FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Born2 October 1869Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British India [1]

Died 30 January 1948 (aged 78)New Delhi, Dominion of India

Cause of death Assassination by shooting

Resting place Cremated at Rajghat, Delhi.28.6415°N 77.2483°E

Nationality IndianOther names Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu, Gandhiji

Alma mater Samaldas College, Bhavnagar,Inner Temple, London

Known for Prominent figure of Indian independence movement,propounding the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsaadvocating non-violence,

pacifismReligion HinduismSpouse Kasturba Gandhi

Children

HarilalManilalRamdasDevdasChild who died in infancy

Parents Putlibai Gandhi (Mother)Karamchand Gandhi (Father)

Signature

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (pronounced: [ˈmoː ɦ ənd ̪ aːs ˈkərəmt ʃ ənd ̪ ˈ ɡ aːnd ̪ ɦ i] ; 2 October 1869[1] – 30 January 1948), commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world.[2][3]

Son of a senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Hindu Bania community in coastal Gujarat, and trained in law in London. Gandhi became famous by fighting for the civil rights of Muslim and Hindu Indians in South Africa, using the new techniques of non-violent civil disobedience that he developed. Returning to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of "communalism" (i.e. basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups. He became a leader of Muslims protesting the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achieving Swaraj—the independence of India from British domination.

Gandhi led Indians in protesting the national salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in demanding the British to immediately Quit India in 1942, during World War II. He was imprisoned for that and for numerous other political offenses over the years. Gandhi sought to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He saw the villages as the core of the true India and promoted self sufficiency; he did not support the industrialization programs of his disciple Jawaharlal Nehru. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. His political enemy Winston Churchill ridiculed him as a "half-naked fakir."[4] He was a dedicated vegetarian, and undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and political mobilization.

In his last year, unhappy at the partition of India, Gandhi worked to stop the carnage between Muslims on the one hand and Hindus and Sikhs that raged in the border area between India and

Pakistan. He was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by a Hindu nationalist who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India's Muslims. 30 January is observed as Martyrs' Day in India. The honourific Mahatma (Sanskrit: mahāt̪mā) or "Great Soul", was applied to him by 1914.[5] In India he was also called Bapu (Gujarati: bāpuː or "Father"). He is known in India as the Father of the Nation;[6] his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi's philosophy was not theoretical but one of pragmatism, that is, practicing his principles in real time. Asked to give a message to the people, he would respond, "My life is my message."[7]

Early life and background

Gandhi in his earliest known photo, aged 7, c. 1876

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[8] was born on 2 October 1869[1] in Porbandar, a coastal town which was then part of the Bombay Presidency, British India.[9] He was born in his ancestral home, now known as Kirti Mandir.[10] His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, served as the diwan (a high official) of Porbander state, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India.[10][11] His grandfather was Uttamchand Gandhi, also called Utta Gandhi.[10] His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Pranami Vaishnava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth.[12] Jain ideas and practices powerfully influenced Gandhi particularly through his mother who was a devout Jain.[13][14]

The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible

impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.[15][16]

In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the region.[17] In the process, he lost a year at school.[18] Recalling the day of their marriage, he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.[19] In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days. Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had also died earlier that year.[20]

Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900.[17] At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained a mediocre student. He shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field. One of the terminal reports rated him as "good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting." He passed the matriculation exam at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, with some difficulty. Gandhi's family wanted him to be a barrister as it would increase the prospects of succeeding to his father's post.[21] In 1926 Manilal Gandhi expressed his desire to marry Fatima Gool daughter of a Muslim Businessman in South Africa. Gandhi strongly advised against it, warning it would be a highly contentious move that would seriously damage Manilal's career. The son dropped the idea.[22]

Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902)

Gandhi and Nehru in 1942

Gandhi initially favoured offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort when

Rani LakshmibaiRani of Jhansi

The Rani attired in war gearBirth name ManikarnikaBorn 19 November 1835Birthplace Kashi, Varanasi, IndiaDied 18 June 1858Place of death Gwalior, IndiaPredecessor Rani Rama BaiSuccessor British Raj

Consort to Jhansi Naresh Maharaj Gangadhar Rao Newalkar

Royal House Maratha EmpireChildren Damodar Rao, Anand Rao

Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi (c.19 November 1835 – 17 June 1858)[1] (Marathi- झाशीची राणी लक्ष्मीबाई) was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the north-central part of India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and a symbol of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company in the subcontinent.

Rani Lakshmibai's ChildhoodLakshmibai was born in the holy town of Kashi. She was named Manikarnika and was nicknamed Manu.[2] Her father was Moropant Tambe and her mother Bhagirathibai Tambe. Her parents hailed from Maharashtra.[3] Her mother died when she was four. Her father worked for a court Peshwa of Bithoor district. The Peshwa brought her up like his own daughter. The Peshwa

called her as "Chhabili". The meaning of Chabili is light-heartedness. She was given education at home.

She was more independent in her childhood unlike others of her age. She studied archery, horsemanship, self-defence. Tatya Tope, was her mentor.

Lakshmibai was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Raja Gangadhar Rao, in 1842. After her marriage she was called as Lakshmibai. The Raja was very friendly to her. She[4] gave birth to a boy named Damodar Rao in 1851. However, the child died when it was four months old. After the death of their son, the Raja and Rani of Jhansi adopted a child Anand Rao. Anand Rao was the son of Gangadhar Rao's cousin, and was renamed as Damodar Rao. However, it is said that the Raja of Jhansi never recovered from his son's death, and died on 21 November 1853.

Because Damodar Rao was adopted, the British East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, applied the Doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Rao's claim to the throne and annexing the state to its territories. In March 1854, Lakshmibai was given a pension of 60,000 Rs. and ordered to leave the palace and the fort.

On May 10, 1857 the Indian Rebellion started in Meerut. The rumour that the bullet casings supplied by British to its soldiers were coated with pork and beef began to spread throughout India. Lakshmibai was ruling Jhansi alone and she began leading her troops swiftly and efficiently to quell skirmishes initiated by other princes. The city was relatively calm in the midst of unrest in the region but Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai conducted Haldi Kumkum ceremony with pomp in front of all women of Jhansi to provide assurance to her subjects, and to convince them that the British are cowards and not to be afraid of them.[5]

Till this point, Lakshmibai was not hesitant to rebel against the British. Lakshmibai's forces did not kill any east India Company officials and their wives and children on 8 June 1857 but the Britisher malign her in Jokhan Bagh.[6] She fought with British troops when the Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23 March 1858. An army of more 20,000, headed by Tatya Tope, was sent to relieve Jhansi but they failed to do so when they fought with the British on 31st March. Hugh Rose and an Indian general betrayed Rani Lakshmibai.[7] Three days later the besiegers captured the city. Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai escaped in the night with her son, surrounded by guards.[6]

Statue of Rani Laxmi Bai in Agra

With Anand Rao, Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai decamped to Kalpi with her troops, where she joined additional rebel forces, including Tatya Tope. They moved on to Gwalior, where she grouped rebel forces and defeated the army of the Maharaja of Gwalior. They could occupy a strategic fort at Gwalior. However, on 18 June 1858,[8] while battling against 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars in Kotah-ki-Serai 26°12′44.26″N 78°10′24.76″E / 26.2122944°N 78.1735444°E near the Phool Bagh of Gwalior, she was mortally wounded and a few locals cremated her body. The British captured Gwalior after three days. In the British report of battle, Hugh Rose was reported hurt badly[citation needed] and he commented that the Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai is "perserable, clever and beautiful" and she is "the most dangerous of all Indian leaders".[9][10]

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastriलालबहादुर शास्त्री

2nd Prime Minister of IndiaIn office

9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966President Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanPreceded by Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting)Succeeded by Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting)

Minister of External AffairsIn office

9 June 1964 – 18 July 1964Preceded by Gulzarilal NandaSucceeded by Sardar Swaran Singh

Minister of Home AffairsIn office

4 April 1961 – 29 August 1963Prime Minister Jawaharlal NehruPreceded by Govind Ballabh PantSucceeded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Personal details

Born 2 October 1904Mughalsarai, British India

Died 11 January 1966 (aged 61)

Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet UnionPolitical party Indian National CongressSpouse(s) Lalita DeviResidence 10 Janpath, New Delhi [1]

Profession AcademicActivist

Religion Hinduism

Lal Bahadur Shastri (pronounced [laːl bəˈ ɦ aːd ̪ ʊ r ˈ ʃ aːst ̪ ri] ; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.

Early lifeLal Bahadur was born in Mughal Sarai, United Provinces, India in a Kayastha family to Sharada Srivastava Prasad, a school teacher, who later became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad,[2] and Ramdulari Devi. When he was three months old, he slipped out of his mother's arms into a cowherder's basket at the ghats of the Ganges. The cowherder, who had no children, took the child as a gift from God and took him home. Lal Bahadur's parents lodged a complaint with the police, who traced the child, and returned him to his parents.[3]

His father died when he was only a year and a half old. His mother took him and his two sisters to her father's house and settled down there.[4] Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather Hazari Lal's house till he was ten. He studied up to class IV at Railway School Mughalsarai. Since there was no high school in the town, he was sent to Varanasi, where he stayed with his maternal uncle and joined the Harischandra High School. While in Varanasi, Shastri once went with his friends to see a fair on the other bank of the Ganges. On the way back he had no money for the boat fare. Instead of borrowing from his friends, he jumped into the river and swam to the other bank.[5]

As a boy, Lal Bahadur loved reading books and was fond of Guru Nanak's verses. He revered Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter. After hearing a speech of Mahatma Gandhi at Varanasi in 1915, he dedicated his life to the service of the country.[6] He also dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his caste and he was against the caste system.[2] During the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, he joined processions in defiance of the prohibitory order. He was arrested but let off as he was a minor.[7] He then enrolled at the nationalist Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi. During his four years there, he was greatly influenced by the lectures of Dr. Bhagawandas on philosophy. Upon completion of his course at Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1926, he was given the title Shastri ("Scholar"). The title was a bachelor's degree awarded by the Vidya Peeth, but it stuck as part of his name.[4] He also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans at Muzaffarpur.[8] Later he became the President of the Society.[9]

In 16 May 1928, Shastri married Lalita Devi of Mirzapur. In spite of the prevailing hefty dowry tradition, Shastri accepted only a charkha and a few yards of khadi as dowry.

Independence activismIn 1930, Shastri joined the Indian independence movement during Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. He was imprisoned for two and a half years.[10] Once, while he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. He was released for fifteen days, on the condition that he not take part in the freedom movement. However, his daughter died before he reached home. After performing the funeral rites, he voluntarily returned to prison, even before the expiration of the period.[11] A year later, he asked for permission to go home for a week, as his son had contracted influenza. The permission was given, but his son's illness was not cured in a week. In spite of his family's pleadings, he kept his promise to the jail officers and returned to the prison.[11]

Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937.[12] In 1940, he was sent to prison for one year, for offering individual Satyagraha support to the freedom movement.[13] On 8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank in Mumbai, demanding that the British leave India. Shastri, who had just then come out after a year in prison, travelled to Allahabad. For a week, he sent instructions to the freedom fighters from Jawaharlal Nehru's hometown, Anand Bhavan. A few days later, he was arrested and imprisoned until 1946.[13] Shastri spent almost nine years in jail in total.[14] During his stays in prison, he spent time reading books and became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. He also translated the autobiography of Marie Curie into Hindi.

Bhagat SinghFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Not to be confused with Bhagat Singh Thind.

Bhagat Singh

This photograph was clicked in a photo studio of Delhi before going for Central Assembly Hall action

in first week of April 1929

Born28 September 1907. Banga village, Jaranwala Tehsil, Punjab, British India [1]

Died 23 March 1931 (aged 23)[2][3]

Lahore, Punjab, British IndiaInfluenced by Anarchism, Communism, Socialism

Religion Sikhism (early life),Atheism (later life)[4][5][6][7]

Bhagat Singh (IPA: [pə̀ ɡ ət ̪ s ɪ ́ŋ ɡ ]  ( listen); 28 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian nationalist considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the word Shaheed meaning "martyr" in a number of Indian languages.[8][2][3]

Born into a Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj, as a teenager Singh studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchist and marxist ideologies. He became involved in numerous revolutionary organisations, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) to become one of its main leaders, eventually changing its name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.[9][10][11]

Seeking revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the assassination of British police officer John Saunders. He eluded efforts by the police to capture him. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. Subsequently they volunteered to surrender and be arrested. Held on this charge, he gained widespread national support when he underwent a 116 day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for British and Indian political prisoners.[12] During this time, sufficient evidence was brought against him for a conviction in the Saunders case, after trial by a Special Tribunal and appeal at the Privy Council in England. He was convicted and subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder, aged 23. His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and he continues to be a youth idol in modern India, as well as the

inspiration for several films.[13][14][15][16] He is commemorated with a large bronze statue in the Parliament of India, as well as a range of other memorials.

Early life

). The house where Bhagat Singh was born to Kishan Singh and Vidyavati is in present-day Pakistan known as Chak No. 105, GB, Banga village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India.[1][17] He belonged to a patriotic Sikh family, some of whose members had participated in Indian Independence movements, and others had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army.[18] His ancestors hailed from the village of Khatkar Kalan near the town of Banga in Nawanshahr district (now renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) of Punjab.[19]

[20]The family originally belonged to a village by the name of Narli in erstwhile Lahore district and which is now part of Taran Taran district in India. There is an interesting account of how one of the ancestors moved to Khatkar Kalan given in the autobiography of Singh's uncle and famous freedom fighter, Ajit Singh in his autobiography Buried Alive. [21] Singh's given name of "Bhagat" means 'devotee' and he was nicknamed "Bhaganwala" ('the lucky one') by his grandmother, since the news of the release of his uncle Ajit Singh from Mandalay jail and that of his father from Lahore jail both coincided with his birth.[19][22] His grandfather, Arjun Singh, was a follower of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Hindu reformist movement, Arya Samaj,[23] which had a considerable influence on the young Bhagat.[24] His father, and uncles Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh, were members of the Ghadar Party, led by Kartar Singh Sarabha and Har Dayal.[25] Ajit Singh was forced to flee to Persia due to pending court cases against him, while Swaran Singh died at home in 1910 following his release from Borstal Jail in Lahore.[25]

Unlike many Sikhs of his age, Singh did not attend the Khalsa High School in Lahore, because his grandfather did not approve of the school officials' loyalism to the British authorities.[26] Instead, his grandfather, enrolled him in the Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School, an Arya Samaji institution.[27][28] Singh was influenced by a number of incidents during his childhood which instilled in him a deep sense of patriotism to eventually take up the struggle for India's independence.[29] In 1919, at the age of 12, Bhagat Singh visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, where non-violent people gathered at a public meeting were fired upon without warning, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. Bhagat Singh participated ardently in Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920,[5] and openly defied the British by following Gandhi's wishes of burning his government school books and any imported British clothing he could find.[30] At the age of 14, he welcomed in his village, protestors against the Gurudwara Nankana Sahib firing of 20 February 1921 which killed a large number of unarmed protesters.[1][31] Disillusioned with Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, after Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement, following the violent murders of policemen by villagers, which were a reaction to the police's killing of three villagers by firing at Chauri Chaura in the United Provinces in 1922, he joined the Young Revolutionary Movement. Henceforth, he began advocating the violent overthrow of the British in India.[30]

A rare historical photograph of students and staff of National College, Lahore, which was started by Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh can be seen standing fourth from the right.

In 1923, Singh joined the National College in Lahore, where he not only excelled in academics but also in extra-curricular activities.[1] He was a participant of the dramatics society in the college.[1] By this time, he was fluent in Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi and Sanskrit languages.[1]

[32][33] In 1923, Singh won an essay competition set by the Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. In his essay on Punjab's Language and Script, he quoted Punjabi literature and showed a deep understanding of the problems of afflicting Punjab.[1] He joined the Indian nationalist youth organisation Naujawan Bharat Sabha (Hindi: "Youth Society of India") along with his fellow revolutionaries, and became popular in the organisation.[9] He also joined the Hindustan Republican Association,[31] which had prominent leaders, such as Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar Azad and Ashfaqulla Khan. The name of the organisation was changed to Hindustan Socialist Republican Association at Singh's insistence.[10] A year later, to avoid getting married by his family, Singh ran away from his house to Cawnpore.[1] In a letter he left behind, he stated:

"My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now ..."[1]

It is also believed that he went to Cawnpore to attempt to free the Kakori train robbery convicts from jail, but returned to Lahore for unknown reasons.[34] On the day of Dussehra in October 1926, a bomb exploded in Lahore.[1] Singh was arrested for his alleged involvement in this Dussehra bomb case on 29 May 1927,[35] but was released for exhibiting good behaviour against a steep fine of Rs. 60,000,[1] about five weeks after his arrest.[36] He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers, published from Amritsar.[37] In September 1928, the Kirti Kisan Party (Hindi: "Workers and Peasants Party") organised an all-India meeting of revolutionaries in Delhi by Singh as its secretary .[1][1] He later rose to become this association's leader.[1]

Chandra Shekhar AzadFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Chandra Shekhar Azad

Statue of Azad at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park, Allahabad, India

Born

Chandra Shekhar Tiwari23 July 1906Badarka, Unnao District, near Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Died27 February 1931 (aged 24)Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Other names Azad

OccupationRevolutionary leader, freedom fighter, political activist

OrganizationHindustan Republican Association (later on Hindustan Socialist Republican Association)

Political movement

Indian Independence Movement

Religion Hinduism

Chandra Shekhar Azad (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Azad ("The Liberated"), was one of the most important Indian revolutionaries who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association under the new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) after the death of its founder Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil and three other prominent party

leaders, Thakur Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan. He is considered to be the mentor of Bhagat Singh and chief strategist of the HSRA.

BiographyEarly life

Chandra Shekhar Azad was born on 23 July 1906 in Jujhautiya Brahmins family of Pandit Sitaram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi in the Badarka [1] village of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh. He spent his childhood in the village Bhabhra when his father was serving in the erstwhile estate of Alirajpur.

The Bhil tribe in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh

He learned archery from the tribal Bhils of erstwhile Jhabua district which helped him later on during the arms struggle against the Britishers.

Birthplace of Shri Chandra Shekhar Azad, Badarka Unnao, India

His mother Jagrani Devi wanted to make her son a great Sanskrit scholar and so she persuaded his father to send him to Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras for studying Sanskrit. In December 1921, when Mohandas K. Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement, Chandra Shekhar, then a 15 year old student, joined the movement. As a result, he was arrested and presented before a magistrate. When the magistrate asked his name, he immediately replied "Azad", meaning The Liberated. When he was asked to tell his father's name, he answered- "Swatantra" meaning Freedom. Then, the magistrate asked- "Where do you live?" He answered- "Jailkhana" meaning prison. He was sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen days with hard punishments. Over the punishment he again commented- "Sir! I replied so because I was sure you would send me to prison". This reply of Chandrashekhar elicited a round of laughter from the jury. The magistrate, who had totally lost his temper by now, asked the policemen to flog him fifteen times. With each stroke of the whip, he shouted loudly- "Bharat Mata Ki Jai !" (en.Hail Mother India!). From that day onward, Chandrashekhar Tiwari assumed the title 'Azad' and came to be known as Chandrashekhar 'Azad'.

Revolutionary life

After suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922 by Gandhi, Azad became more aggressive on his stance. He committed himself to achieve complete independence by any means. Azad also believed that India's future lay in socialism. He met a young revolutionary Pranvesh Chatterji who introduced him to Ram Prasad Bismil who had formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary organisation. Azad was impressed with the aim of HRA, i.e., an independent India with equal rights and opportunity to everyone without discrimination of caste, creed, religion or social status. On introduction, Bismil was impressed by Azad, when Azad reportedly put his hand over the lighing lamp and did not remove it till his skin burnt. He then became an active member of the HRA and started to collect funds for HRA. Most of the fund collection was through robberies of government property. He also wanted to build a new India based on socialist principles. Azad and his compatriots also planned and executed several acts of violence against the British. Most of his revolutionary activities were planned and executed from Shahjahanpur which was also the hometown of Ram Prasad. He was involved in the famous Kakori Train Robbery of 1925, in the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train in 1926, and at last the shooting of J.P. Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.

Formation of Hindustan Republican Association

Appalled by the brutal violence, Azad felt that violence was acceptable in such a struggle, especially in view of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919, when a British Army unit killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and wounded thousands in Amritsar. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre deeply influenced young Azad and his contemporaries.

Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose

Born23 January 1897Cuttack, Orissa (Bengal Presidency)British India (present day India)

Died 18 August 1945Taihoku, Taiwan (unconfirmed)

Nationality Indian

Alma mater University of CalcuttaUniversity of Cambridge

Known for Prominent Figure of Indian independence movement activism and reorganizing and leading the Indian

National Army in World War II

TitleHead of Azad HindCeremonial chief of Indian National Army

Political party

Indian National Congress, Forward Bloc founded by him on 3 May 1939

Religion HinduismSpouse Emilie SchenklChildren Anita Bose Pfaff

Signature

Subhas Chandra Bose (  listen (help·info); 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 [unconfirmed]), popularly known as Netaji (Hindi/Bengali: “Respected Leader”) was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national force against the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement and is considered a legendary figure in India today.

The son of a wealthy and prominent Bengali lawyer, Bose studied at Presidency College, Calcutta (Kolkata), from which he was expelled in 1916 for nationalist activities, and the Scottish Church College, Calcutta (graduating in 1919). He then was sent by his parents to the University of Cambridge in England to prepare for the Indian Civil Service. In 1920 he passed the civil service examination, but in April 1921, after hearing of the nationalist turmoils in India, he resigned his candidacy and hurried back to India. Throughout his career, especially in its early stages, he was supported financially and emotionally by an elder brother, Sarat Chandra Bose (1889–1950), a wealthy Calcutta lawyer and Congress Party politician.

He is presumed to have died "in absentia" on 18 August 1945 from injuries sustained in an alleged aircraft crash in Taihoku (Taipei). However, no actual evidence of the death of Subhas Chandra Bose on that day has ever been officially authenticated and many committees were set up by the government of India to investigate the mystery of his presumed death.[1]

Early lifeSubhas Chandra Bose was born in a Bengali Hindu, Kayastha family on January 23, 1897[2][3] in Cuttack, Orissa, to Janakinath Bose, an advocate and Prabhavati Devi.[4] His parents' ancestral house was at Kodalia village (near Baruipur; now known as Shubhashgram, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal).[5] He was the ninth child of a total of fourteen siblings. He studied in an Anglo school (Stewart School) at Cuttack until the seventh standard as that time Stewart School functioned till seventh standard and then shifted to Ravenshaw Collegiate School. Bose stood second in the matriculation examination of Calcutta province in 1911 and after passing he went to the Presidency College where he studied briefly. His nationalistic temperament came to light

when he was expelled for assaulting Professor Oaten for the latter's anti-India comments. He later joined Scottish Church College under University of Calcutta and passed his B.A. in 1918 in philosophy. Subhas Chandra Bose left India in 1919 for England with a promise to his father that he would appear in the Indian Civil Services Examination (ICS). He went to study in Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge [6] , and matriculated on 19 November 1919.He came fourth in the ICS examination and was selected but he did not want to work under an alien government which would mean serving the British. He resigned from the civil service job and returned to India. He started the newspaper Swaraj and took charge of publicity for the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. His mentor was Chittaranjan Das who was a spokesman for aggressive nationalism in Bengal. In the year 1923, Bose was elected the President of All India Youth Congress and also the Secretary of Bengal State Congress. He was also Editor of the newspaper "Forward", founded by Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das. Bose worked as the CEO of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation for Das when the latter was elected mayor of Calcutta in 1924.[7] In a roundup of nationalists in 1925, Bose was arrested and sent to prison in Mandalay, where he contracted tuberculosis.[8]

Activities in Jhansi

Chandra Shekhar Azad made Jhansi his organisation's hub for a considerable duration. He chose the forest of Orchha situated at about fifteen kilometers from Jhansi for shooting practice. He was an expert marksman and used to train other members of his group in Orchha. Near the forest he built a hut aside a Hanuman Temple on the banks of the Satar River. He lived there under the alias of Pandit Harishankar Brahmachari for a long period, and started teaching kids of the nearby village Dhimarpura. In this way he managed to establish good rapport with the local residents. The village Dhimarpura was renamed as Azadpura by the Madhya Pradesh government.

While living in Jhansi, he also learnt to drive a car at Bundelkhand Motor Garage in Sadar Bazar of the cantonment area. Sadashivrao Malkapurkar, Vishwanath Vaishampayan and Bhagwan Das Mahaur came in close contact with him and became an integral part of his revolutionary group. The then congress leaders from Jhansi Pandit Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar and Pandit Sitaram Bhaskar Bhagwat were also close to Azad. He also stayed for sometime in the house of Master Rudra Narayan Singh situated at Nai Basti and Pandit Sitaram Bhaskar Bhagwat's house in Nagra

Jawaharlal Nehru

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Jawaharlal Nehru

1st Prime Minister of India

In office15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964

Monarch George VI (1947-1950)

PresidentRajendra PrasadSarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Governor General

The Earl Mountbatten of BurmaChakravarti Rajagopalachari

Deputy Vallabhbhai Patel

Preceded by Position established

Succeeded by Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting)

Minister of Defence

In office31 October 1962 – 14 November 1962

Preceded by V. K. Krishna Menon

Succeeded by Yashwantrao Chavan

In office30 January 1957 – 17 April 1957

Preceded by Kailash Nath Katju

Succeeded by V. K. Krishna Menon

In office10 February 1953 – 10 January 1955

Preceded by N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar

Succeeded by Kailash Nath Katju

Minister of Finance

In office13 February 1958 – 13 March 1958

Preceded by Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar

Succeeded by Morarji Desai

In office24 July 1956 – 30 August 1956

Preceded by Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh

Succeeded by Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar

Minister of External Affairs

In office15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964

Preceded by Position established

Succeeded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Personal details

Born14 November 1889Allahabad, North-Western Provinces, British India

Died27 May 1964 (aged 74)New Delhi, India

Political party Indian National Congress

Spouse(s) Kamala Kaul

Children Indira Gandhi

Alma materTrinity College, CambridgeInns of Court

Profession Barrister

Religion None (Agnostic atheism)[1][2][3]

Signature

Jawaharlal Nehru (IPA: [d ʒ ə ʋ aː ɦ ərˈlaːl ˈneː ɦ ru]  ( listen), 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964[4]), often referred to as Panditji, was an Indian politician and statesman, a leader in the Indian independence movement, and the first Prime Minister of independent India. Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister in 1947, and re-elected when the Congress party won India's first general election in 1951. He was one of the founders of the international Non-Aligned Movement.

The son of moderate nationalist leader and Congressman Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress. He became Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nehru advocated Democratic Socialism/Fabian Socialism and a strong public sector as the means by which economic development could be pursued by poorer nations. He was the father of Indira Gandhi and the maternal grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi, who would later serve as the third and sixth Prime Ministers of India respectively.

Family and childhood

Nehru was born into a prominent Kashmiri Brahman family. His father was Motilal Nehru and his mother was Swaruparani Nehru. He had two younger sisters who were named Vijaya Lakshmi and Krishna.[5] Nehru grew up in his birthplace in Allahabad. His father owned a wealthy estate in Allahabad which was called Anand Bhavan. Nehru spent his childhood in the

company of many illustrious people who visited the estate to call upon his father, a wealthy barrister and influential nationalist politician with the Indian National Congress.[6]

Education

Nehru was educated by a series of British governesses and tutors until he was sixteen. He joined the Theosophical Society in India at age thirteen. He had Indian tutors who taught him Hindi and Sanskrit. Nehru grew up an atheist.[7]

Nehru attended Harrow in England (1905–07) before earning an honours degree in natural science from the Trinity College in Cambridge University (1907–10).[8] Nehru qualified as a barrister after two years (1910–12) at the Inns of Court School of Law in London.[9]

Marriage and children

Nehru returned to India in 1912. His mother arranged his marriage with Kamala Kaul, a girl from a conservative middle-class Kashmiri Brahman family in 1912. Kaul was the grand-daughter of Kishanlal Atal, who had been prime minister of Jaipur, so the match was acceptable to the aristocratic Motilal Nehru. The marriage ceremony finally took place in 1916, when Kamala had attained the age of seventeen years. Nehru and Kaul had a daughter in 1917, who was named Indira Priyadarshini.

Kamala gave birth to a pre-matured baby boy, who died in 1924. After that she underwent a miscarriage in 1927. Kamala could not bear this trauma and fell seriously ill. She was then diagnosed of tuberculosis and underwent treatment in various hospitals in the country as well as abroad. Nehru took her abroad for treatment in Switzerland and was with her when she breathed her last in 1936.

Nehru was later alleged to have had a relationship with Padmaja Naidu, who was the daughter of his friend Sarojini Naidu. In the 1940s, Nehru was alleged to have had an affair with Edwina Mountbatten, who was the wife of Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India.[10]

Legal career and political activities

On his return from England in 1912, Nehru joined the Allahabad High Court as a barrister, but soon he lost interest in a legal career. Rather he was attracted towards the national movement for home rule. Nehru made his first appearance at the Congress platform as a delegate to the Bankipore session in 1912. During World War I, Nehru volunteered for the St. John Ambulance and spoke out against the censorship acts passed by the British government in India. He also worked for the All India Home Rule League under Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Beasant.[11] Nehru campagined on behalf of the Congress against the indentured labour system forced upon Indian workers in Fiji as well as the discrimination faced by Indians in South Africa.[12]

In 1916, the leaders of India met at the Anand Bhavan to hammer out the Lucknow Pact, which united the reunified Congress with the Muslim League. The Lucknow session in 1916 first

brought together the three men who would shape the destiny of the subcontinent; Nehru, Jinnah, and Gandhi.[13]

Nehru became Secretary of the All India Home Rule League in 1918.[14] His father had meanwhile become President of the Allahabad branch of the League and had rallied the Congress moderates in support of Annie Beasant, who had been arrested by the British in June 1917. Nehru, who had been working to provide military training for the Indian middle-class in cooperation with the British through the Indian Defense Forces (modelled on the European defense forces in India), managed to convince the committee members of the project (led by his father, Tej Bahadur Sapru, and C. Y. Chintamani) - to call it off as a protest against the arrest of Beasant.[15]

In 1915 Nehru became active in the functioning of the Kisan Sabha (farmers association) of Uttar Pradesh and became its deputy president in 1918. Nehru's contacts with peasants changed his life style. He soon became one of the most popular leaders of India due to his common people appeal. His work for the farmers and labourers endeared him to the lower middle class and peasant classes of India. These were the qualities that moved Gandhi (who was looking to broaden the support base of the Congress and who had met him in the 1916 Lucknow session of the party) to include Nehru in the inner circles of the Congress.

Struggle for Indian Independence (1916–47)

This section is incomplete. Please help to improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (June 2012)

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone etc. You can assist by editing it. (June 2012)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2012)

Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi

Nehru returned to India in 1912, where he worked as a barrister in Allahabad while moving up the ranks of the Congress during World War I. His close association with the Congress dates from 1919 in the immediate aftermath of World War I.

Nehru first met Gandhi in 1916 at the Lucknow session of the Congress. It was to be the beginning of a lifelong partnership between the two which lasted until the Gandhi's death. Nehru quickly rose to prominence under the mentorship of Gandhi. By late 1921, he had already became one of the most prominent leaders of the Congress.

When the British colonial administration outlawed the Congress party, Nehru went to prison for the first time. Over the next 24 years he was to serve another eight periods of detention. In all, he would spend more than nine years in jail.

Political apprenticeship

Nehru's political apprenticeship under Gandhi lasted from 1919 to 1929. He was elected general secretary of the Congress party for two terms in the 1920s. His first term began with the Kakinada session of the Congress in 1923. Along with Subhas Chandra Bose, Nehru was considered a radical within the party during his tenure as general secretary due to his rejection of dominion status for India in favour of complete independence.

Nehru co-operated with Dr. N.S. Hardiker in founding the Hindustani Seva Dal in 1923.

Nehru was elected chairman of the Allahabad Municipal Board in 1923.[14]

Nehru's second term as general secretary began with the Madras session of the Congress in 1927.

Non-cooperation

The first big national involvement of Nehru came at the onset of the non-cooperation movement in 1920. He led the movement in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Nehru was arrested on charges of anti-governmental activities in 1921 and was released a few months later. In the rift that formed within the Congress following the sudden closure of the non-cooperation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Nehru remained loyal to Gandhi and did not join the Swaraj Party formed by his father Motilal Nehru and CR Das.

vv