Bangladesh
In The Name Of The People
Savarkar is the father of Modern India After putting this page together I disagree that the Father of India is Mohandas K. Gandhi, who has been much sanctified by media and by the Ben Kingsley Gandhi fairytale. The fathers of the Indian revolt are Biplobi Aurovindo, Maharaj Tilak, Subas Bose and last but not least Savarkar. And Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is the real Father of Modern India!
The ancient, medieval, and colonial history of Bangladesh covers a period from antiquity to 1947, when India was partitioned. So the history of Bangladesh prior to 1947 is a history of India of which Bangladesh was a part. Today it is an independent nation within the Indian subcontinent, but is half the old Bengal or Bangla. For the first civilization of India and later empires go to Ancient India |
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Indian independence movement began in the 19th century (1830s). The intensity of revolution increased as time went by and the British harshness to quell the rebellions also increased as the 20th century approached. The early 1900s was full of revolutionary activities... the aim was to use violent means to end the British ocupation which was a holocaust. Secret underground groups were formed towards the goal of revolution. Through these violent uprisals that continued to the last days of the British, the hold on the subcontinent by the imperialists were weakened and finally convinced the British to leave India. The revolutionary period is not limited to anyone part of India but all over India revolution sprang up. The most organised revolution came from Bengal (undivided)-Bihar, Punjab and Maratha. Bengalis from the very begining had started their fight against the British, in the form of Titumir the great martyr and many others. In the begining of the 20th century, the revolutionaries organised underground armies to oust the British and fought and gave their lives. In 1905, inspired by the Japanese (Asian) victory over the Russians (Europeans) and Italian national national leader, Guiseppe Mazzini, Indian revolutionary activities picked up. The most active regions were Western India, Bengal and Punjab. In Bengal about 40,000 went into militant action. Even though these were isolated and sporadic attempts and were unable to cause massive damage to the British grip they caused a great fermentation of nationalism. Their efforts did not go unnoticed by the general population and more came forward to pick up the guns and cry revolution. Shamefully, the history of the sacrifice and great contribution of the revolutionaries has been greatly white-outed from Indian history by both the British and the Gandhiite school that tookover India. There is an ongoing effort to make Gandhi the hero saint of a peaceful upheaval in the Indian subcontinent and to make it appear that the independence was granted by the British as a generous act, as a highly noble humanitarian gesture. The history of revolution and revolutionaries are being wiped out. Every Indian owes their every breath of freedom to these great men who laid their lives for the fight for independence. To make Gandhi a hero and forget the people whose contribution far outshines Gandhi, the people who actually made the British leave is an utter insult to all Indians (people of the subcontinent). Here I shall duly put up the contributions of some of the great men and women of Indian independence movement. You will note the contribution of these men goes far beyond Nehru and Gandhi's efforts.
In 1870, the British changed their policy towards the Muslims. They decided to turn the rich Muslims (many were made rich by the British) against the nationalist movement. They were highly successful. These landlords helped the British undermine the independence movement. Even the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 by a British, was founded on and perpetuated reformism rather than a freedom struggle. The leaders of the Congress were products of the British education system and many of them worshipped the British institution and accepted the rule of the British. They had faith in the British imperialists. This may come as a shock to many but at its conception the Congress was not a nationalist force but a decoy for the British to use the richer British educated Indians to dissuade nationalist movements.
Biplobi (The Revolutionary) Aurobindo Fortunately not all shared the same mentality of the Congress and Bengal is marked with revolution with great revolutionary leaders like Khudiram, Kanailal, Bagha Jatin and many (many) others. And it was Sri Aurobindo Ghos, another Bangalee (Bengali) who re-kindled the fire of Independence in India. Aurobindo was born in Calcutta on August 15, 1872. He was the grandson of nationalist Rajnarayan Bose. His father, Doctor Krishnadhan Ghos, however, was not a nationalist. His father had got his MD from University of Aberdeen where he became very westernised and decided to raise his kids in the British fashion. He had sent his sons to a school in Darzeeling which was exclusive for English kids. Afterwards, in 1879, he sent them to England. However, his sons grew up to be revolutionaries against the British. In London, he lived at first with an English family and studied first at St. Pauls School. After graduation he went to King's College on scholarship. Sri Aurobindo passed the Indian Civil Service open competitions in England but was disqualified from the service after he did not show up for a riding exam. In 1893, he came back to India and worked in various places even as vice-principal of a college. During this time he learned Sanskrit and some modern Indian languages and also wrote poems. Sri Aurobindo quickly recognised the ineffectuality of the Congress and its reformist leaders. In his first political essay, using reason and logic, he criticized the leaders of the Congress. He wrote in the Indu Prokash, "...when we no longer obey the dictates of a veiled self interest, but return to the profession of a large and genuine patriotism, when we cease to hanker after the soiled crumbs which England may cast to us from her table, then it will be to that sense of manhood, to that sincere fellow feeling that we shall finally and forcibly appeal." Aurobindo's political life begins in 1902, as a leader working behind the scenes. The militancy was greatest in Bengal in which Aurobindo became more involved. His brother Barindra was directly involved in revolutionary work there. In 1903, Aurobindo wrote a pamphlet titled 'Bhavani Mandir' for his brother. It was supposed to train the people for revolution. Sri Aurobindo took up the leadership of India when Congress failed to be effective under the harsh rule of Lord Curzon. He came back to Bengal in 1906. In Bengal, he joined a weak and group that formed in the Congress called the New Party. The New Party had no clear objectives and had not taken any strong actions but had clear differences with the moderate Congress leaders. Sri Aurobindo convinced the Bengali leaders of this party to make the party an All India party and create a clear and determined program. He put forward B. G. Tilak, the popular leader from Maratha, as the leader. The aim was to wrest control of the Congress from the reformist moderate leaders. Within two years Indian politics changed and the fire of nationalism was re-kindled. Thus also began the long struggle between the moderates and the nationalists. The goal of this new party was Swaraj or independence and the distant goal of the moderate congress was self rule under the colonial control of England through slow steps of reforms. The party declared total non-cooperation with the colonialist government a total boycott of their court, schools, British and other foreign products. They decided to organise in their place national (deshi) industries and colleges and their own courts and even a volunteer police force. They also decided to carry out passive movements against the British and get their own funding. Sri Aurobindo also hoped to take over the Congress and make it the central directing body to start national action.
Sri Aurobindo with his friends in the party started the weekly, Bande Mataram and was its editor. It was the mouthpiece of the party -- the voice of Indian nationalism. Never before was there such a radical publication. His essays were published here and inspired the whole nation. It reached all over India and changed the political thought of the nation radically. Sri Aurobindo did not rule out violent revolution and considered the later pacifist movements as passive ressistance. He said, "It is the common habit of established governments and especially those which are themselves oppressors, to brand all violent methods in subject peoples and communities as criminal and wicked. When you have disarmed your slaves and legalised the infliction of bonds, stripes, and death on any one of them who may dare to speak or act against you, it is natural and convenient to try and lay a moral as well as a legal ban on any attempt to answer violence by violence..."
Many of the leaders of independence movements were killed or jailed by the British. They used the law and the armed forces to contain these freedom fighters. Like all tyrants, they used the carrot and stick policy to defeat the independence seekers. The leaders who were "allowed" to be leaders were pro-British reformists. Hence, in 1907, came the mock reforms by the British in which they used pro-British Indians to show the participance of the Indians. Sri Aurovindo wrote an essay titled "Comic Opera Reforms" to criticize the Morely Minto reforms. In the essay he wrote, "We find it impossible to discuss Mr. Morley's reforms seriously, they are so impossibly burlesque and farcical. Yet they have their serious aspect. They show that British despotism, like all despotisms in the same predicament, is making the time honoured, ineffectual effort to evade a settlement of the real question by throwing belated and now unacceptable sops to Demogorgnon." In 1907, he was arrested and tried for sedition. He was acquitted. After this event, he ceased to be a writer and behind the scenes organiser. He came out in the public as the de facto head of the party in Bengal on to the platform as a public speaker. That year he also presided over the Nationalist Conference in Surat. Here the Congress was torn apart as two equal groups of different ideology had a major clash. In 1908, Sri Aurobindo, his brother and about 30 others from his brother Barindra's revolutionary group were charged with conspiracy to murder a British judge who was known for his mistreatment of Indians in his court. This is the famous Alipore Conspiracy Case. A bomb attack on the judge's life by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki had ended up killing his wife and child instead. Aurobindo was placed in remand for about a year. Prafulla commited suicide and Khudiram was sentenced to death. Aurobindo became the victim of a witch hunt. Aurobindo was named chief conspirator in an attempt to eliminate him. This is a tactic still used in many countries. His detention caused not only his life to change but the whole Indian movement to change course. The uncompromising movement led by Sri Aurobindo, B. G. Tilak and Laipat Roy that was more true to the Indian spirit was devastated. The organisation of the party was shattered with leaders being jailed, deported or forced to flee India. Tilak was jailed in exile for 6 years. This British suppression brought the weak moderates, the reformists of the Indian National Congress, who supported the British institution and politics back to the forefront. The nationalist roar became a whisper again. Sri Aurobindo said, "When I went to jail the whole country was alive with the cry of Bande Mataram... when I came out of jail I listened for that cry, but there was instead a silence; a hush had fallen on the country and men seemed bewildered..." He struggled alone as the only leader of the movement to reorganise it. He published a weekly English paper, the Karmayogin, and a Bangla weekly, the Dharma as part of his efforts. But after a year of struggle, in 1910, he finally gave up. Once again India suffered a setback as the half-hearted reformists took over Indian leadership. During his detention, he gradually became a devout Hindu and after he retired from politics and went to Chandernagore. From there, in April 1910, he left for Pondicherry in French India. He hoped to return to India but later his spiritual quest took precedence. His devotion went to the creation the Integral Yoga and he even refused to be the president of the Congress. In 1914, he began pubilcation of the Arya where many of his important works and his poems were published. Also an ashram for his devotees grew around him in Pondicherry. This father of Indian independence died in on December 5th, 1950 as a spiritual guru.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a Marathi intellectual, was the one of the founders of the Swadeshi or Swaraj movement. He was put forward as the leader of the nationalists by Sri Aurobindo. Born in 1856, he was another fire breathing dragon of India. His famous statement, "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it." caused life to enter the nationalist movement of India. He demanded full independence of India. He started Kesari, a newspaper to teach Indians of their glorious past and spread the nationalist message. He introduced four points: 1) Boycot foreign goods 2) National Education 3) Self Government 4) Swadeshi or self reliance When the Bangalee youth was given inhumane sentences, he lashed out with scathing articles in his newspaper, Kesari, at a time when Indian newspapers were not allowed to criticize the British policy. He was sent to jail after a farcical trial. Again in 1908, he was sentenced to jail for 6 years. This led to an upheaval in India against the British. But the British maintained secrecy and the judgment was announced at midnight. He was then sent to prison, under military guard, to Burma (Brahmadesh or Myanmar). After he was released, he became the undisputed leader of India and was called Tilak Maharaj or Tilak Emperor. He too was a father of Indian independence, for it was his role that made the Congress adopt a more pro-independence role. He died in 1920 as a national leader.
V. D. Savarkar (1883-1966), is one of the early heroes and one of the greatest sons of India from Maharashtra. (And in my opinion he should be declared Father of India.) He considered B. G. Tilak to be his Guru and believed that an armed revolution was the only way to liberate India from the clutches of the British. As early as when he was only eleven years old, he organised the Vanarsena, (Monkey Brigade) of kids. At the age of 15 he took a vow infront of Goddess Durga to drive the British out. At the age of 17 he created the Mitra Mela. When he went to college in India, again he became a leader. He formed the Abhinav Bharat from the Mitra Mela. It was a secret society of revolutionaries. Some encyclopedias call the organisation terrorist, just as today the USA calls anyone not licking their boots a terrorist. Savarkar, was actually the first to call for the Swadeshi movement and in a public bonfire of foreign clothes in 1906 for which he was rusticated (the first). And before Tilak, he called for total independence. He later went to London under scholarship and there he created a revolutionary nest right in the heart of imperialism. In London, he wrote a biography of Gieuseppe Mazzini, the great Italian revolutionary in Marathi. It was smuggled into India and his brother, Baba published it and was sentenced to life imprisonment for it. The book was a sensation. 2000 copies were sold out in secret. The British estimated that each copy was read by atleast 30 people. After this he wrote the true history of the 1857 uprisal, as an organised revolution to oust the British. The Marathi document was smuggled to India but due to police raids on publishers, it was sent back to Europe. However, the manuscript got lost. He then wrote with the help of fellow revolutionaries (all studying in London) the english language version of the history. It was titled, The Indian War of Independence 1857. Finally it was published in Holland by Madam Cama. Covers of popular books such as Oliver Twist and Don Quixote were used to smuggle it into India. It was put in a box with a false bottom and smuggled into India by a Muslim friend who became later the chief minister of Punjab. The book also reached Ireland, France, Russia, USA, Egypt, Germany and even Brazil. In London he also helped design the first Indian national flag. It was unfurled at the World Socialist Conference at Stuttgart, Germany. But then the Scotland Yard police got wise. They traced revolutionary activities in London, Pune, Bombay (Mumbai), and Nasik back to him. His articles and essays were taken as evidence of sedition. His friends were training with arms and transporting arms (Bomb recipes and guns in hollow books). He was arrested and was ordered to be deported back to India, where he would suffer torture and may be the gallows. His family's property was confiscated. Only the clothes they wore were spared. He was sent by a ship called Morena. While near Marseilles, he escaped by breaking a bathroom window and wriggling through it. He jumped in the ocean and swam to France, where his friends were supposed to pick him up. Unfortunately, his friends were late by minutes and he was picked up by the French police and returned to the British. The British now chained him up. He was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment to the remote Andaman Islands. The conditions there were inhuman, where humans were even forced to do work traditionally done by bulls and horses. Many died from mere exaustion, from the brutal treatment, from bad food and unsanitary conditions or from being on a stone bed through the winter. Prisoners were not allowed paper and pen, but the poet in Savarkar would not be defeated. The great revolutionary etched with a nail into the plaster of the prison cell, in the dark, his epic which consisted of thousands of lines. His friend learned it by heart and when he was released he wrote this great piece of work and sent it to Savarkar's relatives. He survived the horrors of the jail and even eliminated untouchability there. He also ressisted forcible conversion to Islam which were taking place there. After 16 years, he was transfered to Ratnagiri jail. And then he was put under house arrest. He continued writing. He was now published as he was known worldwide for his "The Indian War of Independence 1857". His works continued to influence and awaken the nation and was used by Subash Bose's revolutionary army later almost like a bible. Important to note: He never recanted and stood behind all he wrote. Due to his patriotism, he was refused the barrister degree and lost his graduation degree from Bombay University in 1911. In 1960 he was given his degree back (13 years after independence). He was later given honorary doctorate degree from Pune and Nagpur. He was the first rebel leader of India to refuse to recognize the British court of law. He was also the first political prisoner in the history of world who was sentenced to 50 years jail and the issue of whose arrest was fought out in the International Court at the Hague. He was also the first to create a pan-hindu temple where an "untouchable" was a priest. He was against the break up of India (creation of Pakistan) like all real revolutionaries of India and he formed the Hindu Mahasobha. He also disliked Gandhi's appeasing attitude and foretold in a speech in 1942 before the start of "Quit India" movement that the Gandhi/Nehru would end up dividing the nation on the basis of religion. He was right! Later on it was a volunteer of Hindu Mahasobha, Nathuram Godse, who killed Gandhi.
Savarkar was not a Hindu supremacist but preached secularism. He was not a militarist like Hitler but was practical enough to realize that to prevent India from being enslaved again, India would have to strong militarily. Savarkar was a farsighted leader who was pushed aside by the Nehru/Gandhi click that got power through deals with the British. His farsightedness could have helped India much. He was probably the greatest of the greatest in the world. A poet and a born revolutionary leader, he can rub his shoulders with great men like Ernesto Che Guevara. Gandhi and Nehru together could never add up to one Savarkar. May be India would be a greater nation if the squabling politicians are replaced with those who will build an India on Savarkar's line.
Learn more about this great leader. An Indian finding out about Savarkar Harappa.com movie clip showing Savarkar
(Main biography source: Dr. Jyotsna Kamat, Copyright � 1996-2000, Kamat's Potpourri. All Rights Reserved. And Kumud Ajmani � copyright 1995-96 Kumud Ajmani. All rights reserved.)
To aggravate the situation, in 1906, in Dhaka (capital of present day Bangladesh) a group of Muslim Zamindars or landlords led by Aga Khan, selling out to the British, endorsed the partision of Bengal. They declared their loyalty to the British and sought separate Muslim electorate in the new administrative system that was supposed to be introduced. They were doing well under the British. They were made Zamindars (land owners, Zamindari was a most feudal system) by the British and were concerned of their status and wealth if India were to be independent. They formed the Muslim League, a party to represent the Muslims of India to counter the Indian nationalism. They did not want India to be independent. They also cause dissention within the people and help the British in their "Divide And Rule" game.
After the dissappearance of Aurobindo and Tilak from the political scene several others rose to follow him. One was Chittaranjan Das from Bengal, who defended him in the case against him. Another was Subhas Chandra Bose, also another Bengal who revered Savarkar and there was Maulana A. K. Azad from Afganistan. And based in Punjab the Ghadar Party became active with their headquarters in the United States.
Ghadar Party (Party of Revolt)
In 1913, there was a major event in the history of India. The Ghadar Party was formed by revolutionaries based in USA and Canada with the goal of liberating India with the use of the force of arms. The organisation was secular and did not discriminate among the different peoples and castes of India. Their headquarters was in San Francisco. They openly called for rebellion against the British who had devastated India through their newspaper Ghadar. Ghadar was published in many languages. They also published inspiring poetry. They recognised the ineffectuality of the Congress with its British presidents and rich titled Indian leaders who had little in common with the masses. These Indian leaders were always busy trying to flatter the British and the party was controlled from London by English men. The Congress was weak would beg the British which had prompted Aurovindo to write: "...when we no longer obey the dictates of a veiled self interest, but return to the profession of a large and genuine patriotism, when we cease to hanker after the soiled crumbs which England may cast to us from her table, then it will be to that sense of manhood, to that sincere fellow feeling that we shall finally and forcibly appeal." The Ghadar Party also rejected the religion based movements and believed that religion should remain out. The Ghadarites had one great weakness. They did not maintain secrecy. Even their recruitment was done through open advertisement in their newspapers. This made it very easy for the imperialists to find and eliminate them. In 1916, one of the Ghadar leaders, Pandit Sohan Lal Pathak was executed in Mandalay jail. The other major problem was their understanding that imperialist Germany would help them against the imperialist England to liberate India. But the Germans probably wanted India and other British colonies for herself. Then in 1917, the Bolshevik revolution took place in Russia, unleashing a new era in human history. The party declared in 1917: " The Revolutionary Party is not national but international in the sense that its ultimate object is to bring harmony in the world by respecting and guaranteeing the diverse interests of the different nations; aims not at competition but at cooperation between the different nations and states, and in this respect it follows the footsteps of the great Indian Rishis and of Bolshevik Russia in the modern age." The party lacked organisation in the country. Kartar Singh Sarabha returned to India in secret and started organising the party. Vishnu Ganesh Pingle also followed. They brought in new revolutionaries like Shachindra Nath Sanyal and Ras Behari Bose. They would establish secret alliance with the Ferozepur Cantonment soldiers. They would also go to Calcutta to acquire arms. Revolution would start on February 21, 1915. Kartar Singh, travelled Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut and other places to make the final preparations. However, it was doomed even before it started. There was a traitor in the ranks. Ras Behari Bose and Kartar Singh changed the date of launching their ambitious revolt to the 19th but even that could not be kept secret. The Indian soldiers in Ferozepur were disarmed and mass arrests picked up in Punjab. Kartar Singh returned to Lahore to find a disheartened Bose. They tried again at barrack number 5 near Sargodha but were caught. At his trial the judge said, "He is one of the most dangerous among the defendants. During his stay in America and then in India there is not a single part of this conspiracy in which he has not played an important role." Kartar Singh said, "You can only hang me, what more can you do? We are not afraid of that." On November 16, 1915, he was hanged. He embraced death saying, "Victory To Mother India!" The Ghadarites were crushed severely. Their leaders in India were executed but it was harder to kill their memory. They were certainly a great inspiration to the nation and their legacy continued with more and more determined revolution. Kartar Singh's death was not the end of the revolution for his death made the revolutionaries more dedicated.
In 1923, the Hindustan Republican Army, HRA, was formed by by Shachindra Nath Sanyal (Kartar Singh's comrade). Their goal was to organise an armed revolution to establish a society which was based on cooperation and not competition and follow in the footsteps of the Bolsheviks. More will be here.
The party thought the so called "constitutional steps" to bring Indian independence was a mockery since there was no constitution in the first place. The Muslim League and their rich feudal leaders, strived hard to dissuade Muslim Indians from joining the revolution. However surprisingly, one of the most educated muslim leaders of India was not a sellout but one of the greatest revolutionary leaders of India. This great man was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. He was introduced to the freedom struggle by revolutionary Shri Shyam Sunder Chakravarthy, another revolutionary from Bangla. He became extremely active in the underground activities. At the time revolutionary activities were restricted to only Bihar and Bengal and Maulana Azad helped set up secret revolutionary centres all over India within two years. In 1912, he too set up a newspaper called the Al-Hillal to appeal to the Muslims to join the revolution. It was a very successful newspaper for 4 years unil it was closed down by the British. He also awoke the Muslims of India through th Khilafat movement and he would later join Gandhi in the non-cooperation movement in 1920 and became the youngest president of Congress in 1923. He would be a brilliant leader of India in days to come. Deshbondhu (Friend of nation) Chittaranjan Das Chittranjan was a supporter of Gandhi's non-violent ressistance. He also put forward his demands for a more responsible government calling the Mantford Reforms inadequate. His resolution was accepted by the Indian Congress with minor changes. Chittranjan became very much involved with the "new" Congress which had moved far from Hume and now sought independence. He organised the Congress workers and carried out different programs that made Gandhi and the Congress successful. Chittranjan became known as Deshbondhu or friend of the nation. In 1920, Nov 17, the Prince of Wales visited Calcutta only to find a deserted city. This was the work of Chittranjan. The Prince was boycotted. He also supported the boycot of educational institutions and the court. To acomodate the students from the boycot he established the Bengal National College. Chittranjan Das was a deeply patriotic person from early childhood and was later much inspired by Rabindronath Thakur (or Tagore) and Bankim Chandra Chattopaddhai (or Chatterjee) and other famous Bengali writers. He became a very intelligent lawyer. Chittranjan was a cofounder of Bande Mataram, Aurobindo's weekly. He was also editor in chief of the journal, Forward, of the Swaraj party. He defended famous independence activists like Sri Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal from Bangla (Bengal) in the bombing case (see Aurobindo above) when no one else was prepared to defend them. Sri Aurobindo was acquitted. Even though the case was long drawn and cost Chittranjan Das 15,000 Rupees which was a great ammount, he did not charge Sri Aurobindo.
M K Gandhi (Not really a hero) In 1916, when the Russians were fermenting their revolution, Indian revolution was dying. It was then that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known to the world as Mahatma (great soul) Gandhi, came to India from South Africa. He took the non-violence movement to new heights. His whole perspective can be summed up by his statement, "Yes, my friends, I too am prepared to die for a cause, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill." Albert Einstein said of Gandhi, "Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this, ever in flesh and blood, walked upon this earth." For all the great things written about Gandhi and the great qualities he had, he was no real hero of the Indian freedom fight and not the cause of Indian independence. He had done a lot of good things but all in all he was a politician who liked compromise and even opposed the movement for full independence. More on his contributions will be here shortly. First here are a few excerpts taken from SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY Pages from the History of the Indian Sub-continent. They show Gandhi was a compromising politician out to make quick deals rather than represent the struggling masses. Compared to true leaders of Indian independence, Gandhi and Nehru were soft well fed cats who were more worried about appeasing the Muslim League and the British than fighting for independence. They even disrespected the history of legendary leaders like Veer Savarkar, a true leader of India.
He was a simple and quiet man who played the flute and Harmonium and was an avid reader. Nathuram Godse, a man whose memory is demonized as a Hindu extremeist terrorist by squabbling politicians and crooked historians in India and abroad. He is the famous assasin who shot and killed Gandhi. Born on 19th May, 1910 in Poona, he grew up to be a very caring individual. As young man, he was an enrergetic and eager social worker. He was also politically concious and fought against the caste system. Like many an Indian, he was an avid reader. He grew up reading the Tilak's Kesari and was much influenced by the idea of independence. Around 1929-30, his father was transfered to Ratnagiri where the great Savarkar lived -- rather where Savarkar was quarantined. Savarkar had been released from prison but was nonetheless a prisoner at Ratnagiri, not being allowed to leave Ratnagiri, to write, discuss or give lectures. Here Nathuram Godse came into contact with Savarkar and became a follower. Here also he began his political life. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) founded by Dr.Hedgewar and eventually became head of its academic department. In 1937, Savarkar was given full freedom. He went to different cities to give lectures and with him went Nathuram Godse. In 1938, The Hindu Mahashobha launched a passive ressistance movement called Unarmed Ressistance. Nathuram led the first wave of ressistance and was sent to prison for a year. After being released, he started a newspaper for Hindu Mahasobha called Agrani (later called Hindu Rashtra). He dedicated most of his time writing articles to bring about solidarity in India. Apalled by the deaths of thousands caused by Gandhi's latest politics and betrayal (Partition of India), Godse and three others agreed upon the necessity to kill Gandhi. On January 30th, 1948, Nathuram Godse calmly approached and shot and killed Gandhi and surrendered himself to the police. He was tried and sentenced to death. On November 15th that year, he was hanged. He entered the execution enclosure with the slogans "Vande Mataram!" (I bow to you, mother!) and "Akhand Bharat Amar Rahe!" (Long live, Undivided India!).
Another great leader arose from Gujarat to join Gandhi. Vallabhai Jhaverbhai Patel, son of volunteer freedom fighter in Ranee of Jhashi's army, met Ghandhi in 1917. Gandhi was then the president of Gujarat Sabha. Later Patel would become the president. Patel carried out successful relief works during floods, drought and epidemics through this organisation. In 1918, together Gandhi and Patel started a campaign called Kheda Satya Graha. When in 1920, Gandhi started his non-violence campaign. Patel was one of the believers who gave full support to Gandhi. Gandhi carried through despite many arrests. Soon he became the leader of Indian independence struggle. This section is being revised and expanded...
Another revolutionary that outshines many other revolutionries was Subhas Chandra Bose. Another Bengali leader, he was described by Gandhi as "Patriot of patriots" (also called him a "spoiled son") and the people came to call him, Netaji (the great leader). Gandhi was at odds with Rabindranath Thakur (Tagore), the light of India, the world renowned Poet-Guru, on Subhas Bose. Thakur proclaimed Bose as the leader of the nation (Deshanayak) while Gandhi fought against Bose. Subash Bose had joined Chittranjan Das and served in the Congress a long time, even as president. Bose was a living legend. His ideology differed much from Gandhi's. Gandhi and most of the new leaders were more or less pacifist (moderate) and were looking to reach their goals through dealing and bargaining while Bose was a revolutionary. Gandhi also did not care much for Indian independence but sought reforms while remaining under the British. Bose wanted an unconditional, uncompromising independence of India, and to build a nation without class or caste with equal distribution of wealth. Subash Bose wanted to take a more radical and socialist path with the Congress. Netaji was one of the greatest Indians. His slogan, "Jai Hind" still raises passion and emotion in India and later in Bangla, where it would be modified to "Joi Bangla" to unite them against Pakistan. Bose, exiled from India and banned from visiting any British colonies, travelled through europe from 1933 to 1936. When he returned to India in 1937, he was jailed for defying the ban. He grasped the dynamics of European geopolitics pretty well while he was in Europe. He reached the conclusion in 1937 that Germany and Italy neo-imperialist nations. He originally liked Japan but then condemned it for pursuing colonialist ambitions like the west. He condemned Japan's war on China and even sent a medical team to China. But he also realized that India should seek support from the enemies of Britain.
In 1939, he was re-elected as president of Congress defeating Gandhi's candidate. Gandhi was not happy and he boycotted Bose. He started a non-cooperation movement against Bose. This was more important to Gandhi than the independence of India apparently. Bose wanted independence or self government in return for aiding the British in the World War II but Gandhi who was a lover of the British empire wanted to give unconditional support. An enslaved country can have but one foreign policy - that which would hasten the attainment of independence. A subject country like India, he argued, could not sit in judgement on the internal policies pursued by the great powers. If Britain would not grant India independence, or even immediate internal self-government, the Congress should be prepared to launch another non-violent mass movement. When Mahatma Gandhi refused to accept this policy or to cooperate with Bose in appointing a new Working Committee of the Congress, Bose stepped down as Congress president in April 1939. (Hindustan Times)
Facing this petty minded opposition, Subash Bose resigned his presidency of the Congress within months and created the Forward Bloc within the party as a more radical platform. He sought foreign help to help free India. When the second world war broke out in 1939, the movement reached its peak. Strikes and revolutionary activities picked up greatly.
After the aborted Ghadar revolt many Ghadar and Bengali rebels were executed or given life imprisonment. Many others fled to Thailand and other countries. Ras Behari Bose fled and got assylum in Japan in 1915. Two prominent Indians were in Thailand in the late 30s. Giani Pritam Singh, a Sikh missionary (since 1933) and Swami Satyananda Puri, a former Anusheelan revolutionary in Bengal. Singh had fled after the suppression of the civil dis-obedience movement in 1933. Puri was a teacher and had taught Oriental philosophy in Calcutta University and at Rabindranath Tagore's Shanti Niketan. Since 1939, Pritam Singh and his associates had started a propaganda campaign for Indian independence among the Indian troops deployed on the Thai-Malaya borders (Hindustan Times) Japan had decided to help Burma's nationalist group led by Aung San. It was a politico-military Japanese move to prepare Burma for Japan's war against the western colonial powers in East Asia. Becoming aware of this, Singh contacted the Japanese embassy. Japan's plan was to wrest South East Asia from the clutches of European colonialists and did not include India. At the time Japanese aid to Indian freedom fighters were limited to only indirect assistance. Japan sent Major Fujiwara to meet Singh. Pritam Singh and Swami Puri negotiated with the Japanese for their assistance. Giani Pritam Singh also contacted Baba Amar Singh who had spent 22 years in the subhuman jail at Port Blair, Andamans and Nicobar Islands before going to Thailand. (Hindustan Times) Before the negotiations, in 1940, Bose was very concerned with the Muslim Leagues treachery. He knew India must be freed soon or the country would be broken up by the British using the Muslim League as an excuse. And since Hitler wanted a peace settlement with Britain, he wanted to meet the German and Soviet leaders. Also then Gandhi and the Gandhians in the Congress betrayed India again by rejecting the non-violent civil disobedience movement which would give the condition of Independence for support in the war. Before Bose could re-organise the Forward Bloc the British imperialists started pre-emptive repression. Left with one choice he left India for Europe. Bose sent Congress and Forward Bloc leader Shankar Lal to Tokyo to find out whether the Japanese would help India in her struggle. Shankar Lal left India for Japan with a fake passport. But when he returned, he was jailed. According to British intelligence, Lal met the Japanese foreign minister and Soviet diplomats. (Hindustan Times) In November 28-29, 1941 began the negotiations with the Japanese. The Indians would help Japan if the Japanese gave them written assurance of accepting Indian full independence and sovereignty. Swami Puri, Pritam Singh and the other leaders also demanded a clause for Japanese assistance to Netaji Bose for travelling to the Far East from Europe to assume leadership of the independence movement. Major Fujiwara accepted to ask his government to help Bose. (Hindustan Times) Netaji Subash Bose was in Berlin, Germany at the time. There he befriended the Japanese ambassador. He told the ambassador he was disappointed with the axis powers' stance on India and that he desired to go to South East Asia. In June 1941, while in Rome, Bose realized that Germany had made a blunder by invading Soviet Russia and that there would be no quick end to the war. Hitler also refused to proclaim open support to India. He refused to host a Provisional Government of Free India in Berlin. This undermined the reasons why Bose had traveled to Europe. He had taken enormous risks in his journey to Berlin through Afganistan, Soviet Central Asia and Moscow. Bose created the Free India Centre. Its purpose was political campaign for Indian independence and also raising an Indian army with volunteers from Indian POWs from the British Indian armed forces. (Hindustan Times) Japan on the other hand asked for a tripartite declaration of support for Indian independence. Japan recognised that it would be vulnerable in South East Asia if England kept her Indian colony. So Japan decided to directly help the Indian revolutionaries. But it would not invade India, since it was already embroiled in a long drawn war in China. Very soon the Japanese defeated British Malaya and Singapore. Pritam Singh and his associates and a British Indian contingent that had been won over helped the Japanese defeat Malaya and Singapore. Rangoon in Burma fell shortly.
The next part on Subash Bose is going to be revised
In 1941, General Mohan Singh created the INA, Indian National Army, in Malaya with the help of the Japanese. Singh had been heavily influenced by the hanging of several great Indian leaders from Punjab including Jallianwala Bagh and members of the Ghadar Party (a revolutionary party akin to the socialists... ) whose main activity centre was in Punjab but were active elsewhere. The INA was the military wing of Ras Behari Bose's The Indian Independence League. Subash Bose was always close to the revolutionaries of Bengal and in 1943, he took over the INA at the request of Ras Behari Bose and renamed it Azad Hind Fauz (Free Indian Army). More than 2 million civilians responded to his call for total mobilization. People from all over India joined -- Punjabis and Malayalees, Muslims and Hindus -- this was a pan-Indian revolutionary army. It showed how the people were still united despite the active sabotages of the Muslim League and the fears of soft Congress leaders. On October 21, 1943, Netaji Bose announced the formation of the Provisional Azad Hind Government at Singapore. So technically Indian indpendence day should be October 21st. Even many soldiers under the British army in India left to join Bose. He naturally went to Italy and Germany for assistance since they were the enemies of the British. He even discussed with Hitler and Mussolini plans to liberate India and asked for help. Hitler even gave him a submarine. He eventually went to Japan after Germany started losing the war. From there, in 1943, he created the greatest and most ambitious of the liberation attempts. His army was 30, 000 strong. His slogan was "Dilli Chalo" or "To Delhi". In 1944, his forces entered Manipur on the East of Bengal and overran the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the great Savarkar had been imprisoned. He renamed the islands Swaraj and Shaheed Rajya (Sudheer). Today, however, the islands are called by their old names, symbolizing the Congress mentality. This valiant and noble attempt, however, failed. When the Japanese were defeated, so were his forces on the East of India. Netaji is a legend and mystery shrouds his death. Some think that he died in a plane crash but others believe it was a rumour he had spread. Bose was an ingenious man and had evaded arrest in 1941 disguising himself as a Muslim priest. He could well have faked his death. Some believe with good reason that he lived until 1985 in India as a hermit. (Go to Hindustan Times to find details and read his letters and other documents.) In 1942, Gandhi finally woke up. The Indian people were out in arms without Gandhi. The Congress then called for its "Quit India" movement in August and dived in with its huge network and infrastructure. Even Hindu Mahashobha (Savarkar's created group) joined. It was also the time when women came out to the front all over the country. Especially Congress rallies were participated by large numbers of women. The Congress radio was also run by a woman called Usha Mehta. They even went into revolution as in Bengal in Masterda's Revolution. They provided shelter for revolutionaries, kept arms, acted as messengers and even fought in battle. Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutt, Santi Ghosh (school girl) and Suniti Chowdhury (school girl), Bina Das are some of the immortal women of Bengal. Aruna Asaf Ali and Sucheta Kripalani were leaders who arose side by side with their male counterparts. The Adhibasis (native) and other landless peasants who had suffered long under the British feudalism rose and played a major part in the revolt. Their struggle was against the British and the feudal landlords. The Worli Adhibasis and other peasants carried out historic rebellions in Tebhaga, Punnapra Vayalar. The most heroic were the peasants of Telangana in Hyderabad. They fought an armed revolution against the Nizam of Hyderabad who collaborated with the British. Phule, Periyar and Ambedkar emerged as great leaders from the Dalits, who were considered untouchables by many Brahmins. The Ghadar, INA and HSRA paved the way to break down caste and communal differences. All over the nation, from Kerala to Bengal, people took to the strike. Strikes and more strikes continued. Even some individual industrialists encouraged strikes. Underground wings started active ressistance while Gandhian Congress led passive ressistance. This Congress line was still reformist and not as unconditional as the original leaders, But there were other leaders who kept the flames burning in the hearts of the people. After Aurobindo and Maulana A. K. Azad were several other great revolutionary movements in Bengal. One was the famous Chittagong Uprising. Chittagong is located in SouthEast Bangladesh (East Bengal). This was led by Surjya Sen, Nirmal Chandra Sen, Lokenath Bal, Ambika Chakrabarti, Ananta Singh and Ganesh Ghosh. Suryjya Sen is later nicknamed as Masterda (which litterally means the teacher (Master) brother (da). Brother was a title of love.) These leaders were participants of Gandhi's civil disobedience movement and were very much disappointed when Gandhi called the movement off in 1922. They were leaders of the Chittagong district Congress and planned and trainned to attack the Chittagong district armoury, police headquarters and European club on April 18, 1930. They hoped to get their hands on sufficiently large quantities of arms which would be used to start a revolution. They created a teenage army who secretly trained both physical and in arms. The whole operation was well planned and executed but luck was not in their favour. There was no ammunition stored at the armoury. This caused a huge setback. With Masterda Surjya Sen, Nirmal Sen and Ambica Chakrabarti, the younger members of the group retreated into the Nagarkhana Hills of Chittagong. They were 55 in number and poorly armed. Two days later they engaged a fully armed battalion of British forces. The British used Gurkha machine gunners and they fought with muskets. This is known as the Battle of Jalalabad. Ten of the revolutionaries died and only a couple escaped arrest and fled to Calcutta. The dead were mass burnt by the British in a pit. (Important note of shame: Gandhi never spared a comment on this incident.) This was, howerver, not in vain. It created martyrs who inspired more revolutionary activities. Survivors of Jalabad also did not give up but were still valiant. They broke up and spread into the villages to recruit and train more revolutionaries. Among the new recruits were many more famous female revolutionaries like Kalpana Dutta and Pritilata Waddadar. These new revolutionaries were lead by Masterda. Unfortunately many leaders were captured and plans to liberate comrades in jail were discovered. Masterda and his comrades were constantly on the run from the British. In 1933, this band of reolutionaries were captured. Surjya Sen and Dostigar (comrade of Surjya Sen) were hanged in january 1934 and the others were sent to the Andaman islands for life. (Read Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising: 1930-34 by Manini Chatterjee, Penguin Books, 1999) Surjya Sen is one of the bravest of the revolutionaries who rose but Gandhi and many others did not recognise his courage and valour that they themselves lacked.
Contrary to what many politicians in India want us to believe India did not become independent through the "peaceful" movement of Gandhian Congress. The Indian history is misrepresented to make Gandhi and the Congress the hero of India and to downplay the history of those that opposed Gandhi and actually did the real work. The British handed power over to the Gandhian Congress and also needed to create a myth that Congress' "noble" movement forced their hand. So the British version of Indian history also is warped. Militant action did not abate but rather increased with time. It increased much after the Second World War ended. British authority was weakened severely. Moreover, the British Indian Navy went on strike in 1946. 20,000 went on strike in Bombay. Some of their slogans were,"Victory to India!", "Long live the revolution!", "Hindus and Muslims unite!". It spread to ships at Karachi, Calcutta and Vishakapatnam and to baracks at Thane and Delhi. Then 200,000 workers in Bombay went on strike in solidarity. Congress leaders including Gandhi, Maulana Azad, were opposed to it. Patel tried to persuade the workers to withdraw from their strikes by promising that they would not be victimized. 1700 were killed! Militancy increased again. Britain was also a big loser in the second world war as its economy was drained. They realized that they could no longer maintain their grip on India. Moreover the political upheaval, military action by Subash Bose convinced the new Labour Party government in Britain even further to leave India. So they decided to negotiate the independence of India. They decided to negotiate with the moderate leader Gandhi not other firey and true leaders of India.
However, they would not give up India just like that but would create great problems before leaving. They turned their attention to excite partitioning India. The Muslim League was their eager accomplice. They were ready to play with fire and blood. At this time came also another unexpected betrayal.
Ghadar Singh and Udam Singh and others will be here shortly... they were great Indian revolutionaries. |
Revolutionaries and leaders of India
Image taken from http://www.kamat.com courtsey Kamat's Potpourri
Image taken from http://www.swaraj.net courtsey swaraj.net
courtsey Kamat's Potpourrey
Image taken from http://www.swaraj.net courtsey swaraj.net
Image from http://www.indiancultureonline.com courtsey Indiancultureonline.com
Image from http://www.swaraj.net courtsey swaraj.net
http://www.anugraphics.com
courtsey Anugraphics.com
http://www.meadev.gov.in/
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7153/ Nathuram Godse |
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Khudiram Bose. S/O Trailokyanath, Midnapore (Born Dec 3, 1989) was executed in Muzaffapur Jail (Bihar) on August 11, 1908 for killing Miss and Mrs. Kennedy mistaking that the carriage in which they were travelling as the carriage of Session Judge Kingsford. Satyendranath Bose. S/O Abhoycharan, Midnapore, West Bengal Executed in Old Alipore Jail (Harinbari - present Presidency Jail) on Nov 10, 1908 for shooting approver Narendra Goswami dead inside jail. Charu Charan Bose. S/O Keshablal, Khulna, Bangladesh (East Bengal) Executed on March 19, 1909 in Old Alipore Jail (Harinbari - Present Presidency Jail) for shooting dead Ashu Biswas, Public Prosecutor of Alipore Bomb Case inside Jorabagan court premises. Birendra Dutta Gupta. S/O Umacharan , Dhaka, Bangladesh (East Bengal). He shot dead DSP Shamsul Alam in Calcutta in Calcutta High Court premises. Alam was the prime investigator in Alipore Conspiracy case. He was executed on Feb 21, 1910 in old Alipore Jail (Present Presidency Jail). Niren Dasgupta. S/O Lalit Mohan, Faridpur, Bangladesh (East Bengal) and Monoranjan Sengupta Faridpur, Bangladesh (East Bengal). These two were participants in the well know Balasore fight on September 9th, 1915 along with illustrious revolutionary leader Jatindranath Mukherjee and on being arrested were prosecuted for murder of one Rajmahanty whom they had to kill in the morning of the same day in self-defence and were sentenced to death. The were excuted on Nov 22, 1915 in the Balasore Jail (Orissa). Sushil Lahiry. Executed in Oct , 1918 in Benaras Jail(U.P.) for killing his intimate friend Binayak Rao Kaple whom the party had given death penalty for rank defection and misappropriation of money and arms. Gopi Mohan Saha (Gopinath). S/O Bijoykrishna, Serampur, Dist Hoogly, West Bengal, Executed on March 1,1924 in Old Alipore(Present Presidency) jail for shooting dead an Englishman Mr Dey mistaking him as Police Commissioner Tegart. Ananta Hari Mitra. S/O Ramlal (Born 1906) and Promode Ranjan Chowdhury, S/O Ishan(Born 1904). They were sentenced to death for killing DIB officer Bhupen Chatterjee inside the jail where they were being then detained as undertrial prisoners in the Dakineswar Bomb Case. Executed on September 28, 1926 in Alipore Central Jail (New Central Jail). Jatindranath Das. S/O Bankim Behari, Calcutta, West Bengal Born Oct. 27, 1904. He, along with ten others, joined a hunger strike started by Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta earlier upon a demand for recognition of better status for all political prisoners. He died inch by inch after 63 days of fasting on September, 13, 1929 in Lahore Borastal Jail. Dinesh Gupta. S/O Satish, Dhaka, Bangladesh (East Bengal). Born Dec. 6, 1911. He was a participant along with Benoy and Badal in the historic Calcutta Writers Buildings raid (Dec.8, 1930) when Col. Simpson, I.G. of Prisons, Bengal, was shot dead and Mr. Nelson, Judicial Secretary and some other were injured. He was executed in Alipore Central Jail(New Central Jail) on July 7,1931. Surya Sen(Masterda). S/O Raj Mani Sen. Born March 22, 1894, Chittagong (now in Bangladesh) was executed in Chittagong Jail on Jan.12, 1934 for armed uprising against the British in Chittagong. He was the Supreme Commander of the uprising. List of Freedom Fighters taken from http://www.westbengal.nic.in/wbhist.html Other Sources: India Resource
A History of the Indian People by D. P. Singhal 1857 A Brief Political and Military Analysis by Maj (Retd) AGHA HUMAYUN AMIN Chronology of Events by Ashish DharmadhikariThe Indian Freedom Struggle - The Other Stream by Satyavrata GhoshKamat's Potpourri by Kamat http://www.indiancultureonline.com http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/7153/ http://www.meadev.gov.in/ |
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