Thereafter, he had been to prison several times in the course of the national struggle from freedom. He was elected as Chairman of Viridhunagar Municipal Council while he was in jail and after release he took up the post for one day and resigned. He took an active part in individual satyagraha and the 'Quit India' movement. Kamaraj was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1932 unopposed. He was again elected to the Assembly in 1946 and served as Member of the Constituent Assembly of India, 1946. In 1957 he organised the historic Avadi Session of the Indian National Congress which adopted a resolution of far-reaching importance ushering Democratic Socialism as a political concept. An ableand arch organiser an dedicated worker, kamaraj had great vision and the sterling quality of leadership which earned him the Presidentship of Tamil Nadu Congress committee from 1940-1954. Kamaraj was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1951.He resigned his Lok Sabha membership when the mantle of Chief Minstership of Tamil Nadu fell on him in 1954. He continued in this post till 1963 when he voluntarily relinquished office under the 'plan' named after him to work for the party. During the period of his stewardship , State made rapid strides of progress particularly in the field of education. Kamaraj had been a member of the Congress Working Committee or a special invitee from 1947. He was elevated to the high office of the President of the Indian National Congress in 1964 and held the post for two terms. He was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1969 till his death. As a strange and apt coincidence, Kamaraj, who was considered to be an ardent follower of Gandhiji, passed away in Madras on October 2, 1975, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. He was posthumously conferred 'Bharat Ratna', the highest national award in 1976.