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What is the price of freedom?
If you ask these question to these people if you have the luck of travelling back in time when India was struggling to find sovereignty over the British empire which had our motherland in its talons, the only answer you’d probably get is “Hamari Jaan!” (our lives). These men and women lay their bodies and souls to the cause of seeing a free India, if not in their own lifetimes but at least for the future generations. But somewhere in the pages of history, their names are a bit lost.
Here are some the brave hearts who didn’t think twice before taking a stand and welcomed death in the face of the free sun that rises everyday over our heads.
1. Alluri Sitarama Raju
Manyam Veeru or the Hero of the Jungles, led a tribal rebellion, although ill-fated, against the British in 1922-24 as they were restricting their way of life and agriculture. He is renowned as a collective leader of the tribals and is responsible for the Rampa Rebellion that was the start of the tribal unrest against the Raj.
2. Surya Sen
Surya Sen, a learned scholar with a Masters degree in proficiency in Bengali is known best for leading the famous Chittagong armoury raid in the 1930s. He kept evading the British army for a considerable amount of time but was arrested and tortured inhumanely until he died.
3. Gopal Krishna Gokhale
The mathematics professor whose career and convictions paralleled with that of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who was also a part of the Congress, was a mentor to both Jinnah and Gandhi. He was a proponent of expanding education in the Indian society and was the founder of Servants of India Society and kept working towards this goal until his death in 1915.
4. Rani Gaidinliu
The Naga leader is a pioneer in the unrest in the North East against the British Raj in a religious movement which later took the form of a nationalist movement, and was arrested at the ripe age of 16. She was given the title of Rani by Jawaharlal Nehru.
5. V.O Chidambaram Pillai
V.O.C as popularly known in Tamil Nadu, was one of those valiant businessmen who fought in their own way by competing them when they were expanding their control over the country. He took his inspiration from Tilak and did everything in his power to fight back with his business.
6. Begum Hazrat Mahal
She was one was the rare women who took charge of rebelling against the British in 1857. After the demise of her husband, she took charge of Lucknow and is still remembered for her courage against the Raj.
7. Lakshmi Sehgal
One of the least known fighters, this woman proved that women won’t stay behind when it came to freedom. Women won’t stay behind on any matter in the modern world. She was a close confidante of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and fought beside him in acquiring the largest Asian army against the British.
8. Vasudev Balwant Phadke
The military revolutionary, took charge of the work of fighting back the British by engaging the tribes of Maharashtra into a strong group. They called it the Ramoshi. They raided British businessmen to fund their activities. He was also the founder of the Maharashtra Education Society. He was captured in a fight near Pandharpur, Maharashtra. He breathed his last in a hunger strike in prison.
9. Chaphekar brothers
These brothers were somewhat hot-headed disciples of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and their hatred for the British oppression showed up when they assassinated W. C Rand, the plague commissioner of Pune.
10. Baji Rout
The youngest kid to lay down his life for the nation was only 13 when he fell prey to the British bullets. He promptly refused to ferry British Police across the Brahmani river in present Odisha and bravely took their bullets for the pride of his country.
11. Shyam Lal Gupta ‘Parshad’
A renowned poet and writer, inspired nationalism through his words and was the author of the popular song, Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara.
12. Madam Bhikaji Cama
We all know her for her part in the acts of Indians outside India and the design of our national flag, but there is much more to her. She was also a pioneer of feminism and gender equality and believed that women should have equal responsibility in getting India free of its chains.
13. Madan Lal Dhingra
Madan Lal Dhingra was born in a well to do family with good relations with the British, but he was different from them. He had a shrewd hatred for the British which led him to assassinate Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie in London for which he didn’t hesitate to go to the gallows.
14. Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
The pioneer of the movement which was slightly different of that Gandhiji. He proposed that certain force is necessary to move the British out. He didn’t believe in compliance with the British and had a heroic life with escaping Kala Pani twice. A poet by heart, he wrote nationalist poems on the walls of Kala Paani with a chisel.
15. Udham Singh aka Ram Mohammad Singh Azad
The man who took revenge for Jalianwala bagh Massacre by killing general Dyre. The amazing thing about this man is that he adopted this name before dying, Ram Mohammad Singh Azad which doesn’t point to any religion and the book he chose to pray his last was a love story The Heer by Waris shah.
16. Bagha Jatin
He fought a tiger as a teen, and since then Jatin Mukherjee was called Bagha Jatin. Born near the Sunderbans in Bengal, grew up to be a highly educated young man who formed secret societies to fight back the British Rule. He partook in numerous movements against the British and fought numerous battles one of which a gunfight became his last at the age of 35.
17. Benoy, Badal, Dinesh
This trio is famous for their revolutionary exploits that include a bombing the Secretariat Building and assassination trials. They were a part of a group formed by Netaji and were inspired by the work of the revolutionaries all across the country.
18. Kanaklata Barua
Kanaklata Barua, a young girl of just 17, also known as Birbala, was shot down during a rally of Quit India Movement. She fell while clutching the Indian Flag high.
19. Kittur Rani Chennamma
She is one of the first queens to bund against the British oppression to save her community and state in 1824. She was unsuccessful and was arrested, but became a symbol of Indian freedom.
20. Peer Ali Khan
A part of the Armed mutiny in 1857, he was instrumental in the developing the thought process of the soldiers against the British but somewhere along the way, his name got lost in the pages of history.
21. Sucheta Kriplani
The first female Chief Minister of the free India, was also a freedom fighter and was a staunch supporter of the Gandhian way.
22. Senapati Bapat
Senapati Bapat, hence called, was the proponent of the Mulshi satyagraha. His thought process was aligned with that of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Veer Savarkar was his disciple.
23. Abadi Bano Begum
Probably the only woman in the history of the world to have addressed a crowd with impassioned words for freedom from behind a purdah, she is still highly revered in Lucknow.
This image is for representative purpose only
24. Raj Kumari Gupta
This ballsy woman who was a part of the group which was responsible for the Kakori incident, smuggled in arms in her clothes on the train with her three-year-old son tagging along. She continued her struggle even when her family disowned her.
25. Tirot Sing
He was the chief of the Khasi people in Meghalaya and fought the Britishers from entering the area till death took him. He hid in a cave after being injured and was betrayed into being captured by the Britishers.
26. Sardar Gouthu Latchanna
A people leader, he was a proud participant in Quit India Movement at the age of 23 and worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the people of the lower castes. He kept fighting for their rights till his life allowed him to.
27. Tirupur Kumaran
Tirupur Kumaran was the founder of the Desa Bandhu Youth Association and died due to the injuries he received by the blows of the British at a protest clutching the then banned nationalist flag.
28. Allah Bux Soomro
He stayed in the government and worked as much as he could through the inside. He was present in the office even after independence.
29. Pherozeshah Mehta
He was more in the favour of adopting the western culture along with autonomy for the India people. He was known as the Lion of Bombay and was the Chief of Indian National congress in 1890.
30.The unnamed Navy mutineers
These people were the last and the strongest blow to the British Raj in the ending years of India being a colony. The strongest Navy on earth at that time refused to collaborate and work for the British and then they knew they had to leave India. The Indian Navy has played an important role in the freedom struggle of India.
There are many more, we can only pray and thank them for their sacrifices.
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