Khudiram Bose was a freedom fighter, who was one of the youngest revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He was born on 3rd December 1889. Trailokyanath Basu, his father was a Tahsildar of the town and mother Lakshmipriya Devi was a religious lady. His birth place was Bahuvaini in Medinipur district, West Bengal.
Khudiram Bose was influenced by the notion of karma in the Bhagvad Gita , and was involved in revolutionary activities to free mother India from the clutches of British rule. Dissatisfied with the British policy of the partition of Bengal in 1905, he joined Jugantar - the party of revolutionary activists. At the tender age of sixteen, Bose left bombs near police stations and made government officials his victims. On the charges of carrying out a series of bomb attacks he was arrested.
In Muzzafarpur, Bihar,on 30th April, 1908 Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki planned to assasinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford. The magistrate was known for his blatant judgements against the freedom fighters. They waited for Kingsford's carriage to come in front of the gate of European Club and blew up a carriage which was not carrying Kingsford. As a result of this unfortunate incident two innocent British ladies - Mrs.Kennedy and her daughter were killed. Both the revolutionaries fled the crime scene. Later Prafulla committed suicide and Khudiram was arrested.
On the charges of bomb attacks carried out by Khudiram Bose, he was sentenced to death at the age of 19.He was hanged to death on 11 August 1908.
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June 29, 2009
Delhi conspiracy Case - Rash Behari Bose
The British never got a chance to punish freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose for scripting the 1912 bomb attack on the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge. Bose planned the attack perfectly and got it executed through Basant Kumar on 23 December 1912 in Delhi. He was back in Dehradun the same day and on 24 December, he condemned the attack at a meeting here. The British never doubted his integrity towards them. But, in fact, the truth was entirely different.
Founder President of the Indian National Army Rash Behari Bose took 37-day leave from the Forest Research Institute, located here, to script the famous 1912 bomb attack on Lord Hardinge. Bose took leave from 25 November to 31 December 1912 to fashion the incident.
In 1912, British India decided to shift the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi. To mark the arrival of Lord Hardinge in the new capital, a procession was taken out. A bomb was thrown on the Viceroy and his wife when they were passing through Chandni Chowk, near the Punjab National Bank.
The incident took place at around 11.45 a.m. The explosion was heard six miles away. A picric acid bomb weighing between half and three-quarters of a pound exploded against the howdah.The attacked injured Hardinge and killed his Mahawat. The Viceroy’s back was badly lacerated by some of the nails, screws and gramophone needles with which the bomb had been packed.
Five hundred uniformed and 2,500 plain clothes policemen officer were deployed in the processional route. The event sent a shiver down the British spine. As the bomb exploded, the detectives rushed off in the wrong direction and Rash Behari Bose and his associates escaped comfortably after committing the act.
After completing his 37 day leave, Bose rejoined office at Forest Research Institute on 2 January 1913. After working for a few months regularly, he took long leave from 10 August 1913 to 10 May 1914. On 14 May 1914, he was terminated for long absenteeism from service.
The 1912 bomb attack took the British imperialists by surprise. David Peterson, Assistant Director of Criminal Intelligence (Delhi), was entrusted with the job of conducting an inquiry into the incident. He took two-years to complete the investigation and termed Rash Bihari Bose the mastermind of the attack on the Viceroy. But, by the time the British realised the role of Bose in the attack, this revolutionary had escaped to Japan and continued the struggle against British rule from abroad.
Rash Behari was born on 25 May, 1886, in Palara-Bighati (Hooghly) village. He served one of his longest terms as a government employee at the FRI. He joined the Forest Research Institute on 7 September 1906. Before coming to the Doon Valley, Behari had served for 4 months at the Foreign Department Press (Shimla) as an examiner. After this, he joined Government Monotype Office (Shimla) as a copy holder and served there for seven months. He joined Central Research Institute (Kasauli, HP) as second clerk before joining FRI as a clerk in 1906.
He was promoted to the rank of Head Clerk, drawing a monthly salary of Rs 65. Rash Behari formed the Indian National Army (INA) with Captain Mohan Singh and Sardar Pritam Singh on 1 September, 1942. Bose was elected Founder President.When Rash Bhirai Bose died on 29 January 1945, highlighting his contribution to India's independence struggle, Subhash Chandra Bose said, "He was the father of the Indian independence movement in East Asia."
Founder President of the Indian National Army Rash Behari Bose took 37-day leave from the Forest Research Institute, located here, to script the famous 1912 bomb attack on Lord Hardinge. Bose took leave from 25 November to 31 December 1912 to fashion the incident.
In 1912, British India decided to shift the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi. To mark the arrival of Lord Hardinge in the new capital, a procession was taken out. A bomb was thrown on the Viceroy and his wife when they were passing through Chandni Chowk, near the Punjab National Bank.
The incident took place at around 11.45 a.m. The explosion was heard six miles away. A picric acid bomb weighing between half and three-quarters of a pound exploded against the howdah.The attacked injured Hardinge and killed his Mahawat. The Viceroy’s back was badly lacerated by some of the nails, screws and gramophone needles with which the bomb had been packed.
Five hundred uniformed and 2,500 plain clothes policemen officer were deployed in the processional route. The event sent a shiver down the British spine. As the bomb exploded, the detectives rushed off in the wrong direction and Rash Behari Bose and his associates escaped comfortably after committing the act.
After completing his 37 day leave, Bose rejoined office at Forest Research Institute on 2 January 1913. After working for a few months regularly, he took long leave from 10 August 1913 to 10 May 1914. On 14 May 1914, he was terminated for long absenteeism from service.
The 1912 bomb attack took the British imperialists by surprise. David Peterson, Assistant Director of Criminal Intelligence (Delhi), was entrusted with the job of conducting an inquiry into the incident. He took two-years to complete the investigation and termed Rash Bihari Bose the mastermind of the attack on the Viceroy. But, by the time the British realised the role of Bose in the attack, this revolutionary had escaped to Japan and continued the struggle against British rule from abroad.
Rash Behari was born on 25 May, 1886, in Palara-Bighati (Hooghly) village. He served one of his longest terms as a government employee at the FRI. He joined the Forest Research Institute on 7 September 1906. Before coming to the Doon Valley, Behari had served for 4 months at the Foreign Department Press (Shimla) as an examiner. After this, he joined Government Monotype Office (Shimla) as a copy holder and served there for seven months. He joined Central Research Institute (Kasauli, HP) as second clerk before joining FRI as a clerk in 1906.
He was promoted to the rank of Head Clerk, drawing a monthly salary of Rs 65. Rash Behari formed the Indian National Army (INA) with Captain Mohan Singh and Sardar Pritam Singh on 1 September, 1942. Bose was elected Founder President.When Rash Bhirai Bose died on 29 January 1945, highlighting his contribution to India's independence struggle, Subhash Chandra Bose said, "He was the father of the Indian independence movement in East Asia."
June 27, 2009
Women & India's Independence Movement
Role of Indian women:
The entire history of the freedom movement is replete with the saga of bravery, sacrifice and political sagacity of great men and women of the country. This struggle which gained momentum in the early 20th century, threw up stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Motilal Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad, C. Rajagopalachari, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chander Bose. Their number and stature often gives us an erroneous impression that it was only a man’s movement. But it is not so. Many prominent women played a leading role in the freedom movement.
The important place assigned to women in India dates back to the time of the Vedas and Smritis. Manu declared that where women were adored, Gods frequented that place, During the Vedic age the position of women in society was very high and they were regarded as equal partners with men in all respects. Who had not heard of Maitri, Gargi, Sati Annusuya and Sita?
In keeping with this tradition, burden of tears and toils of the long years of struggle for India’s freedom was borne by the wives, mothers, and daughters, silently and cheerfully. The programme of self-imposed poverty and periodical jail going was possible only because of the willing co-operation of the worker’s family. In the various resistance movements in the villages, the illiterate women played this passive but contributory part as comrades of their menfolk.
Rani Laxmibai
The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Dressed in men’s clothes, she led her soldiers to war against the British. Even her enemies admired her courage and daring. She fought valiantly and although beaten she refused to surrender and fell as a warrior should, fighting the enemy to the last. Her remarkable courage inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule.
Begum Hazrat Mahal
Another woman whom we remember in this connection was Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of Lucknow against the British. Although, she was queen and used to a life of luxury, she appeared on the battle-field herself to encourage her troops. Begam Hazrat Mahal held out against the British with all her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal.
During the later half of the 20th century the struggle for freedom gained momentum and more women took leading part in it.
Kasturba Gandhi
The life companion of the Father of the Nation contributed her mite to the freedom movement in a subtle manner. As the closest associate of Gandhiji during his epic struggle in South Africa and in India, she suffered in no small measure.
One simply marvels and wonders how this quiet self-effacing woman underwent countless trails as Gandhiji’s wife, and how gallantly she agreed to the Mahatma’s endless experiments and self-imposed life of poverty and suffering.
Swarup Rani and Kamala
The mother of Jawaharlal Nehru, Swarup Rani Nehru cheerfully gave her husband and children to the country’s cause and herself, old and trail entered the pray at its thickest.
Jawaharlal’s brave wife, Kamala; kept smiling all through the long years of travail of her brief life.
Kamala Nehru was a flame that flickered briefly in the raging storm of the freedom movement in India. Not everybody knows that she braved lathi-charges, picketed liquor shops and languished in jail for the cause of Indian independence. She influenced her husband Jawaharlal and stood by him in his determination to plunge into the movement started by Mahatma Gandhi, to free the mother Mahatma Gandhi, to free the motherland from the clutches of the British rulers.
With Jawaharlal away in prison, Kamala took to social work to begin with. She started a dispensary in her house in Allahabad and also started a movement for women’s education and to get them out of purdah.
As a member of the Rashtriya Stree Sabha which was set up on a Jallianwala Day in 1921, Kamala Nehru worked for the entry of Harijan into temples.
amala Nehru was first among the group of volunteers to sell contraband salt during the Salt Satyagraha. All through the long months of 1930, the Desh Sevika Sangh which she led along with Kusturba Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu, did hard jobs like policing disturbed areas in Bombay. While the men were in jail, they took over.
Sarojini Naidu:
Great as a poet and orator, Sarojini Naidu was one of the most enlightened women of modern India.
She was one among the many men and women who dedicated their lives for the freedom struggle of the counry under the guidance of Gandhiji. At a very young age she wrote many patriotic poems which inspired people in India to throw off the foreign yoke. She joined the Home Rule movement launched by Annie Besant. This was her first step in politics. On the call of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, she joined the Indian National Congress in 1915. She propounded the idea of Swarajya in her powerful speech at the Lucknow Conference in 1916. in 1921 she participated in the Non-Cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. She became President of the Congress in 1925. When Mahatma Gandhi started his Civil disobedience movement in 1930, Sarojini Naidu became his principal assistant. She was arrested along with Gandhiji and other leaders. But this did not deter her spirits. In 1931, she was invited along with Gandhiji to the Second Round Table Conference in London. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu joined the “Quit India” movement launched by Gandhiji and again was victim of the wrath of the British government and jailed. The repeated jail terms only gave her more courage and she continued to take active part in the freedom movement. After India became independent in 1947, she was appointed Governor of Uttar Pradesh as a token of recognition of her services.
Padmaja Naidu
Sarojini’s daughter Miss Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of Nation like her mother. At the age of 21, she entered the National scene and became the joint founder of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign goods. She was jailed for taking part in the “Quit India” movement in 1942. After Independence, she became the Governor of West Bengal. During her public life spanning over half a century, she was associated with the Red Cross. Her services to the Nation and especially her humanitarian approach to solve problems will long be remembered.
Vijay Laxmi Pandit
Sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also played a great role in the freedom movement. She was elected to Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1936 and in 1946. She was the first woman in India to hold a ministerial rank. She was imprisoned thrice for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932. 1941 and 1942. After Independence, she continued to serve the country. She was the first woman to become president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Sucheta Kripalani
The contribution of Sucheta Kripalani in the struggle for freedom is also worthy of note. She courted imprisonment for taking part in freedom struggle. She was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946. She was general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967. Sucheta Kripalani was in the words of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, “a person of rare courage and character who brought credit to Indian womanhood.”
Indira Gandhi
The most remarkable of women in modern India’s was Indira Gandhi who from her early years was active in the national liberation struggle. During the 1930 movement, she formed the ‘Vanar Sena’. A children’s brigade to help freedom fighters.
She became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1938. Soon after her return to India in March 1941, she plunged into political activity.
Her public activity entered a new phase with India’s Independence in 1947. She took over the responsibility of running the Prime Minister’s House. The Congress, which had been her political home ever since her childhood, soon drew her into leading political roles, first as member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and later as member of the Central Parliamentary Board in 1958. In 1959, she was elected President of the Indian National Congress. She oriented Congress thinking and action towards basic issues confronting Indian society and enthused the younger generation the task of nation-building.
In the eventful years of her leadership as Prime Minister, Indian society underwent profound changes. She was unremitting in her endeavour for the unity and solidarity of the nation. A staunch defender of the secular ideals of the Constitution, she worked tirelessly for the social and economic advancement of the minorities. She had a vision of a modern self-reliant and dynamic economy. She fought boldly and vigorously against communalism, obscurantism, re-vivalism and religious fundamentalism of all types. She repeatedly warned the nation that communalism and obscuranatism were the tools employed by the forces of destabilization. She laid down her life in defence of the ideals on which the unity and integrity of the Republic are founded. The martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi for upholding the unity of India will reverberate across the centuries.
Rarely in history has one single individual come to be identifie do totally with the fortunes of a country. She became the indomitable symbol of India’s self-respect and self-confidence. Death came to her when she was at her peak, when her stature and influence were acclaimed the world over.
The entire history of the freedom movement is replete with the saga of bravery, sacrifice and political sagacity of great men and women of the country. This struggle which gained momentum in the early 20th century, threw up stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Motilal Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad, C. Rajagopalachari, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chander Bose. Their number and stature often gives us an erroneous impression that it was only a man’s movement. But it is not so. Many prominent women played a leading role in the freedom movement.
The important place assigned to women in India dates back to the time of the Vedas and Smritis. Manu declared that where women were adored, Gods frequented that place, During the Vedic age the position of women in society was very high and they were regarded as equal partners with men in all respects. Who had not heard of Maitri, Gargi, Sati Annusuya and Sita?
In keeping with this tradition, burden of tears and toils of the long years of struggle for India’s freedom was borne by the wives, mothers, and daughters, silently and cheerfully. The programme of self-imposed poverty and periodical jail going was possible only because of the willing co-operation of the worker’s family. In the various resistance movements in the villages, the illiterate women played this passive but contributory part as comrades of their menfolk.
Rani Laxmibai
The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Dressed in men’s clothes, she led her soldiers to war against the British. Even her enemies admired her courage and daring. She fought valiantly and although beaten she refused to surrender and fell as a warrior should, fighting the enemy to the last. Her remarkable courage inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule.
Begum Hazrat Mahal
Another woman whom we remember in this connection was Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of Lucknow against the British. Although, she was queen and used to a life of luxury, she appeared on the battle-field herself to encourage her troops. Begam Hazrat Mahal held out against the British with all her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal.
During the later half of the 20th century the struggle for freedom gained momentum and more women took leading part in it.
Kasturba Gandhi
The life companion of the Father of the Nation contributed her mite to the freedom movement in a subtle manner. As the closest associate of Gandhiji during his epic struggle in South Africa and in India, she suffered in no small measure.
One simply marvels and wonders how this quiet self-effacing woman underwent countless trails as Gandhiji’s wife, and how gallantly she agreed to the Mahatma’s endless experiments and self-imposed life of poverty and suffering.
Swarup Rani and Kamala
The mother of Jawaharlal Nehru, Swarup Rani Nehru cheerfully gave her husband and children to the country’s cause and herself, old and trail entered the pray at its thickest.
Jawaharlal’s brave wife, Kamala; kept smiling all through the long years of travail of her brief life.
Kamala Nehru was a flame that flickered briefly in the raging storm of the freedom movement in India. Not everybody knows that she braved lathi-charges, picketed liquor shops and languished in jail for the cause of Indian independence. She influenced her husband Jawaharlal and stood by him in his determination to plunge into the movement started by Mahatma Gandhi, to free the mother Mahatma Gandhi, to free the motherland from the clutches of the British rulers.
With Jawaharlal away in prison, Kamala took to social work to begin with. She started a dispensary in her house in Allahabad and also started a movement for women’s education and to get them out of purdah.
As a member of the Rashtriya Stree Sabha which was set up on a Jallianwala Day in 1921, Kamala Nehru worked for the entry of Harijan into temples.
amala Nehru was first among the group of volunteers to sell contraband salt during the Salt Satyagraha. All through the long months of 1930, the Desh Sevika Sangh which she led along with Kusturba Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu, did hard jobs like policing disturbed areas in Bombay. While the men were in jail, they took over.
Sarojini Naidu:
Great as a poet and orator, Sarojini Naidu was one of the most enlightened women of modern India.
She was one among the many men and women who dedicated their lives for the freedom struggle of the counry under the guidance of Gandhiji. At a very young age she wrote many patriotic poems which inspired people in India to throw off the foreign yoke. She joined the Home Rule movement launched by Annie Besant. This was her first step in politics. On the call of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, she joined the Indian National Congress in 1915. She propounded the idea of Swarajya in her powerful speech at the Lucknow Conference in 1916. in 1921 she participated in the Non-Cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. She became President of the Congress in 1925. When Mahatma Gandhi started his Civil disobedience movement in 1930, Sarojini Naidu became his principal assistant. She was arrested along with Gandhiji and other leaders. But this did not deter her spirits. In 1931, she was invited along with Gandhiji to the Second Round Table Conference in London. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu joined the “Quit India” movement launched by Gandhiji and again was victim of the wrath of the British government and jailed. The repeated jail terms only gave her more courage and she continued to take active part in the freedom movement. After India became independent in 1947, she was appointed Governor of Uttar Pradesh as a token of recognition of her services.
Padmaja Naidu
Sarojini’s daughter Miss Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of Nation like her mother. At the age of 21, she entered the National scene and became the joint founder of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign goods. She was jailed for taking part in the “Quit India” movement in 1942. After Independence, she became the Governor of West Bengal. During her public life spanning over half a century, she was associated with the Red Cross. Her services to the Nation and especially her humanitarian approach to solve problems will long be remembered.
Vijay Laxmi Pandit
Sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also played a great role in the freedom movement. She was elected to Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1936 and in 1946. She was the first woman in India to hold a ministerial rank. She was imprisoned thrice for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932. 1941 and 1942. After Independence, she continued to serve the country. She was the first woman to become president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Sucheta Kripalani
The contribution of Sucheta Kripalani in the struggle for freedom is also worthy of note. She courted imprisonment for taking part in freedom struggle. She was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946. She was general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967. Sucheta Kripalani was in the words of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, “a person of rare courage and character who brought credit to Indian womanhood.”
Indira Gandhi
The most remarkable of women in modern India’s was Indira Gandhi who from her early years was active in the national liberation struggle. During the 1930 movement, she formed the ‘Vanar Sena’. A children’s brigade to help freedom fighters.
She became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1938. Soon after her return to India in March 1941, she plunged into political activity.
Her public activity entered a new phase with India’s Independence in 1947. She took over the responsibility of running the Prime Minister’s House. The Congress, which had been her political home ever since her childhood, soon drew her into leading political roles, first as member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and later as member of the Central Parliamentary Board in 1958. In 1959, she was elected President of the Indian National Congress. She oriented Congress thinking and action towards basic issues confronting Indian society and enthused the younger generation the task of nation-building.
In the eventful years of her leadership as Prime Minister, Indian society underwent profound changes. She was unremitting in her endeavour for the unity and solidarity of the nation. A staunch defender of the secular ideals of the Constitution, she worked tirelessly for the social and economic advancement of the minorities. She had a vision of a modern self-reliant and dynamic economy. She fought boldly and vigorously against communalism, obscurantism, re-vivalism and religious fundamentalism of all types. She repeatedly warned the nation that communalism and obscuranatism were the tools employed by the forces of destabilization. She laid down her life in defence of the ideals on which the unity and integrity of the Republic are founded. The martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi for upholding the unity of India will reverberate across the centuries.
Rarely in history has one single individual come to be identifie do totally with the fortunes of a country. She became the indomitable symbol of India’s self-respect and self-confidence. Death came to her when she was at her peak, when her stature and influence were acclaimed the world over.
FOREIGN WOMEN IN THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT OF INDIA
Besides the hundreds and thousands of Indian women who dedicated their lives for the cause of their motherland, there were a number of noble and courageous foreign women who saw in India – its religion, its philosophy and its culture, a hope for the redemption of the world. They thought that in India’s spiritual death shall world find its grave.
These noble women were sick of the material west and found in India and in its civilization, solace for their cramped souls.
First of all we will take up those who were influenced by the great men of India like Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghosh, Mahatma Gandhi, and came to this country to serve it.
Sister Nivedita
‘Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India’
- Epitaph on her Samadhi.
-
Sister Nivedita was one among the host of foreign women who were attracted towards Swami Vivekananda and Hindu philosophy. Born in Ireland on 28 October 1867, she arrived in India in January, 1898, in search of truth. She was impressed by the ideals of Womanhood in India. She once remarked that India was the land of great women. She, however, felt that Indian women needed, to cultivate among themselves a wider and broader concept of the nation, so that they could participate along with men in building a free and strong nation.
On the death of her spiritual Master, Swami Vivekananda, she freed herself from the obligations of the Monastic Order, spoke and wrote against the British policy in India. She attacked Lord Curzon for the Universities Act of 1904 and partition of Bengal in 1905. She held the British responsible for disastrous state of Indian economy; she attended the Benares Congress in 1905 and supported the Swadeshi Movement. She helped Nationalist groups like the Dawn Society and the Anusilan Samiti. She was a member of the Central Council of Action formed by Aurobindo Ghosh and took up the editorship of the Karmayogin when he left for Pondicherry.
She propagated for the cause of India throughout America and Europe. Swami Vivekananda described her as a real Lioness. Rabindranath Tagore regarded her as Lok-Mata and Aurobindo Ghosh as Agni-sikha.
The Mother
Mira Alphonse, the Mother, was born in Paris in 1978. She had shown depth of vision and fragrance of expression even in her early childhood. She came to India in 1914 and met Shri Aurobindo. She was associated with the work of Shri Aurobindo when he started a philosophical monthly named Arya on August 15, 1914, to express his vision of man and his divine destiny.
She took charge of Ashram in Pondicherry in 1926. She was the inspirer of Auroville, the international town near Pondicherry. It was to serve as a meeting place for the followers of Shri Aurobindo.
Paying her tribute to the Mother at a women’s gathering in Kanpur the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said: “The Mother was a dynamic lady, who came from France and adopted the Indian culture. She played an important role in motivating women like Mrs. Annie Besant and Mrs. Nellie Sen Gupta, The Mother had also contributed to enrich India’s age-old heritage and culture”.
Mira Behn
Mira Behn, or Mira as she was most often called was the western world’s acknowledgement of guilt and the will to atone for it. This was not at all in her won consciousness, but in that which put her forth. Gandhi did not evoke her. The most he did was to tell her she could come if she wished. She came as a daughter not only of the western mind but, specifically, of that class which had made and governed the British empire in India. Her father had been the naval commander-in-chief there.
This is how Madeleine Slade brought up in affluent environment of a proud aristocracy came to serve the cause of India’s freedom by identifying herself completely with the life and work of Gandhi, who promised to Romain Rolland that he would leave no stone unturned, to assist her to become a bridge between the East and the West.
Daughter of a British Admiral Madeleine Slade renounced the life of luxury and worked in the service of India. She accompanied Gandhi to England in 1931 and undertook a tour of America and Britain in 1934 to enlist sympathy for the Indian cause. She suffered imprisonment in 1932-33 and 1942-44 for the cause of India’s Independence.
Dr. Annie Besant
Dr. Annie Besant, along with Charles Braudlaugh, it is said, did more than anyone had done in a hundred years to break down the barriers of bigotry and prejudice, who won the greatest victories of their times for the freedom of speech and liberty of the press which Britain enjoys today.
A strong votary of truth, she came to India in 1893 at the age of 46, impressed as she was by its great religion and philosophy. On arrival, she found that the state of things in India were bad, and that the Indians had almost lost their moorings. Through her lectures, she tried to awaken them to their lost heritage by dedicating herself to the cause of religion, society and education of India. In doing so, she was watchful that Indian revival must be through Indian traditions and customs and not through any of the European concepts. As early as 1898 and later in 1902 she urged Indians to were native dress, use and develop Indian manufacturers and also develop a national language.
Dr. Annie Besant entered active politics in 1914. She demanded Home Rule for India and suffered internment for it from June to September 1917. By then she had tried and achieved unification of the Congress and Hindus and Muslims in 1916. She had done ample work to formulate favourable opinion about the Indian question in outside world. The August declaration of 1917 is attributed to her efforts.
She fittingly became the president of Indian National Congress in 1917. Tilak declared that if we were nearer our goals, it was due to Dr. Annie Besant’s sincere efforts. Gokhale considered her a true daughter of Mother India. Subash considered her a doughty fighter for Indian freedom. Jawaharlal Nehru said that in India, her memory would endure, especially for the part she played in our freedom struggle in the dark days of the Great War and afterwards. Sarojini Naidu, had this to say.
“Had it not been for her and her enthusiasm, one could not have seen Mr. Gandhi leading the cause of Indian freedom today. It was Mrs. Besant who laid the foundation of modern India – Dr. Besant was a combination of Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati.”
These noble women were sick of the material west and found in India and in its civilization, solace for their cramped souls.
First of all we will take up those who were influenced by the great men of India like Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghosh, Mahatma Gandhi, and came to this country to serve it.
Sister Nivedita
‘Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India’
- Epitaph on her Samadhi.
-
Sister Nivedita was one among the host of foreign women who were attracted towards Swami Vivekananda and Hindu philosophy. Born in Ireland on 28 October 1867, she arrived in India in January, 1898, in search of truth. She was impressed by the ideals of Womanhood in India. She once remarked that India was the land of great women. She, however, felt that Indian women needed, to cultivate among themselves a wider and broader concept of the nation, so that they could participate along with men in building a free and strong nation.
On the death of her spiritual Master, Swami Vivekananda, she freed herself from the obligations of the Monastic Order, spoke and wrote against the British policy in India. She attacked Lord Curzon for the Universities Act of 1904 and partition of Bengal in 1905. She held the British responsible for disastrous state of Indian economy; she attended the Benares Congress in 1905 and supported the Swadeshi Movement. She helped Nationalist groups like the Dawn Society and the Anusilan Samiti. She was a member of the Central Council of Action formed by Aurobindo Ghosh and took up the editorship of the Karmayogin when he left for Pondicherry.
She propagated for the cause of India throughout America and Europe. Swami Vivekananda described her as a real Lioness. Rabindranath Tagore regarded her as Lok-Mata and Aurobindo Ghosh as Agni-sikha.
The Mother
Mira Alphonse, the Mother, was born in Paris in 1978. She had shown depth of vision and fragrance of expression even in her early childhood. She came to India in 1914 and met Shri Aurobindo. She was associated with the work of Shri Aurobindo when he started a philosophical monthly named Arya on August 15, 1914, to express his vision of man and his divine destiny.
She took charge of Ashram in Pondicherry in 1926. She was the inspirer of Auroville, the international town near Pondicherry. It was to serve as a meeting place for the followers of Shri Aurobindo.
Paying her tribute to the Mother at a women’s gathering in Kanpur the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said: “The Mother was a dynamic lady, who came from France and adopted the Indian culture. She played an important role in motivating women like Mrs. Annie Besant and Mrs. Nellie Sen Gupta, The Mother had also contributed to enrich India’s age-old heritage and culture”.
Mira Behn
Mira Behn, or Mira as she was most often called was the western world’s acknowledgement of guilt and the will to atone for it. This was not at all in her won consciousness, but in that which put her forth. Gandhi did not evoke her. The most he did was to tell her she could come if she wished. She came as a daughter not only of the western mind but, specifically, of that class which had made and governed the British empire in India. Her father had been the naval commander-in-chief there.
This is how Madeleine Slade brought up in affluent environment of a proud aristocracy came to serve the cause of India’s freedom by identifying herself completely with the life and work of Gandhi, who promised to Romain Rolland that he would leave no stone unturned, to assist her to become a bridge between the East and the West.
Daughter of a British Admiral Madeleine Slade renounced the life of luxury and worked in the service of India. She accompanied Gandhi to England in 1931 and undertook a tour of America and Britain in 1934 to enlist sympathy for the Indian cause. She suffered imprisonment in 1932-33 and 1942-44 for the cause of India’s Independence.
Dr. Annie Besant
Dr. Annie Besant, along with Charles Braudlaugh, it is said, did more than anyone had done in a hundred years to break down the barriers of bigotry and prejudice, who won the greatest victories of their times for the freedom of speech and liberty of the press which Britain enjoys today.
A strong votary of truth, she came to India in 1893 at the age of 46, impressed as she was by its great religion and philosophy. On arrival, she found that the state of things in India were bad, and that the Indians had almost lost their moorings. Through her lectures, she tried to awaken them to their lost heritage by dedicating herself to the cause of religion, society and education of India. In doing so, she was watchful that Indian revival must be through Indian traditions and customs and not through any of the European concepts. As early as 1898 and later in 1902 she urged Indians to were native dress, use and develop Indian manufacturers and also develop a national language.
Dr. Annie Besant entered active politics in 1914. She demanded Home Rule for India and suffered internment for it from June to September 1917. By then she had tried and achieved unification of the Congress and Hindus and Muslims in 1916. She had done ample work to formulate favourable opinion about the Indian question in outside world. The August declaration of 1917 is attributed to her efforts.
She fittingly became the president of Indian National Congress in 1917. Tilak declared that if we were nearer our goals, it was due to Dr. Annie Besant’s sincere efforts. Gokhale considered her a true daughter of Mother India. Subash considered her a doughty fighter for Indian freedom. Jawaharlal Nehru said that in India, her memory would endure, especially for the part she played in our freedom struggle in the dark days of the Great War and afterwards. Sarojini Naidu, had this to say.
“Had it not been for her and her enthusiasm, one could not have seen Mr. Gandhi leading the cause of Indian freedom today. It was Mrs. Besant who laid the foundation of modern India – Dr. Besant was a combination of Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati.”
Role of Associated Movements of India's Struggle for Freedom
India’s struggle for freedom had been a long drawnout battle. Though it actually began in the second half of the 19th century, isolated attempts were made in various parts of the country to being the British rule in India to an end about a century earlier. The real power in northern India passed into the hands of the British in 1757. The loss of independence provided the motive force for the struggle for freedom and Indians in different parts of the country began their efforts to throw off the voke of the alien rulers. It took over 100 years for the struggle to gain full momentum. Very seldom, however, during this period (1757 to 1857) was the country free from either civil or military disturbances and there was plenty of opposition, often from very substantial section of the common people.
Surprisingly enough, the opposition to foreign rule in early years came more from the peasants, labourers and the weaker sections of the society that from the educated bourgeois classes. Unscrupulous defiance of moral principle and the reckless exploitation of the masses that characterized the early activities of the traders made the rule of the East India Company hateful to the people. The proselytizing activities of the Christian missionaries were greatly resented all around. The deliberate destruction of Indian manufacturer and handicrafts aggravated agrarian misery and economic discontent. All these factors led to local resistance in different parts of this vast country which was basically united in its opposition to the British rule.
The uprisings of the Chuars in 1799 in the districts of Manbum, Bankura and Midnapore which took and alarming turn were master minded by the Rani of Midnapore. The Rani was taken prisoner on April 6, 1799 which only made the Chuars more furious. Equally important in the annals of India’s struggle for freedom is the rebellion of the Santhals (1855) occupying Rajmahal Hills against the British Government who in league –with the mahajans or money lenders oppressed the industrious people, there being even cases of molestation of women. Under the leadership of two brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu, ten thousand Santhals met in June 1855 and declared their intention to “take possession of the country and set up a government of their own”. In spite of the ruthless measures of the British Government to suppress them, the Santhals showed no signs of submission till February 1856 when their leaders were arrested and most inhuman barbarities were practiced on the Santhals after they were defeated.
We need not go into the details of many other revolts and disturbances throughout the country which have been the subject matter of many dissertations but it is apparent that there was a cry to “drive out the British” almost throughout the first century of the British rule in India.
Great Revolt of 1857
The British, however, refused to heed the warning or even to care for it as they had developed on over weaning confidence in their strength in India. Therefore when the Great Revolt of 1857 took place, they were completely stunned. It was the first organized attempt on the part of the Indians for the emancipation of their country. No doubt, the British came out victorious at the end but the Indians too gained in the sense that the movement became a symbol of inspiration and sacrifice for the subsequent generations.
The failure of the outbreak of 1857 opened a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom. The idea of open armed resistance against the British was at a discount, that it was not altogether discarded as is evident from the various rebellions which broke out in several parts of the country during the years 1859-1872. The most important of them were the Indigo Disturbances in Bengal, the movements of the Wahabis in Bihar, Bengal and other parts of the country and the Kuka in the Punjab.
Wahabi Movement
The great Wahabi Movement covered period of over 50 years and was spread from the North-West Frontier to Bengal and Bihar. It was not an ephemeral or sudden upheaval: without any definite aim or organization, like the Revolt of 1857. The movement continued well over forty years after the death of its leader Saiyid Ahmed in 1831. The British set over twenty expeditions before they were able to crush the movement. Important leaders of the movement-Yahya Ali, Ahmadullah, Amiruddin, Ibrahim Mandal, Rafique Mandal and their comrades were tried at the state trials of Ambala (1864), Patna (1865), Malda (Sept. 1870) and Rajmahal (October 1870), convicted and transported for life.
A similar movement known as the Faraizi Movement started in Bengal by Haji Shhariatullah of Faridpur made incumbent on its followers to carry on struggle against the political and economic exploitation of the foreigners. His son Dadu Miyan (1819-1860) asserted that the earth belonged to God and no one has the right to occupy it. The movement lost much of its vigour after the death of Dadu Miyan in 1860.
Kuka Movement
The Kuka Movement marked the first major reaction of the people in the Punjab to the new political order initiated by the British after 1849. the Namdhari Movement of which the Kuka Movement was the most important phase aimed at the overthrow of the British rule. Ram Singh, who became its leader in 1863, gave military training to his followers. It seemed inevitable that before long a clash would occur between the Kukas and the British Government. The clash actually occurred over the question of slaughter of cows. It started with murderous attacks on butchers of Amritsar and Raikot (Ludhiana District) in 1871 and culminated in the Kuka raid on Malerkotla on January 15, 1872. The Kuka outbreak of 1872 was visited by terrible punishment, which was equaled in brutality by few events in our history. A large number of kuka prisoners were blown to death with cannons, their leader Ram Singh was deported to Rangoon.
There were some of the militant movements which preceded the birth of the Indian National Congress. However it was the intellectual movement which now dominated politics. The political ideas and organizations which had taken root before 1857 now flowered into a new national or political consciousness. This was brought about by sudden revelation of India’s past glory through the works of foreign and Indian scholars and large scale ex-cavations carried out by Alexander Cunningham. The preachings of various associations such as the Arya Samaj, Theosophical Society and Ramakrishna Mission also helped in this process.
Arya Samaj
Founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the Arya Sabha played a notable role in the development of a new national consciousness among the Hindus. In fact, it became “the foremost agency for planting a sturdy independent nationalism in the Punjab”. Some of the important national leaders such as Lajpat Rai and Hans Raj were staunch Arya Samajists. It also provided a chain of educational institutions which became the centre of patriotic activities in the national struggle. Sir Valentine Chirol commented on the seditious role of the Arya Samaj that it “has sometimes barely disguised more than a merely Platonic desire to see the British quit India. “Sir Denzil Ibbetson was informed that “where-ever there was Arya Sanaj, it was the centre of seditious talk. “Sir Mechael O’Dwyer observed that “an enormous population of the Hindus convicted of seditions and other political offences from 1907 to present day (1925) are members of the Samaj.”
The Servants of India Society
The Servants of India Society was founded by Gokhale in 1905. About its mission he wrote; “The Servants of India Society will train man prepared to devote their lives to the cause of the country in a religious spirit and will seek to promote, by all constitutional means the national interests of the Indian people.” A member could be admitted to the Society only on the recommendation of the Council consisting of three ordinary members and the First Member (or President). Every membe4r was required to take seven vows at the time of enrolment and had to undergo training for a period of five years. The branches of the Society were soon opened in Madras (1910), Nagpur (1911), Bombay (1911) and Allahabad (1913) and centres for works were subsequently established in Ambala, Cuttack and Kozhikode. The official organ of the Society “The Servants of India” was started in 1918 and continued upto 1939. Besides involving itself in social service and educational activities, the Society co-operated with the Congress in the political sphere and helped her in the collection of funds. The Society continued the mission of its founder, after his demise, and enjoyed the patronage of such renowned persons as Hriday Nath Kunzru, A.D. Mani, and in recent times of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Kumaran Asan and his Movement
In this connection reference may be made to another movement in the south which has received scant attention. Sri Narayana Guru and Kumaran Asan (1873-1924) led a movement in Kerala which made a great impact on the people, awakened them from their slumber and revolutionized the life of a large number of people. This socio-economic movement never found a legitimate place, even as a footnote in the nationalist history of India, mainly because of the ignorance or lack of appreciation of the movement south of the Vindhya ranges. Romain Rolland, in his book “The Life of Ramakrishna” refers to the personality of this “Great Guru whose beneficent spiritual activity was exercised for more than 40 years in the State of Travencore over some million faithful souls”. He preached, “if one may say so, afjnana of action, a great intellectual religious, having a lively sense of the people, and their social needs. It has greatly contributed to the uplifting of the oppressed classes in Southern India and its activities have in a measure been allied to those of Gandhi.” Asan’s poetry was an instrument and agent of the revolutionary movement and it has, therefore, to be studied against the historical circumstances which obtained in Kerala during those stirring years. He was a great social reformer and bellwether of a great social renaissance movement. The lower castes Cherumas, called ‘two-legged animals’, the Ezhevas and other depressed classes who had to pay “a tax for the hair he grew on his head, and each woman had to pay a breast tax. “Kumaran Asan, through his literary creations, effected tremendous transformations in the intellectual horizon of Kerala, and paved the way for “the regeneration of the society and growth of political rights and liberties.” Asan was equally concerned with the freedom of the country but believed that this goal could be reached only by passing through stages of social emancipation and inter-caste harmony.
Deoband Movement
Similarly the Deoband Movement started by some of the Muslim Ulemas after the failure of the Outbreak of 1857, held that it was incumbent upon the Muslims to drive the British out of the country. Contrary to the views of the Aligarh School led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the followers of Deoband School associated with the Congress in its struggle for freedom.
Birsa Movement
The Birsa Movement of 1895 aimed at the overthrow of the British Raj and the establishment of the Munda Self-Government. It continued for 3 years even after the arrest of its leader Birsa in January 1898 who was deported to Ranchi. He renewed his activities after release and exhorted its followers to get rid of the foreign oppressors and establish their own rule. In the fight that ensured, about 2000 Mundas were killed, Birsa was captured and died in June 1900 while in jail.
Revolutionary Movement
Meanwhile the Indian National Congress founded in 1883 by Allan Octavian Hume (1829-1912) and others with the blessings of the then Viceroy Lord Dufferin was continuing its agitation on constitutional lines. However its critics regarded its policy as ‘Mendicant’, and a new wave of nationalism was sweeping over Bengal and Maharashtra. Its pioneer in Bengal was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1835-1894) the renowned author of Vande Mataram (Hail Mother) hymn. In Maharashtra the message of nationalism was preached by Bal Gangadhar Tilak whose political views were extremist. In the Punjab Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) and in Bengal, Bepin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) criticized the Congress, as its propaganda was confined to a few English educated classes. Swaraj (independence), Swadeshi (use of home-made goods) and boycott became the battle cry of these extremists. The climax was reached when Bangal was partitioned in 1905. The development of terrorism was a notable feature of this movement. Though the objective of the adherents of this movement was the same as that of the Indian National Congress, yet they differed in the methods to be adopted to achieve the goal. These revolutionaries had no faith in the constitutional means followed by the Congress, and had no hesitation to use arms. Their belief in the efficacy of the cult of violence was fortified by studies of the methods adopted by freedom fighters in the West. It was also accentuated by the severe measures of repression taken by the Government to crush the unarmed people’s aspirations for freedom.
The revolutionary movement in India which continued side by side with the Congress had its beginning in 1897 when two British officers. W. C. Rand and Lt. Aversi wee murdered by the two brothers Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar who were sentenced to death in fact the first secret revolutionary society was organized by Wasudeo Balwant Phadke of Maharashtra who died in jail in 1883. The policy of repression adopted by the Government, especially after the Partition of Bengal, further strengthened this movement and led to the rise of a new party, later on known as the Revolutionary Party. The procurement of arms winning over of Indian solders serving under British Command, imparting military training to their cadres and open rebellion in case of a favourable international situation formed a part of their strategy. Arms and ammunition were also smuggled but as the revolutionaries and little capacity to pay, they extorted money from the rich and affluent. A network of secret societies were set up in different parts of the country, the most important being the Anusilan Samiti or the Society for the Promotion of Culture and Training, established by Berindra Kumar Ghose (brother of Aurobindo Ghose) in 1906 and Yugantar Samiti. V. D. Savarkar founded an association Abhiuava Bharat in 1904 in Maharashtra while Nilakanta Brahmachari organized a secret society in Madras. We need not go into details about the several cases of shooting of British officers by the young revolutionaries which led to the martyrdom of Khudiram Bose. Amir Chand, Avadh Behari, Bal Mukund, Basanta Kumar Biswas, Vanchi Aiyar, Ashfaqullah and many others. The Chittagong armoury raid led by Surya Sen in April 1930 was a daring exploit in the annals of the struggle for freedom. For these years after this raid the revolutionaries carried on their activities in spite of numcrous arrests. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was quite active in the Punjab and U.P. Chandra Shekhar Azad of the favour Kakori Conspiracy Case and Bhagat singh of the Labore Conspiracy case whose names are household words belonged to this association. Reference may also be made to the establishment of secret revolutionary societies in the South by Remandha in Andhra Pradesh, Rangaraju in Madras and Krishna Kumar in Karnataka.
The revolutionaries from the very beginning realized the need for setting up centres of agitation and propaganda abroad. These foreign centres of agitation in U.K.France, Germany, USSR, the USA and Canada, etc. proved to be a thron in the flesh of imperial Britain, particularly during the First and the Second World Wars. Shyamji Krishna Varma, Madam Cama and Sardar Singh Raina were some of the leaders of this movement in London and France. In 1914 occurred the famous episode of Kamagata Maru which aroused deep anti-British feelings among the Indians settled in USA and Canada. In fact, it formed a part of the famous Ghadar Movement organized in America by Har Dayal, Bhai Permanand, Sohan Singh and others. The heroism and sacrifices of these revolutionaries served to keep alive the flame of patriotism during the dark days of British imperial rule.
Home Rule Movement
The cleavage between the two wings – the Extremists and the Moderates – of the Indian National Congress led to the launching of what is known as the Home Rule Movement independently both by Tilak and Annie Besant. Swaraj or independence, the goal of Nationalism became the war cry of the Home Rule Movement. Annie Besant founded the Home Rule League in 1916 and edited two journals, The New India and the Commonweal. It was at the call of this crusader for India’s freedom that Sarojini Naidu decided to enter into active politics and joined the Home Rule League. Indeed the triumphant career of Home Rule Movement made the British Government nervous. Tilak’s direct appeal to the people in a language easily understood by them ushered in a movement of incalculable potentiality. The Home Rule Movement marked the beginning of a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom. It placed before the country a concrete scheme of self-government. It also emphasized that entire national resources should be utilized to attain freedom and all national efforts should be geared to this one specific purpose.
Indian National Liberal Federation
At the end of the World War I, the British Government formulated a scheme of reforms which was known as the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms and embodied in the Government of India Act 1919. While the Congress at its session held at Bombay in 1918 under the Presidentship of Hasan Imam condemned the proposals as “disappointing and unsatisfactory”, the Moderates found them to be acceptable and formed what is known as the Indian National Liberal Federation. The Liberal leaders dis-associated themselves from the Congress and declared that the Reform as a great constitutional advance even without any modification and extended its support to the Government to make them a success.
Khilafat Movement
Gandhiji had now taken over the stewardship of the Congress after his return from South Africa. He too was at first in favour of making these reforms work but certain factors, particularly the economic trouble due to hike in prices and oppressive taxation accentuated the hardship of the people.
Shaukat Ali and Mohammed Ali, the two brothers, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad organized the Khilafat Movement on the question of dismemberment of Turkey after her defeat in World War 1. The Ulemas of Deoband and Firangi Mahal and Hakim Ajmal Khan zealously participated in the Movement.
Though basically a congregation of Ulemas, the Khilafat Movement also contained in its rank and leadership men of diverse political persuasions nationalists, revolutionary nationalists, and even Communists and Bolsheviks. They were all combined in their hatred of British rule. Gandhiji wholeheartedly supported the Khilafat Movement which provided a rare opportunity to bring Hindas and Muslims closer. He launched a Non-co-operation Movement (1920-22) on a mass scale to compel the British to grant independence to India, and to rectify the wrong done to Turkey. Gandhiji’s appeal brought forth an amazing response. People defied the law and about thirty thousand people were arrested. The British Government adopted repressive measures and declared both the Congress and the Khilafat organisaations unlawful. However, there was a case of mob violence at Chauri Chaura in U.P. resulting in the death of a few policemen which led Gandhiji to suspend the movement.
Moplah Movement
The Moplah outbreak of 1921 in the wake of Khilapat agitation also deserves to be mentioned. The Moplahs roes in revolt in Malabar, killed British officers and declared the establishment of Swaraj. However in the process Moplahs were also guilty of acts of forcible conversion of Hindus and looting of their property. The British Government came down with a heavy hand, and in the fierce fighting that followed about 3,000 Moplahs were killed, and another batch of seventy died in horrible conditions due to asphyxiation as they were being conveyed by train without any arrangement for ventilation.
Akali Movement
While the Non-Co-operation Movement was still progressing and Gandhiji was in prison, a new wave of discontent spread in the Punjab due to the Akali agitation. The religio-political struggle of the Akalis primarily directed against the priests and the mahants eventually turned against the British and lasted for over 5 years (1920-1925). About 30,000 men and women courted arrest, 400 of them died and about 2,000 were wounded. The Congress gave active support to movement which led to political awakening in the Punjab and henceforward the Sikhs played a notable role in the country’s struggle for freedom. Though a martial race, the Sikhs too adopted the Congress creed of non-violent non-co-operation. In fact, the Akali movement took a turn as a struggle for the liberation of the country which brought all sections of the people, the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims together and it helped them to form a united front against the foreign rulers.
Babbar Akali Movement
In the wake of the Akali Movement came the Babbar Akali Movement, an underground terrorist movement in 1921 mostly in the Jullundur Doab, the territory between Satluj and the Beas. Its aim was to overthrow the British Government by a campaign of murders and terrorism in the Punjab. They committed a number of acts of violence and fought pitched battles against the police. Many of them were killed in encounters, while out of 67 arrested, 5 were sentenced to death, 11 to transportation for life and 38 to various terms of imprisonment. The movement of the Babbars was short-lived but because of its intensity, it set a noble examble of supreme sacrifice.
1923-24 was a critical period in the history of Indian nationalism. There was considerable deterioration in Hindu-Muslim relations and rise in communal tension leading to riots at some places. The power of the Muslim League had increased which obliged the nationalist Muslims to join hands to combat it.
All-India Muslim Nationalist Party
To counter the Muslim League programme against the Congress, the nationalist Muslims formed a party called the All-India Muslim Nationalist Party on 27 July 1929 with Abul Kalam Azad as President, Dr. Ansari as treasurer and T.A.K. Sherwani as Secretary. Its objective was to fight communalism and exhort Muslim to take their due share in India’s struggle for freedom.
Khudai Khidmatgar Movement
Khudai Khidmatgars was an organization of the Pathans of the North-West Frontier Province which supported the Congress in its struggle for freedom. It was in September 1929 that Abdul Ghaffar Khan started the Frontier Provincial Youth League known as the Naujavan-i-sarhad, the Khudai Khidmatgars were a body of volunteers forming part of the youth League which was intended to improve the religious, Financial and educational conditions of the people of the province. Perhaps due to its earlier association with the Communities its members wore Red Shirts but Abdul Ghaffar Khan came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and adopted the aims and objectives of the Congress in 1929. Since then this organization took part in all the activities of the Congress and followed its programme and policies.
Ahrar Movement
The nationalist Muslims started another organization called the All-India Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam in 1931 to work for the attamment of independence through constitutional means. Its followers supported the Congress and worked for the economic, educational and political advancement of Muslims. The influence of the Ahrars was, however, mostly confined to the province of Punjab. The total numbers of Ahrars according to the official records was not more than 3,000 in 1946.
All Parties Muslim Unity Conference
The Ulemas and the nationalist Muslims constituted in 1933 what is known as the All-Parties Muslim Unity Conference with the avowed objectives of respect for Islam and to strive for unity with other communities and to organize various seats of Islam to play their role in the country’s struggle for freedom. Its members included some followers of Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Hind. Shia community, and of the All-India Muslim Conference.
Swarajya Party
Meanwhile the reforms of 1919 had been put into effect and the legislative bodies had been enlarged. But there was a sharp difference of opinion among the Congress leaders over the question of participating in the Councils and other legislative bodies. Some of the important leaders such as C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru advocated “Council entry” for wrecking the Councils from within. The majority did not approve of it. Therefore the pre-Council group formed the Swarajya Party in 1923 with Deshbandhu C. R. Das as President and Motilal Nehru as Secretary. The new party contested the elections; they had some success in so far as they were able to convince the Government that the system of diarchy introduced in the Provinces was unworkable. The main objective of wrecking the Councils from within, however, was not fulfilled and the influence of the Swarajya Party on Indian politics suffered a decline, especially after the death of C. R. Das in June 1925. It will be interesting to discuss in detail the rise and fall of this party which was, of course, an off-shoot of the Congress.
All Parties Conference
In reply to a challenge from the Secretary of State that India could not produce an agreed constitution, an All-Parties Conference under the Chairmanship of Pandit Motilal Nehru, prepared a scheme according to which India should be given Dominion Status by the end of 1929. The Congress accepted it but as there was no favourable response from the Government, the Congress at its session held at Lahore in December 1929, under the Presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru declared that complete independence was the goal. This led to the lunching of the Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhiji in March 1930. However, Gandhi-Irwin Pact led to suspension of the Movement and Congress participation in the Round Table-Conference in London.
Congress Socialist Party
The suspension of Civil Disobedience Movement in July 1933 led to the polarization of the Congress between the Right and the Left. Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches and writings at the time clearly showed his inclination towards the latter. The consolidation of the left forces became inevitable after the Conference of the Congress leaders at Delhi in 1934 when it was decided by the majority to revive the All-India Swarajya Party for the purpose of contesting elections to the Assemblies, Gandhiji too had given his approval to Council entry. However, its General Secretary, Sampurnnand made it clear that “while drafting his tentative socialist programme he had consistently tried to keep before his eyes India’s cultural, historical, political and economic background making no attempt to follow Leninism which recognized socialism as a secular concept comprehending such principles as the dictatorship of the proletariat; class war and the classless society. The goal of his party was complete independence, Sampurnanand’s programme included abolition of Zamindari with due compensation, nationalization of key industries, etc. The main leaders of the party were Acharya Narendra Deo, Jayaprakash Narayan, Abdul Bari, M. R. Masani, C. C. Banerji, Farid Huq, Ram Manohar Lohia, Mrs. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Achyut Patwardhan. This party was against the growing influence of the Communist Party. The Congress Socialist Party endorsed the stand of the Indian National Congress during World War II and refused to change its stand even after Russia Had Joined the Allies. Jayaprakash Narayan, as we all know, played such an important role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
All India Communist Party
The influence of the Communist ideas made itself felt in India shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917. And as early as 1920 the Communist Party of the USSR decided “to take concrete measures to spread revolution in the East.” M. N. Roy a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International was responsible for sending Indian communist trained in Russia to spread communist ideology in India and set up its centres. However his efforts met with no conspicuous success till the Communist Party of Britain took up the matter and sent some agents to India; Philip Spratt being the most important.
By 1924 the Communist propaganda had made considerable headway. The British Government felt alarmed and instituted the Cawnpore (Kanpur) Conspiracy case against some of the prominent leaders including S. A. Dange. Muzaffar Ahmed, Shaukat Usmani and Nalini Gupta who were all convicted and sent to jail. However, within a few years the Communist leaders in India with the help of the agents from Britain reorganized the Party and defined its goal as the overthrow of the British Government in India. A Workers and Peasants Party was formed in the United Provinces and its branches were also opened in Bombay and Bengal besides several towns of U.P.
The Trade Union formed under the auspices of the Communist Party continued to play an important role in demonstrations against the British Government. The main thesis of the Communist Party in 1930s aimed at a proletariat urban revolution to start with and once it was achieved to extend it to rural areas. This was to be achieved through the transformation of individual strikes such as those of peasants against rents, debts, etc. into All-India movement and spread revolutionary propaganda amongst the police and the army. By these means the Communist also worked for the overthrow of the British rule and achieve independence for India. The efforts of some of the Communist leaders as M. N. Roy to form a united front with congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi for achieving Indian independence and the stiff opposition it encountered from others such as Adhikari, P.C.Joshi is an interesting subject of study for detailed and critical discussion. However, a leftist united front could not be formed due to the loyalty of the CPI to the Communist International. The Communist policy of infiltration led to the resignation of such Congress socialists such as Masani, Ashok Mehta, Ram Manohar Lohia and Achyut Patwardhan. The communist Party, however, continued to lend its support to the mass movements launched by the Congress till 1942 when it decided to call off its agitation due to involvement of Russian in the was in support of the Allies. However, as the confidential records of the Government of India reveal that it remained linked with the main currents of nationalism to the extent possible. It took her six months to change from its anti-war policy to its new pro-war line and even then it did not give up its demand of independence of India from British rule.
Radical Democratic Party
A brief reference may be made here to the Radical Democratic Party formed by M. N. Roy in August 1940 after he left the Congress along with his followers. He believed that he would be able to convince the British Government to form coalition ministries by combining the anti Congress elements in the various provinces. The war, he thought would be prolonged and would thus leave the Britain exhausted. It would provide him with an opportunity to launch a mass movement and wrest power from the British. However, “his strenuous efforts to rope in anti war groups and parties failed and the confidential note of the Government described him as a ‘political adventurer’ who had grown from a romantic terrorist and anti-British agitator into an ardent communist and anti-imperialist and now into an anti-fascist.” He failed to persuade the Government to form coalition ministries but continued to help them in encouraging production by persuading the labourers not to go on strike.
All-India Trade Union Congress
In India, the national leaders soon came to realize the importance of industrial strikes to force the Government to meet their political demands. As early as 1908 the followers of Tilak had created a great furor among the mull workers of Bombay by informing that the leader had been arrested for advocating their cause. The first All-India Trade Union Congress was, however, inaugurated in Bombay in December 1920 by Swami Shradhanand and was presided over by Lajpat Rai. The Congress continued to meet annually and even representatives from abroad attended some of its sessions. The Communists had no doubt gained considerable influence in this organization but were not able to get support for their stand in 1942. But by 1943 when the membership of the AITUC rose to 4,70,000 workers organize in 401 unions, the Communists representation stood at 70 per cent.
Hindustan Mazdur Sevak Sangh
Gulzarilal Nanda who looked after the Congress interests in the organization announced the formation of the Hindustan Mazdur Sevak Sangh with the concurrence of Gandhiji, Vallabhbhai Patel was to be the President. Every member was enjoined to sign a pledge which forbade association with any party which countenanced the use of violent means or aimed at the establishment of dictatorial or sectional control of the political or economic life of the country. It clearly excluded the communists who might have been the ordinary members of the Congress. Thus the Congress had clearly marked its entry in the labour field. Its leaders now made full use of the pro-war attitude of the Communists and won over considerable following in the labour circles.
Forward Bloc
Soon after his resignation from the Presidentship of the Indian National Congress on 3 May 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose formed what is known as the Forward Bloc. Its main objective was attainment of complete independence and establishment of a modern socialist state, promoting social ownership and state control of large-scale industrial production for economic development, freedom of worship, social justice and equal rights for individuals regardless of creed or sex. It became a party at its Nagpur session on 18 June, 1940 and attempted a form a left consolidated front but the Communist Party of India and the Congress Socialist Party did not join it. However, it collaborated with the All-India Kisan Sabha and was against any compromise with the British Government. In the then prevailing situation, it advocated collaboration with Italy, Germany and Japan to get rid of the imperialists British rule.
All-India Kisan Sabha
The All India Kisan Sabha, mainly a peasants’ organization with Swami Sahajanand as its President was subject to the influence of Congress Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India. During the World War II it followed its programme of no-tax campaign, occupation of Bakasht land in Bihar; travel in railways without tickets and anti-recruitment drive in the rural areas. It completely aligned itself with the Forward Bloc and stood for no compromise with the imperialist British Government and complete independence.
Surprisingly enough, the opposition to foreign rule in early years came more from the peasants, labourers and the weaker sections of the society that from the educated bourgeois classes. Unscrupulous defiance of moral principle and the reckless exploitation of the masses that characterized the early activities of the traders made the rule of the East India Company hateful to the people. The proselytizing activities of the Christian missionaries were greatly resented all around. The deliberate destruction of Indian manufacturer and handicrafts aggravated agrarian misery and economic discontent. All these factors led to local resistance in different parts of this vast country which was basically united in its opposition to the British rule.
The uprisings of the Chuars in 1799 in the districts of Manbum, Bankura and Midnapore which took and alarming turn were master minded by the Rani of Midnapore. The Rani was taken prisoner on April 6, 1799 which only made the Chuars more furious. Equally important in the annals of India’s struggle for freedom is the rebellion of the Santhals (1855) occupying Rajmahal Hills against the British Government who in league –with the mahajans or money lenders oppressed the industrious people, there being even cases of molestation of women. Under the leadership of two brothers, Sidhu and Kanhu, ten thousand Santhals met in June 1855 and declared their intention to “take possession of the country and set up a government of their own”. In spite of the ruthless measures of the British Government to suppress them, the Santhals showed no signs of submission till February 1856 when their leaders were arrested and most inhuman barbarities were practiced on the Santhals after they were defeated.
We need not go into the details of many other revolts and disturbances throughout the country which have been the subject matter of many dissertations but it is apparent that there was a cry to “drive out the British” almost throughout the first century of the British rule in India.
Great Revolt of 1857
The British, however, refused to heed the warning or even to care for it as they had developed on over weaning confidence in their strength in India. Therefore when the Great Revolt of 1857 took place, they were completely stunned. It was the first organized attempt on the part of the Indians for the emancipation of their country. No doubt, the British came out victorious at the end but the Indians too gained in the sense that the movement became a symbol of inspiration and sacrifice for the subsequent generations.
The failure of the outbreak of 1857 opened a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom. The idea of open armed resistance against the British was at a discount, that it was not altogether discarded as is evident from the various rebellions which broke out in several parts of the country during the years 1859-1872. The most important of them were the Indigo Disturbances in Bengal, the movements of the Wahabis in Bihar, Bengal and other parts of the country and the Kuka in the Punjab.
Wahabi Movement
The great Wahabi Movement covered period of over 50 years and was spread from the North-West Frontier to Bengal and Bihar. It was not an ephemeral or sudden upheaval: without any definite aim or organization, like the Revolt of 1857. The movement continued well over forty years after the death of its leader Saiyid Ahmed in 1831. The British set over twenty expeditions before they were able to crush the movement. Important leaders of the movement-Yahya Ali, Ahmadullah, Amiruddin, Ibrahim Mandal, Rafique Mandal and their comrades were tried at the state trials of Ambala (1864), Patna (1865), Malda (Sept. 1870) and Rajmahal (October 1870), convicted and transported for life.
A similar movement known as the Faraizi Movement started in Bengal by Haji Shhariatullah of Faridpur made incumbent on its followers to carry on struggle against the political and economic exploitation of the foreigners. His son Dadu Miyan (1819-1860) asserted that the earth belonged to God and no one has the right to occupy it. The movement lost much of its vigour after the death of Dadu Miyan in 1860.
Kuka Movement
The Kuka Movement marked the first major reaction of the people in the Punjab to the new political order initiated by the British after 1849. the Namdhari Movement of which the Kuka Movement was the most important phase aimed at the overthrow of the British rule. Ram Singh, who became its leader in 1863, gave military training to his followers. It seemed inevitable that before long a clash would occur between the Kukas and the British Government. The clash actually occurred over the question of slaughter of cows. It started with murderous attacks on butchers of Amritsar and Raikot (Ludhiana District) in 1871 and culminated in the Kuka raid on Malerkotla on January 15, 1872. The Kuka outbreak of 1872 was visited by terrible punishment, which was equaled in brutality by few events in our history. A large number of kuka prisoners were blown to death with cannons, their leader Ram Singh was deported to Rangoon.
There were some of the militant movements which preceded the birth of the Indian National Congress. However it was the intellectual movement which now dominated politics. The political ideas and organizations which had taken root before 1857 now flowered into a new national or political consciousness. This was brought about by sudden revelation of India’s past glory through the works of foreign and Indian scholars and large scale ex-cavations carried out by Alexander Cunningham. The preachings of various associations such as the Arya Samaj, Theosophical Society and Ramakrishna Mission also helped in this process.
Arya Samaj
Founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the Arya Sabha played a notable role in the development of a new national consciousness among the Hindus. In fact, it became “the foremost agency for planting a sturdy independent nationalism in the Punjab”. Some of the important national leaders such as Lajpat Rai and Hans Raj were staunch Arya Samajists. It also provided a chain of educational institutions which became the centre of patriotic activities in the national struggle. Sir Valentine Chirol commented on the seditious role of the Arya Samaj that it “has sometimes barely disguised more than a merely Platonic desire to see the British quit India. “Sir Denzil Ibbetson was informed that “where-ever there was Arya Sanaj, it was the centre of seditious talk. “Sir Mechael O’Dwyer observed that “an enormous population of the Hindus convicted of seditions and other political offences from 1907 to present day (1925) are members of the Samaj.”
The Servants of India Society
The Servants of India Society was founded by Gokhale in 1905. About its mission he wrote; “The Servants of India Society will train man prepared to devote their lives to the cause of the country in a religious spirit and will seek to promote, by all constitutional means the national interests of the Indian people.” A member could be admitted to the Society only on the recommendation of the Council consisting of three ordinary members and the First Member (or President). Every membe4r was required to take seven vows at the time of enrolment and had to undergo training for a period of five years. The branches of the Society were soon opened in Madras (1910), Nagpur (1911), Bombay (1911) and Allahabad (1913) and centres for works were subsequently established in Ambala, Cuttack and Kozhikode. The official organ of the Society “The Servants of India” was started in 1918 and continued upto 1939. Besides involving itself in social service and educational activities, the Society co-operated with the Congress in the political sphere and helped her in the collection of funds. The Society continued the mission of its founder, after his demise, and enjoyed the patronage of such renowned persons as Hriday Nath Kunzru, A.D. Mani, and in recent times of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Kumaran Asan and his Movement
In this connection reference may be made to another movement in the south which has received scant attention. Sri Narayana Guru and Kumaran Asan (1873-1924) led a movement in Kerala which made a great impact on the people, awakened them from their slumber and revolutionized the life of a large number of people. This socio-economic movement never found a legitimate place, even as a footnote in the nationalist history of India, mainly because of the ignorance or lack of appreciation of the movement south of the Vindhya ranges. Romain Rolland, in his book “The Life of Ramakrishna” refers to the personality of this “Great Guru whose beneficent spiritual activity was exercised for more than 40 years in the State of Travencore over some million faithful souls”. He preached, “if one may say so, afjnana of action, a great intellectual religious, having a lively sense of the people, and their social needs. It has greatly contributed to the uplifting of the oppressed classes in Southern India and its activities have in a measure been allied to those of Gandhi.” Asan’s poetry was an instrument and agent of the revolutionary movement and it has, therefore, to be studied against the historical circumstances which obtained in Kerala during those stirring years. He was a great social reformer and bellwether of a great social renaissance movement. The lower castes Cherumas, called ‘two-legged animals’, the Ezhevas and other depressed classes who had to pay “a tax for the hair he grew on his head, and each woman had to pay a breast tax. “Kumaran Asan, through his literary creations, effected tremendous transformations in the intellectual horizon of Kerala, and paved the way for “the regeneration of the society and growth of political rights and liberties.” Asan was equally concerned with the freedom of the country but believed that this goal could be reached only by passing through stages of social emancipation and inter-caste harmony.
Deoband Movement
Similarly the Deoband Movement started by some of the Muslim Ulemas after the failure of the Outbreak of 1857, held that it was incumbent upon the Muslims to drive the British out of the country. Contrary to the views of the Aligarh School led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the followers of Deoband School associated with the Congress in its struggle for freedom.
Birsa Movement
The Birsa Movement of 1895 aimed at the overthrow of the British Raj and the establishment of the Munda Self-Government. It continued for 3 years even after the arrest of its leader Birsa in January 1898 who was deported to Ranchi. He renewed his activities after release and exhorted its followers to get rid of the foreign oppressors and establish their own rule. In the fight that ensured, about 2000 Mundas were killed, Birsa was captured and died in June 1900 while in jail.
Revolutionary Movement
Meanwhile the Indian National Congress founded in 1883 by Allan Octavian Hume (1829-1912) and others with the blessings of the then Viceroy Lord Dufferin was continuing its agitation on constitutional lines. However its critics regarded its policy as ‘Mendicant’, and a new wave of nationalism was sweeping over Bengal and Maharashtra. Its pioneer in Bengal was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1835-1894) the renowned author of Vande Mataram (Hail Mother) hymn. In Maharashtra the message of nationalism was preached by Bal Gangadhar Tilak whose political views were extremist. In the Punjab Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) and in Bengal, Bepin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) criticized the Congress, as its propaganda was confined to a few English educated classes. Swaraj (independence), Swadeshi (use of home-made goods) and boycott became the battle cry of these extremists. The climax was reached when Bangal was partitioned in 1905. The development of terrorism was a notable feature of this movement. Though the objective of the adherents of this movement was the same as that of the Indian National Congress, yet they differed in the methods to be adopted to achieve the goal. These revolutionaries had no faith in the constitutional means followed by the Congress, and had no hesitation to use arms. Their belief in the efficacy of the cult of violence was fortified by studies of the methods adopted by freedom fighters in the West. It was also accentuated by the severe measures of repression taken by the Government to crush the unarmed people’s aspirations for freedom.
The revolutionary movement in India which continued side by side with the Congress had its beginning in 1897 when two British officers. W. C. Rand and Lt. Aversi wee murdered by the two brothers Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar who were sentenced to death in fact the first secret revolutionary society was organized by Wasudeo Balwant Phadke of Maharashtra who died in jail in 1883. The policy of repression adopted by the Government, especially after the Partition of Bengal, further strengthened this movement and led to the rise of a new party, later on known as the Revolutionary Party. The procurement of arms winning over of Indian solders serving under British Command, imparting military training to their cadres and open rebellion in case of a favourable international situation formed a part of their strategy. Arms and ammunition were also smuggled but as the revolutionaries and little capacity to pay, they extorted money from the rich and affluent. A network of secret societies were set up in different parts of the country, the most important being the Anusilan Samiti or the Society for the Promotion of Culture and Training, established by Berindra Kumar Ghose (brother of Aurobindo Ghose) in 1906 and Yugantar Samiti. V. D. Savarkar founded an association Abhiuava Bharat in 1904 in Maharashtra while Nilakanta Brahmachari organized a secret society in Madras. We need not go into details about the several cases of shooting of British officers by the young revolutionaries which led to the martyrdom of Khudiram Bose. Amir Chand, Avadh Behari, Bal Mukund, Basanta Kumar Biswas, Vanchi Aiyar, Ashfaqullah and many others. The Chittagong armoury raid led by Surya Sen in April 1930 was a daring exploit in the annals of the struggle for freedom. For these years after this raid the revolutionaries carried on their activities in spite of numcrous arrests. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was quite active in the Punjab and U.P. Chandra Shekhar Azad of the favour Kakori Conspiracy Case and Bhagat singh of the Labore Conspiracy case whose names are household words belonged to this association. Reference may also be made to the establishment of secret revolutionary societies in the South by Remandha in Andhra Pradesh, Rangaraju in Madras and Krishna Kumar in Karnataka.
The revolutionaries from the very beginning realized the need for setting up centres of agitation and propaganda abroad. These foreign centres of agitation in U.K.France, Germany, USSR, the USA and Canada, etc. proved to be a thron in the flesh of imperial Britain, particularly during the First and the Second World Wars. Shyamji Krishna Varma, Madam Cama and Sardar Singh Raina were some of the leaders of this movement in London and France. In 1914 occurred the famous episode of Kamagata Maru which aroused deep anti-British feelings among the Indians settled in USA and Canada. In fact, it formed a part of the famous Ghadar Movement organized in America by Har Dayal, Bhai Permanand, Sohan Singh and others. The heroism and sacrifices of these revolutionaries served to keep alive the flame of patriotism during the dark days of British imperial rule.
Home Rule Movement
The cleavage between the two wings – the Extremists and the Moderates – of the Indian National Congress led to the launching of what is known as the Home Rule Movement independently both by Tilak and Annie Besant. Swaraj or independence, the goal of Nationalism became the war cry of the Home Rule Movement. Annie Besant founded the Home Rule League in 1916 and edited two journals, The New India and the Commonweal. It was at the call of this crusader for India’s freedom that Sarojini Naidu decided to enter into active politics and joined the Home Rule League. Indeed the triumphant career of Home Rule Movement made the British Government nervous. Tilak’s direct appeal to the people in a language easily understood by them ushered in a movement of incalculable potentiality. The Home Rule Movement marked the beginning of a new phase in India’s struggle for freedom. It placed before the country a concrete scheme of self-government. It also emphasized that entire national resources should be utilized to attain freedom and all national efforts should be geared to this one specific purpose.
Indian National Liberal Federation
At the end of the World War I, the British Government formulated a scheme of reforms which was known as the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms and embodied in the Government of India Act 1919. While the Congress at its session held at Bombay in 1918 under the Presidentship of Hasan Imam condemned the proposals as “disappointing and unsatisfactory”, the Moderates found them to be acceptable and formed what is known as the Indian National Liberal Federation. The Liberal leaders dis-associated themselves from the Congress and declared that the Reform as a great constitutional advance even without any modification and extended its support to the Government to make them a success.
Khilafat Movement
Gandhiji had now taken over the stewardship of the Congress after his return from South Africa. He too was at first in favour of making these reforms work but certain factors, particularly the economic trouble due to hike in prices and oppressive taxation accentuated the hardship of the people.
Shaukat Ali and Mohammed Ali, the two brothers, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad organized the Khilafat Movement on the question of dismemberment of Turkey after her defeat in World War 1. The Ulemas of Deoband and Firangi Mahal and Hakim Ajmal Khan zealously participated in the Movement.
Though basically a congregation of Ulemas, the Khilafat Movement also contained in its rank and leadership men of diverse political persuasions nationalists, revolutionary nationalists, and even Communists and Bolsheviks. They were all combined in their hatred of British rule. Gandhiji wholeheartedly supported the Khilafat Movement which provided a rare opportunity to bring Hindas and Muslims closer. He launched a Non-co-operation Movement (1920-22) on a mass scale to compel the British to grant independence to India, and to rectify the wrong done to Turkey. Gandhiji’s appeal brought forth an amazing response. People defied the law and about thirty thousand people were arrested. The British Government adopted repressive measures and declared both the Congress and the Khilafat organisaations unlawful. However, there was a case of mob violence at Chauri Chaura in U.P. resulting in the death of a few policemen which led Gandhiji to suspend the movement.
Moplah Movement
The Moplah outbreak of 1921 in the wake of Khilapat agitation also deserves to be mentioned. The Moplahs roes in revolt in Malabar, killed British officers and declared the establishment of Swaraj. However in the process Moplahs were also guilty of acts of forcible conversion of Hindus and looting of their property. The British Government came down with a heavy hand, and in the fierce fighting that followed about 3,000 Moplahs were killed, and another batch of seventy died in horrible conditions due to asphyxiation as they were being conveyed by train without any arrangement for ventilation.
Akali Movement
While the Non-Co-operation Movement was still progressing and Gandhiji was in prison, a new wave of discontent spread in the Punjab due to the Akali agitation. The religio-political struggle of the Akalis primarily directed against the priests and the mahants eventually turned against the British and lasted for over 5 years (1920-1925). About 30,000 men and women courted arrest, 400 of them died and about 2,000 were wounded. The Congress gave active support to movement which led to political awakening in the Punjab and henceforward the Sikhs played a notable role in the country’s struggle for freedom. Though a martial race, the Sikhs too adopted the Congress creed of non-violent non-co-operation. In fact, the Akali movement took a turn as a struggle for the liberation of the country which brought all sections of the people, the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims together and it helped them to form a united front against the foreign rulers.
Babbar Akali Movement
In the wake of the Akali Movement came the Babbar Akali Movement, an underground terrorist movement in 1921 mostly in the Jullundur Doab, the territory between Satluj and the Beas. Its aim was to overthrow the British Government by a campaign of murders and terrorism in the Punjab. They committed a number of acts of violence and fought pitched battles against the police. Many of them were killed in encounters, while out of 67 arrested, 5 were sentenced to death, 11 to transportation for life and 38 to various terms of imprisonment. The movement of the Babbars was short-lived but because of its intensity, it set a noble examble of supreme sacrifice.
1923-24 was a critical period in the history of Indian nationalism. There was considerable deterioration in Hindu-Muslim relations and rise in communal tension leading to riots at some places. The power of the Muslim League had increased which obliged the nationalist Muslims to join hands to combat it.
All-India Muslim Nationalist Party
To counter the Muslim League programme against the Congress, the nationalist Muslims formed a party called the All-India Muslim Nationalist Party on 27 July 1929 with Abul Kalam Azad as President, Dr. Ansari as treasurer and T.A.K. Sherwani as Secretary. Its objective was to fight communalism and exhort Muslim to take their due share in India’s struggle for freedom.
Khudai Khidmatgar Movement
Khudai Khidmatgars was an organization of the Pathans of the North-West Frontier Province which supported the Congress in its struggle for freedom. It was in September 1929 that Abdul Ghaffar Khan started the Frontier Provincial Youth League known as the Naujavan-i-sarhad, the Khudai Khidmatgars were a body of volunteers forming part of the youth League which was intended to improve the religious, Financial and educational conditions of the people of the province. Perhaps due to its earlier association with the Communities its members wore Red Shirts but Abdul Ghaffar Khan came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and adopted the aims and objectives of the Congress in 1929. Since then this organization took part in all the activities of the Congress and followed its programme and policies.
Ahrar Movement
The nationalist Muslims started another organization called the All-India Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam in 1931 to work for the attamment of independence through constitutional means. Its followers supported the Congress and worked for the economic, educational and political advancement of Muslims. The influence of the Ahrars was, however, mostly confined to the province of Punjab. The total numbers of Ahrars according to the official records was not more than 3,000 in 1946.
All Parties Muslim Unity Conference
The Ulemas and the nationalist Muslims constituted in 1933 what is known as the All-Parties Muslim Unity Conference with the avowed objectives of respect for Islam and to strive for unity with other communities and to organize various seats of Islam to play their role in the country’s struggle for freedom. Its members included some followers of Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Hind. Shia community, and of the All-India Muslim Conference.
Swarajya Party
Meanwhile the reforms of 1919 had been put into effect and the legislative bodies had been enlarged. But there was a sharp difference of opinion among the Congress leaders over the question of participating in the Councils and other legislative bodies. Some of the important leaders such as C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru advocated “Council entry” for wrecking the Councils from within. The majority did not approve of it. Therefore the pre-Council group formed the Swarajya Party in 1923 with Deshbandhu C. R. Das as President and Motilal Nehru as Secretary. The new party contested the elections; they had some success in so far as they were able to convince the Government that the system of diarchy introduced in the Provinces was unworkable. The main objective of wrecking the Councils from within, however, was not fulfilled and the influence of the Swarajya Party on Indian politics suffered a decline, especially after the death of C. R. Das in June 1925. It will be interesting to discuss in detail the rise and fall of this party which was, of course, an off-shoot of the Congress.
All Parties Conference
In reply to a challenge from the Secretary of State that India could not produce an agreed constitution, an All-Parties Conference under the Chairmanship of Pandit Motilal Nehru, prepared a scheme according to which India should be given Dominion Status by the end of 1929. The Congress accepted it but as there was no favourable response from the Government, the Congress at its session held at Lahore in December 1929, under the Presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru declared that complete independence was the goal. This led to the lunching of the Civil Disobedience Movement by Gandhiji in March 1930. However, Gandhi-Irwin Pact led to suspension of the Movement and Congress participation in the Round Table-Conference in London.
Congress Socialist Party
The suspension of Civil Disobedience Movement in July 1933 led to the polarization of the Congress between the Right and the Left. Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches and writings at the time clearly showed his inclination towards the latter. The consolidation of the left forces became inevitable after the Conference of the Congress leaders at Delhi in 1934 when it was decided by the majority to revive the All-India Swarajya Party for the purpose of contesting elections to the Assemblies, Gandhiji too had given his approval to Council entry. However, its General Secretary, Sampurnnand made it clear that “while drafting his tentative socialist programme he had consistently tried to keep before his eyes India’s cultural, historical, political and economic background making no attempt to follow Leninism which recognized socialism as a secular concept comprehending such principles as the dictatorship of the proletariat; class war and the classless society. The goal of his party was complete independence, Sampurnanand’s programme included abolition of Zamindari with due compensation, nationalization of key industries, etc. The main leaders of the party were Acharya Narendra Deo, Jayaprakash Narayan, Abdul Bari, M. R. Masani, C. C. Banerji, Farid Huq, Ram Manohar Lohia, Mrs. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Achyut Patwardhan. This party was against the growing influence of the Communist Party. The Congress Socialist Party endorsed the stand of the Indian National Congress during World War II and refused to change its stand even after Russia Had Joined the Allies. Jayaprakash Narayan, as we all know, played such an important role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
All India Communist Party
The influence of the Communist ideas made itself felt in India shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917. And as early as 1920 the Communist Party of the USSR decided “to take concrete measures to spread revolution in the East.” M. N. Roy a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International was responsible for sending Indian communist trained in Russia to spread communist ideology in India and set up its centres. However his efforts met with no conspicuous success till the Communist Party of Britain took up the matter and sent some agents to India; Philip Spratt being the most important.
By 1924 the Communist propaganda had made considerable headway. The British Government felt alarmed and instituted the Cawnpore (Kanpur) Conspiracy case against some of the prominent leaders including S. A. Dange. Muzaffar Ahmed, Shaukat Usmani and Nalini Gupta who were all convicted and sent to jail. However, within a few years the Communist leaders in India with the help of the agents from Britain reorganized the Party and defined its goal as the overthrow of the British Government in India. A Workers and Peasants Party was formed in the United Provinces and its branches were also opened in Bombay and Bengal besides several towns of U.P.
The Trade Union formed under the auspices of the Communist Party continued to play an important role in demonstrations against the British Government. The main thesis of the Communist Party in 1930s aimed at a proletariat urban revolution to start with and once it was achieved to extend it to rural areas. This was to be achieved through the transformation of individual strikes such as those of peasants against rents, debts, etc. into All-India movement and spread revolutionary propaganda amongst the police and the army. By these means the Communist also worked for the overthrow of the British rule and achieve independence for India. The efforts of some of the Communist leaders as M. N. Roy to form a united front with congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi for achieving Indian independence and the stiff opposition it encountered from others such as Adhikari, P.C.Joshi is an interesting subject of study for detailed and critical discussion. However, a leftist united front could not be formed due to the loyalty of the CPI to the Communist International. The Communist policy of infiltration led to the resignation of such Congress socialists such as Masani, Ashok Mehta, Ram Manohar Lohia and Achyut Patwardhan. The communist Party, however, continued to lend its support to the mass movements launched by the Congress till 1942 when it decided to call off its agitation due to involvement of Russian in the was in support of the Allies. However, as the confidential records of the Government of India reveal that it remained linked with the main currents of nationalism to the extent possible. It took her six months to change from its anti-war policy to its new pro-war line and even then it did not give up its demand of independence of India from British rule.
Radical Democratic Party
A brief reference may be made here to the Radical Democratic Party formed by M. N. Roy in August 1940 after he left the Congress along with his followers. He believed that he would be able to convince the British Government to form coalition ministries by combining the anti Congress elements in the various provinces. The war, he thought would be prolonged and would thus leave the Britain exhausted. It would provide him with an opportunity to launch a mass movement and wrest power from the British. However, “his strenuous efforts to rope in anti war groups and parties failed and the confidential note of the Government described him as a ‘political adventurer’ who had grown from a romantic terrorist and anti-British agitator into an ardent communist and anti-imperialist and now into an anti-fascist.” He failed to persuade the Government to form coalition ministries but continued to help them in encouraging production by persuading the labourers not to go on strike.
All-India Trade Union Congress
In India, the national leaders soon came to realize the importance of industrial strikes to force the Government to meet their political demands. As early as 1908 the followers of Tilak had created a great furor among the mull workers of Bombay by informing that the leader had been arrested for advocating their cause. The first All-India Trade Union Congress was, however, inaugurated in Bombay in December 1920 by Swami Shradhanand and was presided over by Lajpat Rai. The Congress continued to meet annually and even representatives from abroad attended some of its sessions. The Communists had no doubt gained considerable influence in this organization but were not able to get support for their stand in 1942. But by 1943 when the membership of the AITUC rose to 4,70,000 workers organize in 401 unions, the Communists representation stood at 70 per cent.
Hindustan Mazdur Sevak Sangh
Gulzarilal Nanda who looked after the Congress interests in the organization announced the formation of the Hindustan Mazdur Sevak Sangh with the concurrence of Gandhiji, Vallabhbhai Patel was to be the President. Every member was enjoined to sign a pledge which forbade association with any party which countenanced the use of violent means or aimed at the establishment of dictatorial or sectional control of the political or economic life of the country. It clearly excluded the communists who might have been the ordinary members of the Congress. Thus the Congress had clearly marked its entry in the labour field. Its leaders now made full use of the pro-war attitude of the Communists and won over considerable following in the labour circles.
Forward Bloc
Soon after his resignation from the Presidentship of the Indian National Congress on 3 May 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose formed what is known as the Forward Bloc. Its main objective was attainment of complete independence and establishment of a modern socialist state, promoting social ownership and state control of large-scale industrial production for economic development, freedom of worship, social justice and equal rights for individuals regardless of creed or sex. It became a party at its Nagpur session on 18 June, 1940 and attempted a form a left consolidated front but the Communist Party of India and the Congress Socialist Party did not join it. However, it collaborated with the All-India Kisan Sabha and was against any compromise with the British Government. In the then prevailing situation, it advocated collaboration with Italy, Germany and Japan to get rid of the imperialists British rule.
All-India Kisan Sabha
The All India Kisan Sabha, mainly a peasants’ organization with Swami Sahajanand as its President was subject to the influence of Congress Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India. During the World War II it followed its programme of no-tax campaign, occupation of Bakasht land in Bihar; travel in railways without tickets and anti-recruitment drive in the rural areas. It completely aligned itself with the Forward Bloc and stood for no compromise with the imperialist British Government and complete independence.
June 13, 2009
How to prepare Current Affairs Notes for Any Civil Service Exams?
How to read news paper & get Notes of Current Affairs
Generaly we used to read Hindu paper.
1.It is enough to read hindu paper daily without break.
2.Otherwise, economic times can be used in the period of Budget session or any other important economic issues.
Reading Hindu
1.Before going to take notes, you have to keep 5 hand (normal) size note books and one file(tag file)
2.Give headings to those note books as follows.,
3.If you read anything about science,Geography or economics regarding international issues, then just put those information in the international part.
4.same to be followed in National part also.
5.in general knowledge section, put the information which is always factual and never be changed further.
6.In optional parts,
--read the entire articles or news in full
-- try to analyse with your text books you are reccommanded.
--Make analysed notes in your own idea with the help of text books.
7.If you find any good articles in Editorials then just cut it and add into the tag files. it will be usefull for both your mains and interview(even prelims).actually the editorials will help us to look a balanced view in a topic in mains and interview.
8.very important-- ensure that you are reading and taking notes of important news but not spam news. Try to find out what are important and not.
9.try to link the current news with one another news like GS,optional1 or optional2.
10.try to use different 6 colours to the 6 note books.
11.keep a card like small paper in your pocket in which you should have note down the famous and important personalities,important events you taken from news papers in brief. frequently look on that card.
12.when ever you read optionals, just see the notes you have already taken from the news paper.
13.ensure your notes with various magazines like yojana,kurukshetra,India today,frontline,wizard ect., ect.,
14.when you try to remember the information, just try to imagine the colour you used to that particular note book.
Uses of this approach
1.your IQ is improved
2.you get the ability of creative approach
3.it is easy to review when ever you need some information about current affairs
4.It will not be painfull at the final day preparation of prelims.
5.a clear picture of current affairs come to your mind, because every news are clearly segmented through the 6 note books.
6.easy to refer
7.current affairs part of optional sujects is now easy to handle.
8.we get an idea and able to predict about, what would be asked in mains and interviews.
9.your confident level will increased.
Whenever we start our preparation for CS, we consider a main work in this regard.Obviously it is Reading News paper. when i started preparation 3 years ago, the painfull work to me was reading news papers. but, gradually i came to know that reading news papers is an interesting work in the preparation. I felt it because of my gradual improvement in both my optionals and GS. I made interesting to read news papers through creative approach to it. I would like to share my ideas in this regards.
Generaly we used to read Hindu paper.
1.It is enough to read hindu paper daily without break.
2.Otherwise, economic times can be used in the period of Budget session or any other important economic issues.
Reading Hindu
1.Before going to take notes, you have to keep 5 hand (normal) size note books and one file(tag file)
2.Give headings to those note books as follows.,
- i.International
- ii.National
- iii.general knowledge
- iv.News events regarding Optional 1
- v.News events regarding Optional 2
- vi.Articles regarding General Studies ,optional -1, and optional-2.(to be attached in tag file)
3.If you read anything about science,Geography or economics regarding international issues, then just put those information in the international part.
4.same to be followed in National part also.
5.in general knowledge section, put the information which is always factual and never be changed further.
6.In optional parts,
--read the entire articles or news in full
-- try to analyse with your text books you are reccommanded.
--Make analysed notes in your own idea with the help of text books.
7.If you find any good articles in Editorials then just cut it and add into the tag files. it will be usefull for both your mains and interview(even prelims).actually the editorials will help us to look a balanced view in a topic in mains and interview.
8.very important-- ensure that you are reading and taking notes of important news but not spam news. Try to find out what are important and not.
9.try to link the current news with one another news like GS,optional1 or optional2.
10.try to use different 6 colours to the 6 note books.
11.keep a card like small paper in your pocket in which you should have note down the famous and important personalities,important events you taken from news papers in brief. frequently look on that card.
12.when ever you read optionals, just see the notes you have already taken from the news paper.
13.ensure your notes with various magazines like yojana,kurukshetra,India today,frontline,wizard ect., ect.,
14.when you try to remember the information, just try to imagine the colour you used to that particular note book.
Uses of this approach
1.your IQ is improved
2.you get the ability of creative approach
3.it is easy to review when ever you need some information about current affairs
4.It will not be painfull at the final day preparation of prelims.
5.a clear picture of current affairs come to your mind, because every news are clearly segmented through the 6 note books.
6.easy to refer
7.current affairs part of optional sujects is now easy to handle.
8.we get an idea and able to predict about, what would be asked in mains and interviews.
9.your confident level will increased.
Difference between Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan & Padma Shri
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India.
It is awarded to recognize exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field, including government service. The award was suspended between 1977 and 1980. No award was made between 1992 and 1998 as well.
The award was established by Presidential decree on 2 January 1954. It comes after the Bharat Ratna and before the Padma Bhushan. Padma Vibhushan was originally established as the Pahela Varg (First Class) of a three-class "Padma Vibhushan" awards. However the structure was changed in 1955 and there is no record of the award being presented to any of the recipients in the original structure.
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan award is an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Sri. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (also spelt Padma Shree, Padmashree, Padma Sree and Padma Sri) is an award given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Social Service and public life. (The word "Padma" (Sanskrit) means "Lotus".)
It stands fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. On its obverse, the words "Padma" and "Shri", in Devanagari, appear above and below the lotus flower. The geometrical pattern on either side is in burnished bronze. All embossing is in white gold.
Famous News papers during Indian freedom Struggle
Newspaper/Journal = Founder/Editor
1. Bengal Gazette(1780) (India’s first newspaper) = J.K.Hikki
2. Kesari = B.G.Tilak
3. Maharatta = B.G.Tilak
4. Sudharak = G.K.Gokhale
5. Amrita Bazar Patrika = Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh
6. Vande Mataram = Aurobindo Ghosh
7. Native Opinion = V.N.Mandalik
8. Kavivachan Sudha = Bhartendu Harishchandra
9. Rast Goftar (First newspaper in Gujarati) = Dadabhai Naoroji
10. New India (Weekly) = Bipin Chandra Pal
11. Statesman = Robert Knight
12. Hindu = Vir Raghavacharya and G.S.Aiyar
13. Sandhya = B.B.Upadhyaya
14. Vichar Lahiri = Krishnashastri Chiplunkar
15. Hindu Patriot = Girish Chandra Ghosh (later Harish Chandra Mukherji)
16. Som Prakash = Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
17. Yugantar = Bhupendranath Datta and Barinder Kumar Ghosh
18. Bombay Chronicle = Firoze Shah Mehta
19. Hindustan = M.M.Malviya
20. Mooknayak = B.R.Ambedkar
21. Comrade = Mohammed Ali
22. Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq = Sir Syyed Ahmed Khan
23. Al-Hilal = Abdul Kalam Azad
24. Al-Balagh = Abdul Kalam Azad
25. Independent = Motilal Nehru
26. Punjabi = Lala Lajpat Rai
27. New India (Daily) = Annie Besant
28. Commonweal = Annie Besant
29. Pratap = Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi
30. Essays in Indian Economics = M.G.Ranade
31. Samvad Kaumudi (Bengali) = Ram Mohan Roy
32. Mirat-ul-Akhbar = Ram Mohan Roy (first Persian newspaper)
33. Indian Mirror = Devendra Nath Tagore
34. Nav Jeevan = M.K.Gandhi
35. Young India = M.K.Gandhi
36. Harijan = M.K.Gandhi
37. Prabudha Bharat = Swami Vivekananda
38. Udbodhana = Swami Vivekananda
39. Indian Socialist = Shyamji Krishna Verma
40. Talwar (in Berlin) = Birendra Nath Chattopadhyaya
41. Free Hindustan (in Vancouver) = Tarak Nath Das
42. Hindustan Times = K.M.Pannikar
43. Kranti = Mirajkar, Joglekar, Ghate
1. Bengal Gazette(1780) (India’s first newspaper) = J.K.Hikki
2. Kesari = B.G.Tilak
3. Maharatta = B.G.Tilak
4. Sudharak = G.K.Gokhale
5. Amrita Bazar Patrika = Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh
6. Vande Mataram = Aurobindo Ghosh
7. Native Opinion = V.N.Mandalik
8. Kavivachan Sudha = Bhartendu Harishchandra
9. Rast Goftar (First newspaper in Gujarati) = Dadabhai Naoroji
10. New India (Weekly) = Bipin Chandra Pal
11. Statesman = Robert Knight
12. Hindu = Vir Raghavacharya and G.S.Aiyar
13. Sandhya = B.B.Upadhyaya
14. Vichar Lahiri = Krishnashastri Chiplunkar
15. Hindu Patriot = Girish Chandra Ghosh (later Harish Chandra Mukherji)
16. Som Prakash = Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
17. Yugantar = Bhupendranath Datta and Barinder Kumar Ghosh
18. Bombay Chronicle = Firoze Shah Mehta
19. Hindustan = M.M.Malviya
20. Mooknayak = B.R.Ambedkar
21. Comrade = Mohammed Ali
22. Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq = Sir Syyed Ahmed Khan
23. Al-Hilal = Abdul Kalam Azad
24. Al-Balagh = Abdul Kalam Azad
25. Independent = Motilal Nehru
26. Punjabi = Lala Lajpat Rai
27. New India (Daily) = Annie Besant
28. Commonweal = Annie Besant
29. Pratap = Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi
30. Essays in Indian Economics = M.G.Ranade
31. Samvad Kaumudi (Bengali) = Ram Mohan Roy
32. Mirat-ul-Akhbar = Ram Mohan Roy (first Persian newspaper)
33. Indian Mirror = Devendra Nath Tagore
34. Nav Jeevan = M.K.Gandhi
35. Young India = M.K.Gandhi
36. Harijan = M.K.Gandhi
37. Prabudha Bharat = Swami Vivekananda
38. Udbodhana = Swami Vivekananda
39. Indian Socialist = Shyamji Krishna Verma
40. Talwar (in Berlin) = Birendra Nath Chattopadhyaya
41. Free Hindustan (in Vancouver) = Tarak Nath Das
42. Hindustan Times = K.M.Pannikar
43. Kranti = Mirajkar, Joglekar, Ghate