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Thursday 14 July 2011

Some Great but Lesser known Freedom Fighters

Kiang Nongbah ( jayaintia)
Towards the close of 1860 income tax was also levied in addition to the house-tax. There was an apprehension in the air that tax would also be levied on betel and betel-nut. Imposition of these taxes created turmoil amongst the Jaintias and they rose again in a fierce rebellion in 1862. The magnitude of the upsurge was such that as many as seven regiments and detachments of troops were put into action to suppress it. Jowai, which was besieged by the rebels for about 3 weeks, was thus reoccupied amidst heavy casualties. The leader and guiding spirit in this rebellion was a young man, U Kiang Nongbah
. In the first rebellion he kept his identity secret and thus avoided arrest. He was extremely shrewd and a great organiser. He contacted all the Dolois and Sirdars without causing any suspicion. He managed to hoodwink the British Intelligence Service. They had no trace of his movements and activities. Yet, ultimately he was defeated because of the superior might of the British. In the unequal fight that ensured, hundreds of Jaintias were killed and U Kiang Nongbah was betrayed, captured and hung publicly to strike terror into the hearts of the Jaintias on December 30, 1862.


Taji mideren
A resident of Elopain village in the Ithun Valley, Lohit District, North-East Frontier Agency (Arunachal Pradesh), Taji Mideren was a farmer and trader. He took part in the activities against British rule and killed three British officers near the Dikran river in 1905. He organized his Mishmi fellow tribals and got them to come together to resist the expansion of British authority. He established a Mishmi Confederacy under Pangon and other Mishmi leaders. A British expedition was sent to his village in 1913 to arrest him for the murder of the three British officers. The British burnt down the houses in the village but failed to arrest him and others.
He was finally captured by the British police at Sadiya in December 1917, and was deported to Tezpur in Assam. There he was tried and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the Tezpur Jail on January 29, 1918.


Govind guru(mangarh hill) 1907
The Bhil tribals, Dalits and others had raised the banner of freedom under the leadership of Dharmacharya Govind Guru, the founder of the Samp Sabha, an organisation dedicated to fighting British rule as well as the feudal Indian princes.Govind Guru’s followers had gathered at Mangarh for the annual conference of the Samp Sabha. They were surrounded by British-led forces and fired at. Though over 1500 Bhils and others died in the firing, the Samp Sabha continued its campaign, laying a firm foundation for the struggle for independence,


Padmavathibai Burli,
wife of the renowned freedom figher,Bindacharya Burli, was a silent and piouswoman.Circumstances so conspired against the family that they had to struggle for two square meals a day. Bindacharya breathed patriotism and lived patriotism. The cause and call of Mother India was always above his domestic obligations. Padmavatibai,not only stood by her husband but led a silent agitation herself by feeding the tired and hungry freedom fighters. She used to tell her own children to eat a little less so that the sons of the nation, committed to free Mother India, could be fed. She used to take food to the freedom fighters who were in hiding. Once she was found serving food to Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar, who were on satyagraha. Padmavatibai was arrested along with Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar and all the three of them were sentenced to three months̢۪ imprisonment. All these women and many more who lived in huts and hamlets, rose above their ordinary selves and fought for the freedom of our country. It is the duty of every Indian to make India worthy of their noble sacrifice.

KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAYA- Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya was a freedom fighter of the highest order. She led many struggles. A poet and artist of no mean order, she inspired thousands of Indian women through her writings.

CAPT. LAKSHMI SWAMINATHAN SEHGAL-- Laxmi Swaminathan was the commander of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, the Women̢۪s Wing of the Indian National Army founded by Subhash Chandra Bose. She was a member of the INA that fought and defeated the British Army at Rangoon in Burma. .

      

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