Freedom fighters

Announcement: New Series on forgotten freedom fighters

The 67th Indian Independence Day is just around the corner. It goes without saying that 15th August of every year is not only a solemn occasion but one that reaffirms what millions of Indians gave up in the past so that we can continue to remain free. “Sacrifice” is too weak a word to encapsulate the true meaning and feeling that accompanies 15th August.

Of those millions, only a few names have made it to the annals of post-Independence history written by our own people. The rest have largely been forgotten…indeed, it’s more accurate to say that this is a state-enforced forgetfulness. These forgotten, lesser-known people remind us of these lines from Thomas Gray’s classic poem:

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country’s blood.

It is to recall, celebrate, and pay tribute to these lesser known freedom fighters of India that IndiaFacts has endeavoured to start a new series starting today.