Amrit Mahotsav

Top 10 Freedom Fighters of India Independence

Top 10 Freedom Fighters of India Independence:As we all are celebrating “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” – 75 years of Independence, let’s recall and pay tribute to some of greatest personalities of our nation who gave their entire life to achieve independence from long ill treatment of the British Government Here are  such notable 10 freedom fighters of India Independence.

1) Bhagat Singh

Bhagat Singh Sandhu was born in Banga Lyallpur, Punjab, Pakistan, on September 28, 1907. Kishan Singh Sandhu was Bhagat Singh’s father, while Vidyavati Kaur was his mother. He was the youngest of seven children, with four sons and three daughters.

He first attended a local school in Banga before enrolling at the Dayanand angular Vedic school in Lahore. He enrolled at (B.A.) National College in Lahore in 1923. He chose to join a revolutionary youth group rather than follow the path of nonviolence.

In 1926, he founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and became involved in the freedom struggle of young people. He was detained in 1927, but was released after five days on bond.

He began writing for Urdu and Punjab newspapers, which he then published in Amritsar. During a silent march denouncing the Simon commission in 1928, Bhagat Singh assassinated the police head who was responsible for the assassination of Lala Lajpat Rai.

To avoid the death penalty, he accidentally killed junior policemen J.P Saunders and Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh detonated 32 explosives in the Assembly chamber from the public gallery in 1929. He was taken into custody.

They wanted equality in food, clothing, toiletries, and other hygiene essentials in jail, as well as less exercise and access to books and daily newspapers. As a result, Bhagat Singh chose to go on a hunger strike. On the 5th of October 1929, he called an end to his 116-day hunger strike.

On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh was hung at the age of 23 for the murder of Saunders.

The iconic slogan of Bhagat Singh, “Inqilab Zindabad.”

bhagat singh

2.Chandra Shekhar Azad

Chandra Shekhar Tiwari was born in the village of Bhabhra in the state of Alirajpur on July 23, 1906. (M.P.). Chandra Shekhar’s mother, Jagrani Devi, is Sitaram Tiwari’s third wife. In 1921, Chandra Shekhar came to Kashi Vidyapeeth (Varanasi) to study Sanskrit after receiving a basic education in Bhabhra and a high qualification.

Azad, who was only 15 years old at the time, was a member of the non-cooperation movement. As a result, he was apprehended by Britishers. She adopted the surname Azad after this incident and became known as Chandra Shekhar Azad. The 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre had a profound impact on him, and it was one of the reasons he decided to join the Indian independence movement.

When Gandhi Ji terminated the NonCooperation Movement in 1922, Azad became enraged and met Ram Prasad Bismil, the Hindustan Foundation’s founder.

Hindustan republic associates funded themselves by looting property. In 1925 Azad planned to loot a government train carrying money. They were planted robbery Kakori train and killing of the British police officer (1928).

In 27 February,1931 Azad shot himself in the head. He was dying as a freeman, not as a British captive.

Azad used to poetic composition “Dushman ki goliyon ka hum samna karenge, Azad hi rahe hain, Azad hi rahenge”.

Chandra Shekhar

3.Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat, to the Hindu Modh Bania family. His father’s name was Karamchand Gandhi, and his mother’s name was Putalibai Gandhi. Kasturba Gandhi Ji was Gandhi Ji’s wife. He was the father of four sons.

Gandhi Ji was a typical high school student. Since he married at the age of 13 and had to care for his family, high school was a strain for him. His initial try at college ended in failure when he dropped out of Arts college, but he later went to University College London to study Law (UCL) in 1888.

In 1893, he moved to South Africa to practice law. On that day, despite having a first-class ticket, he was booted out of the train’s first-class apartment because the first class was just for white people, and no Indians or black people were allowed to travel in the first class. This encounter left a lasting impression on him.

Gandhi Ji founded the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1894 and worked tirelessly to enhance Indian rights in South Africa. Gandhi Ji rose to prominence as a leader of the Indian community in South Africa in a short period of time.

Gandhi Ji returned to India permanently in 1915 and became a member of the Indian National Congress.

The Kheda hamlet in Gujarat was severely flooded in 1918 (Kheda movement). Gandhi Ji started a petition drive in which peasants pledged not to pay taxes.

Gandhi Ji assisted in uniting the country in 1919 (Khilafat movement) during a period of crisis when Britishers attempted to divide the country on religious grounds.

He persuaded people that non-cooperation was the route to independence in 1920 (Non-cooperation movement). Swaraj, or self-governance, was his goal.

In March 1930, Gandhi Ji began a Satyagraha movement against the salt tax, which he called the Salt (Dandi) March. From Ahmadabad to Dandi, he marched 388 kilometres.

Gandhi Ji strongly denounced British authority in 1942 (Quit India movement) and stated that Indians could not be involved in World War I.

On January 30, 1948, he died at Birla House in New Delhi. Three shots were fired at Gandhi’s chest by Nathuram Vinayak Godse.

He was the 43rd president of the Indian National Congress and was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1930.

Subhash Chandra Bose bestowed the title of “Father of the Nation” (Bapu) on Mahatma Gandhi on July 6, 1944.

The famous slogan offered to Mahatma Gandhi Ji was “Do or Die.”

mahatma ghandhi
mahatma ghandhi

4.Ram Prasad Bismil

Ram Prasad Bismil was born on 11 June 1897 in Uttar Pradesh. Bismil’s Father’s name was Muralidhar and his mother’s name was Moolmati. His father worked in Shahjahan Municipality. Bismil had studied Urdu from the cleric and his father taught Hindi.  Bismil had limited earnings so he quit his education early after completing his 8th standard. 

Bismil joined Arya Samaj. He formed a revolutionary organization known as Matrivedi. Bismillah launched a party called Hindustan Republic associate (HRA). Bismil was not only a freedom fighter but he was also a poet of Hindi and Urdu. He was using a pen named Ram, Aayat, and Bismil. He was just 18 he write the poem “Mera Janam” for his way of anger. In 1918 he published a pamphlet titled “Deshvasiyon Ke Naam” along with the poem Manipuri ki pratigya. In 1922 Bismil write a poem Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna is an Urdu patriotic.

In 1925 he planted of looting the train at Kakori near Lucknow. Within a month of the attack, he was arrested. In barrack number 11 of Lucknow Central Jail Bismil wrote his autobiography and song “Mera rang de Basanti Chola”.

30-year-old Bismil was hanged in Gorakhpur jail on 19 December 1927.

On of his famous quotes was “Independence would not be achieved by means by non-violence”.

ram prasad bismil
ram prasad bismil

5.Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai was born on 28 January 1865 in Munshi Radha Krishna and Gulabi Devi at Dhudike village in Ferozepur district. His father was a great scholar of Persian and Urdu.

His elementary education was in the school where his father was posted as a teacher. In 1880 he joined the government college to study law at Lahore. Where he met future freedom fighters. He was inspired by Swami Dayanand Saraswati he was the founding editor of Arya Gazette in Lahore. 1886 he moved to Hisar and established the Hisar district branch of the Indian National Congress. He also took up journalism and contribute articles to sir newspapers such as Tribune. 1877 he was married to Radha Devi Agrawal he had three children, two sons one daughter. 1914 he went to Britain and 1917 the USA 1917 to 1920 he stayed in the USA.

In 1920, he returned to India. He spearheaded a demonstration in Punjab against the British for their atrocities in Jallianwala Bagh. In 1920, Mahatma Gandhi began the Non-Cooperation Movement, which was led by Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. Lala Lajpat Rai slammed Gandhi Ji’s intention to resurrect the National Congress movement.

The Simon Commission visited India in 1928. Lala Lajpat Rai introduces a legislative assembly resolution calling for the British Simon Commission to be boycotted. On October 30, 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led a peaceful march in Lahore to protest the Simon Commission’s arrival. Police James Scott ordered his officers to charge the activist with a Lathi charge. Lala Lajpat Rai was shot in the chest by the police, and he died of a heart attack on November 17, 1928.

He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Dal triumvirate.

Lala Lajpat Rai’s famous slogan is “Simone go back”. He said, “ I declare that the blows struck at me today will be the last nail in the coffin of British rule in India”.

Lala Lajpatrai most important writing include the story of My Deportation(1908), Arya Samaj (1915), the United State of America: Hindu impression (1916), a narrative of Britain’s fiscal policy in India (1917), And Unhappy India (1928)

lala lajpat rai
lala lajpat rai

6.Ashfaqulla Khan

Ashfaqulla Khan was born in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on October 22, 1900. He was the youngest of six children of Shafiqullah Rahman and Mazarunnisa. His father worked in the police department.

Elder brother and Ram Prasad Bismil were classmates. In 1922, Non-Cooperation Movement started in those days Bismil and Ashfaq become very close friends. Ashfaq wrote an Urdu poem using his pen name ‘Warsi’ and ‘Hasrat’.

When he was in school Gandhi Ji called Non-Cooperation Movement. In 1922 Chauri Chaura incident prompted Gandhi Ji to end the non-cooperation movement was one of many youngest left disappointed he started to believe that freedom from the necklace of colonialism called for more radical methods. In 1920 e Khan and Bismil went on the find the Hindustan Republic Associate. In 1925 an armed robbery took place on board the Kakori express. In September 1926 he was arrested butwas on the run. He left for Bihar and then Delhi. But he was finally arrested, and a death sentence was announced for him. Ashfaqulla was hanged on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad jail.

7.Subhash Chandra Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose was born in Cuttack, Odisha, on January 23, 1897. Janaki Nath Bose was his father’s name, and Prabhavati Dutt was his mother’s. Netaji was another name for Subhash Chandra Bose.Netaji has six sisters and one brother.

Subhash Chandra Bose received his education in Cuttack from both protestant and European schools. He earned his B.A. in philosophy in 1918. He passed the Indian civil test in 1920. After hearing of the struggle for freedom, he resigned in 1921.

He founded the Swaraj newspaper in 1927. In 1939, he joined the National Congress and departed in 1940. According to Bose, nonviolent tactics are insufficient to achieve freedom; violence is also required. In 1941, he travelled to Germany to help India get freedom. 

He arrived in Singapore in 1943 to command the Indian Independence League and rebuilt the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) into an efficient tool for India’s independence.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku on August 18, 1945. (Japanese Taiwan).

“Give me blood and I’ll give you freedom!; Dilli Chalo!, Jai Hind!” was Netaji’s famous slogan.

subash chandra bose
subash chandra bose

8.Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born in Nadiad, Gujarat, on October 31, 1875. He was one of Jhaverbhai Patel and Ladba Patel’s six children.

In 1898, he went to primary school, and in 1897, he went to Karamasad High School. He completed a rigorous pleader’s test at the age of 22, allowing him to practise law. Godhara became one of the most criminal lawyers after establishing an independent office of a district pleader in 1903. Vallabhai married a girl from the village of Gana when he was about 16 years old. Yashoda was the name of his second wife. He was the father of two sons.

After meeting Gandhi Ji in 1917, he joined the Congress and was appointed secretary of the Gujarat Sabha. 

During the plague and hunger of 1918, a movement arose in Kheda to campaign for the examination of taxes. In the year 1920, the Non-Cooperation Movement gathered 300,000 members and 1.5 million dollars. The hosting of the Indian flag is prohibited under British legislation. In 1923, Patel spearheaded the Satyagraha movement, which was a protest against British law. Vallabhbhai Patel was given the title of ‘Sardar’ by pandit Motilal Nehru for Gandhi Ji’s leadership of the Congress in 1928. Vallabhbhai was an Indian National Congress (INC) senior leader. He served as the country’s first deputy prime minister and home minister.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is also referred to as India’s “Iron Man.”

He died of a major heart attack on December 15, 1950, at the age of 75.

He was also honoured by “Bharat Ratna” in 1991.

Sardar vallabhbhai patel

9.Lal Bahadur Shastri

On October 2, 1904, Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in Mugalsarai Varanasi to Sharda Prasad Srivastava and Ramdulari Devi. Shastri ji had a sister who was older than him. Shastri Ji attended Central Railway Inter College and Harish Chandra High School before deciding to shed his caste name of “Srivastava” at this time. In 1926, he graduated from the Kashi Vidyapeeth, and as part of his bachelor’s degree award, he was granted the title “Shastri,” which means scholar. On May 16, 1928, he married Lalita Devi.

Shastri Ji becomes a member of the Indian National Movement in 1920.He also took part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. Shastri Ji was imprisoned for a total of 9 years.

He was assigned to the Ministry of Police in 1947. For the first time, he had appointed female conductors. He was named general secretary of all Congress committees in 1951. 1957 Shastri Ji was re-elected to the position of Minister of Transport and Communication. He was named Home Minister in 1961. He was elected Prime Minister for the second time in 1964. By backing Amul milk and establishing the National Dairy Development Board in 1964, he made the white revolution a national companion to enhance milk production and supply.

On January 11, 1966, he died of a heart attack.

He was given the title of “Bharat Ratna.”

Shastri ji coined the phrase “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.”

Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri

10.Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu was born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad, to a Bengali family. Her father was Aghorenath Chattopadhyay and her mother was Varada Devi. She was the eldest child in the family. His father was a social reformer and educationalist who eventually became the principal of Nizam College. Bengali poetry was written by her mother. Sarojini Naidu was a bright student who applied for her matriculation exams at the age of 12 in 1891. She went to King’s College London and subsequently Girton College Cambridge to study. Sarojini returned to India in 1918, when she married Govindarajulu Naidu. She spoke at the Indian National Congress and the Indian Social Conference in Calcutta in 1906. She became a member of the Indian National Movement and a staunch supporter of Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolence.

She became the Indian National Congress’s first female president in 1925. She was instrumental in the formation of a women’s Indian organisation. Sarojini Naidu was Uttar Pradesh’s first female governor. She was also a poet, with the moniker “The High” or “Bharat Kokila” for her work (The Nightingale of India). Sarojini Naidu’s most popular poem is “In the Bazaars of Hyderabad.”

Sarojini Naidu died of heart arrest at the Government House in Lucknow on March 2, 1949.

Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu

This is just a small list from many great individuals who submitted their whole life in getting freedom from the British government and building our nation. The above list consists of personalities have differences in terms of their native place, religion, gender and even ideologies but ultimately, they all have the same goal the get independence of India so that people of this country can live happy and prosperous life. On the mark of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” – 75 years of Independence, on the behalf of entire nation I am paying my humble tribute to all the freedom fighters and nation builders.

Jai Hind!

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