In order to glorify the contribution of Nehru and Gandhi, Indian governments of the past have hidden the courageous stories of many freedom fighters. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose- With the help of Japan, he built a strong army of 40,000 Indian prisoners of war, trained and motivated them to fight once again. Historians believe that it was the strength of this army combined with the defeat of England in World War 2 that led Britishers to run away from India (and not some non-violence acts that are taught to us in history books)
- Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel- An iron man with a golden heart was the main force behind binding the many states of India. If he wouldn’t have played the role that he did, British India would have disintegrated into further smaller parts other than just India and Pakistan. Unanimously chosen to be the first Prime Minister, he gave way to Nehru for the position out of sheer respect.
- Neera Arya- She was the one of the first women soldiers of Indian Nation Army. Lesser known that the previous two, she was a staunch supporter of Netaji and ended up killing her husband (a British CID officer) to continue her freedom struggle. As a punishment for her “offences”, she was imprisoned in Andamans (Kalapani) and infamously got her breasts cut off. During the procedure, she was asked by jailors to thank queen for having the clipping rod less warmer than what it could be- the same queen whose death the whole world is mourning now. She was released from jail after India’s independence and ended up spending rest of her life selling flowers. Even her cottage was demolished by the government stating that it was built illegally.
” After the trial, I was sent to Andaman for lifetime imprisonment where all prisoners were stuffed into tiny cells. There were other women same as me, who were serving their punishment. These women were also political prisoners. I was worried always, How I would participate in the freedom movement while I am living on an unknown island in the middle of the sea?
I never asked for a blanket and kept sleeping on the ground despite the bitter cold for months One day, It was midnight two guards came to my cell and they had thrown two blankets on me. I felt bad about it. But there was some satisfaction of getting blankets in cold. But still, I was worried that I was tied with a hard iron chain around my neck, hand, and legs.
But the next day, god listened to my prayer, and the blacksmith came in. He started cutting off the chains of my hand. He had cut some flesh off my hand. I ignored that, but when he started cutting off the shackles from my legs, he had hit my bones 2-3 times with a heavy hammer. It was so painful, I sighed and grieved. And said to him- are you blind that you had hit my legs 2-3 times? It is giving me a lot of pain. He replied that I can even hit on your heart as well and you can not do anything about this.
I knew that I was a slave there. They can behave in any way they liked. But still, I was angry and in rage, I spat on him and said to him “learn to respect women.” The jailer who was watching all of this incident came close to me and asked. If you tell us where is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, we will let you go So I replied, he died in a plane crash and everybody knows this. The jailer replied, that you are lying because he is still alive. Then jailer again asked me that this is the last time I am asking you, Where is he? I angrily replied he is in my heart, in my mind. Jailer furiously said. “If Netaji is in her heart, then remove him from there.’ The jailer touched me inappropriately and tore all the clothes and indicated to the blacksmith about my breast. The blacksmith immediately took a breast ripper and started pressing my right breast to cut it off. While they were cutting it off, the pain had crossed all its limits. The jailer held my neck and said if I ever argue with anyone. He will take off another balloon from my breast. The jailer also hit me with a tweezer that was lying there and said be thankful to our Queen Victoria that this breast ripper was not heated.”
– Story narrated by Neera Arya to a journalist