Nor does it narrate the heroic deeds of hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed their life at very young age fighting for country’s independence or suffered inhuman Kalapani punishments in the Cellular jail of Andaman. Many of these freedom heroes though came mainly from undivided Bengal and Punjab, several others came from different parts of pre-independent India.
Correcting History
Sanjeev Sanyal in his book Revolutionaries – The Other Story of How India Won its Freedom, is unequivocal in saying that “The Independence movement was made up of a large number of disparate world views and the sequence of events was impacted by their divergence and convergence at different point of time. This was true even within camps. In turn, these were driven by a variety of factors, ranging from ideology to the social dynamics of the followers of each group. As with any large movement, the freedom movement is not a story of linear progression but peppered with mistakes, U-turns, the vagaries of fortune and leaders working at cross- purposes.”
He provides concrete evidences in his book of several heroic people working as individuals or as a network, whose courageous anti-colonial actions, operating from India as also from the foreign soil, with own resources as also from resources mobilized from far and wide, and the violent events which so unnerved the colonial masters that they had to drastically change their strategies and policies substantially, if not fully, and eventually forced them to leave the country.
Crucial Role of 1857
It is very surprising why we continue to call events of 1857 as a ‘Mutiny’, even when it was fully known that the British were appalled by the its happenings and things were never the same thereafter? Further, that the 1877 Great Famine, an act of climate which ‘ballooned by rapacious policies of the British spawned the Revolutionary movement on a pan India basis’ was never discussed! More interestingly, not much is said about the ‘true reasons’ for passing of The Indian Councils Act of 1909 under Morley-Minto Reforms providing greater representation of Indians, even if with separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims.
Or the true reasons as to why British shifted the Capital from Calcutta to New Delhi! And that ‘true reason’ was that the fifty years between 1857 and 1907 were the period which spawned heroic rebels, many of whom went on to create troublesome political environment for the British, particularly in Bengal. Because these freedom fighters had resorted to activities which the British labeled as ‘anti-national’ and ‘criminal’ under the suitably modified laws, that they were labeled as ‘Rebels’, and ‘Revolutionaries’ by our leftist historians. Obviously, these Heroes did not make it to the definition of ‘Gandhian Non-Violent freedom history’.
Untold Stories
The critical roles played by Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Anushilana Samithi, Abhinav Bharat, Hardayal’s Nalanda Club in Berkley, Yuganatara Ashram of California in instilling the sense of patriotism, sacrifice for the cause of nation’s freedom, supporting underground activities and building network are seldom part of our much-flaunted freedom history.
The first-generation Revolutionaries (1887-1911) lead by Arabindo Ghosh, Savarkar, Madan Lal Dhigra, Bhikaji Cama, VVVS Iyer, Hardayal and Shyam ji are mostly absent from our history books. Similarly, the second-generation Revolutionaries lead by Rashbehari Bose who went on to establish Indian Independence League in Japan, Jitendra Mohan Chaterjee and Basanta Kumar Biswas and their daredevil revolutionary network are hardly heard of.
Rashbehari Bose
It was as per Rashbehari Bose’s plan that his accomplice Basanta Kumar Biswas threw a bomb at Lord Hardinge and his wife on December 1912 when his grand Viceregal procession was entering Delhi. This entourage which was to mark the shift of capital from Calcutta to Delhi and was meticulously planned to establish the British superior authority and power over the subordinate Indian citizens. This Chandini Chowk bomb attack not only sent a shock wave across the colonial administration but also laid the foundation for many such attacks to come. Rashbehari Bose’s daring escapades within the country under the nose of colonial masters, contributions to the formation of Indian National Army and support to Netaji Bose are very diligently detailed by Sanjeev Sanyal.
Alluri Seetha Rama Raju and Rampa Rebellion
Also simply called Rama Raju, was born in a village near Vishakhpatanam in 1897 in a middle-class family. Drifting away from formal education being intellectually curious read extensively in Telugu, Sanskrit and English. Around 1915 he became a Sanyasi and during his piligriage to Nashik and Varanashi got acquainted with Gadar and Jugantar revolutionaries. Having been disappointed with the Gandhian non-cooperative movement he organised tribesmen to carryout attack on colonial administration. Several troupes, including British Officers were killed.
Well-built and full beared, armed with traditional weapons and a revolver struck through his belt, Rama Raju was as charismatic figure as Chandrashekar Azad. He was trapped and killed in May 1924, only 27 years of age. Rama Raju’s leadership in Rampa Rebellion had generated romantic folk legend which inspired a lot of popular culture. Sanjeev Sanyal feels that this hero lacs adequate research and recognition.
Gaddarites and the Hindustan Republican Army [HRA]
The Gaddarite phase of revolutionary movement shaped the events post Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919 to the formation of first HRA and later on Indian National Army.
HRA was formed online with Irish Republican Army by a group of revolutionaries lead by Sachindra Natah Sanyal and Pratul Ganguli. It was these revolutionaries who first enunciated the goal of Poorna Swaraj. Whereas, Indian National Congress and Gandhi were prepared for a ‘Dominion Status’ and their concept of Swaraj meant only ‘self-government’ with the Empire if possible, and outside if necessary!
International Revolutionary Efforts
Revolutionaries were internationally well-knit web of people connected in multiple ways with each other. Shyamji in Europe, Jwala Singh, the Potato King, in North America, Pandurang Sadashiv Khankoje in Japan and later on in the North America. Khanjoje in association with Amba Prasad even managed to organise an army of 5,000 in Shirap, Persia. Khankoje went on to meet Lenin. Later on shifted to Mexico and became a successful agricultural scientist.
Mahendra Pratap formed a Provisional Government of India in Kabul in 1915 with himself as President and Barkathulla as Prime Minister.
Conspiracies, Bombs and Bullets
Revolutionaries carried out several bomb attacks and killed many British Officers. Nasik Conspiracy Case of 1909-10, Lahore Conspiracy Case of 1915, Dalhousie Square Bomb Case of 1930, Alipore Arms Conspiracy Case of 1930-36, are some of such cases etched on the walls of Cellular Jail in Andaman.
Then there were Chittagong Armory Raid of 1930 where a British Sergeant Major was killed, General Lowman killed by Benoy Basu, J. J. Simpson was shot dead by Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta, J. J. Gerlick, Alipore Judge shot dead because he had ordered death sentence on Dinesh Gupta and in 1932 Bina Das attempted to kill Governor Stanley Jackson. These and many other similar rebellious actions had shaken the roots of British colonial rule.
That they were in continuation with the 1857 rebellion cannot be ignored. Only a thorough historical research of the documents available in the libraries can establish the extent of contributions of these actions in making the British to leave the country.
End of an Era
Sanyal explains that by 1933 all prominent revolutionaries were either killed or imprisoned. Unfortunately, the movement degenerated from organized armed resistance to anarchic acts of violence that were not sanctioned either by founding principles or by the public support. As often happens, common criminals made claims of being revolutionaries to justify armed robbery.
A few genuine among them having suffered years of torture in prison and then partition, suffered from ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ and several found it difficult to hold regular jobs and drifted into life of extreme poverty. Bina Das who shot Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson in 1932 went on to become a recluse after her husband’s death and having served one term as a member of Bengal Assembly after independence. Her emaciated body was found abandoned by roadside.
Narayan Savarkar, brother of Veer Savarkar, was killed by the injuries inflicted by mob of anti-Brahmin revolt post Godse killing Gandhi. Veer Savarkar escaped this attack but died in Mumbai due to poor health and without recognition.
Valuable Book
Sanyal’s book has only eight chapters plus an Epilogue of 291 pages. Its detailed Notes and Index makeup to a total of 331 pages. This is a valuable book in many a sense. It truly tells “The Other Story” of how India won its Freedom, which either have seldom been told. Stories told in this book are genuinely epoch-making ones. It records the sacrifices made by young men, apart from those known cases like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekar Azad.
This book should trigger greater research into the contributions of 1857 rebellion and the continued revolutionary movements thereafter in making the British hurriedly leave Bharat in 1947. Hitherto the Bombay Naval Revolt’s role in this is yet to be properly assessed.
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