Ka Phan Nonglait - Freedom fighter from Meghalaya

 Ka Phan Nonglait

Freedom fighter from the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya

Background 

In 1826 the British had control over the Brahmaputra valley in Asom (Assam). Earlier they had captured the Surma valley in Bengal. Now they wanted to connect the two, only possible through the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya which had a very conducive climate for a sanatorium where the sick could recuperate. The road would also save travel time. 

The British approached one of the chiefs in the Khasi Hills, U Tirot Sing, to facilitate road construction through his territory. He was assured complete control over the area so that trade could flourish there. He was also interested in regaining the dooars or passes in the Himalayan foothills in exchange for the permission.

After the road construction began, a rival chief objected to U Tirot Sing’s claim over the dooars, confident that the British would support his claim. Instead he was confronted by British sepoys. 

When news came to U Tirot Sing that the British were amassing troops in Asom, the Khasi Council convened and ordered the British to leave Nongkhlaw. When this was not done the Khasi attacked on 4 April 1829. 

Two British officers were killed in this operation and the British immediately retalitated against the Khasi.

The Anglo-Khasi War lasted for 4 years. The Khasi lacked modern firearms and fought with bows, arrows and swords. When it became obvious these were no match for British firearms, the Khasi resorted to guerilla warfare and were undefeated for 4 years.

Phan Nonglait Falls, Nongrmai, Meghalaya

(Arijitabani, Wikimapia)

Ka Phan Nonglait’s exploits

When British soldiers started to move out of Moirang village and headed for Nongkhlaw, Phan Nonglait set a trap for them with the help of soldiers of Tirot Sing at Langatlehrim. Due to the heat it was but natural that the British soldiers would rest near a milky-white waterfall on the route. This cascade is named Phan Nonglait Falls today. Phan Nonglait made the soldiers of Tirot Sing wait in the shadows nearby.

She made arrangements to provide the British soldiers who rested at the waterfall with cooling drinks to catch them unawares. As they relaxed in the cool environs of the falls Phan Nonglait had her people quietly take away all the weapons of the British soldiers and throw them into a rock hole in the waterfall. Unable to retrieve their weapons the British soldiers could not put up a fight against U Tirot Sing’s men and were easily captured.

The desire for freedom

When the Khasi were facing overwhelming odds with imbalance in technology with the arms they used, they used their native knowledge of local areas and a desire for freedom to keep up the fight for four long years.

Today a park in Shillong has been renamed Phan Nonglait Park in honour of the first Khasi woman who revolted against the British. 

Ref.

https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/phan-nonglait-the-first-khasi-freedom-fighter/

 Gaidinliu

A Commoner called a Queen

Rani Gaidinliu (1915 - 1993) was a freedom fighter of the Kabui Naga tribe who was born and brought up in Manipur. She was the fifth of eight children and belonged to the ruling family of the village. However she had no formal education because of a lack of schools in the area.

By 13 years of age Gaidinliu joined her cousin Jadonang, whom she looked upon as her guru. Jadonang was also a spiritual leader or priest, maiba, of the clan - a person who was traditionally very influential and revered. Jadonang began a socio-religious movement to revive the traditional Naga religion and to oppose the British in order to end their rule. He was impressed by young Gaidinliu’s resolve and single-mindedness of purpose. She was an apt pupil who was a good learner. Gaidinliu had grown up witnessing Jadonang’s activism to improve the social and economic lives of the Nagas, and actively participated in the movement. 

The beginnings of the Heraka movement

Jadonang (born in 1905) was a Naga from the Manipur sub-division. He was a deeply religious person and was renowned for healing and interpreting dreams. He was very disturbed by the dilution of the Naga culture and religion, while Christianity’s influence grew in the area. The British and their oppressive policies of excessive taxation and new laws were also other reasons for his distrust. He saw these changes as the impact of British imperialism, and decided to fight. In 1930-31 he started a new socio-religious movement which came to be called Heraka (Pure) and convinced his people that he would overthrow the existing British administration and bring back self-rule and the spiritual practises of the ancestors. 

The British did not look very kindly upon Jadonang. He talked of a new movement that would usher in the Golden Age for the people who were experiencing famine and loss of land due to an influx of immigrants. The movement exorted people not to pay their taxes to the oppressive British. Instead, the locals supported the movement with donations.

The movement soon turned into an armed rebellion that Gaidinliu also joined. By the age of 16 she was a leader in the guerilla forces fighting against the British.

The British response

The Political Agent, a British official, sent a few soldiers of the Assam Rifles in February 1931 to  a temple established by Jadonang and destroyed it. The soldiers also went to a few other villages for a show of strength. Jadonanag himself was arrested. He was put on trial for the murder of 4 unarmed Manipuris, charged with sedition and was called a sorcerer. He was hanged in August 1931.

Gaidinliu leads the Heraka movement

These measures did not however see the end of the Heraka movement. It continued under the leadership of Gaidinliu who was seen as Jadonang’s spiritual successor and priestess, Maibi. The movement was kept alive with songs that spoke of the main themes of the Heraka movement - a return to the Golden Age and prosperity of the people. 

Rani Gaidinliu

The prevalent belief was that a new Naga Raj would be formed in the hills including the tribes. A number of medicine men went over the authority of the traditional village elders  and convinced villagers that they would be the recipients of benefits if they joined the movement. The British were alarmed at these developments and wanted to quell the disturbances. 

By 1931-32 the movement had spread beyond the borders of Manipur into the Naga hills. 

Throughout the operations undertaken by the administration to capture Gaidinliu they would be attacked by large groups of Nagas and had to resort to firing on them. Some of the villages also got burnt in the operations. 

Soon the British were trying to capture her, while she remained ahead of them with local support. Army batallions were sent after her and a reward was announced for information about her whereabouts. The offer was made sweeter with the announcement of a 10-year long tax break to the village that informed on her to the police.

While she was on the run, her followers murdered the watchman of a village, suspecting him of being the informer that led to her arrest. Now she was also wanted for murder by the British authorities. When finally arrested in October 1932 in the Naga Hills, she underwent a trial and was convicted of murder. Many of her associates were hanged. Gaidinliu spent 14 years in prison.

Her influence was such that many of her followers continued her work of Heraka until she was released from prison in 1947 upon India’s independence. 

Adapting Heraka to changing times

Upon her release Gaidinliu reformed the Heraka movement to reflect the changing times. Ancestral rituals to earn merit required performing sacrifices and the restriction of movement outside a designated area, such as the house or the village. However, the introduction of schools and increased work opportunities required people to leave the designated areas regularly. Gaindinliu abolished the restrictions since they were no longer practical and stood in the way of progress. Performing sacrifices had also been very important traditionally but the sheer cost of the ritual was now prohibiitive. Gaidinliu advocated stopping sacrifices. This increased the popularity of Heraka.

Later life

After her release in 1947 when she met Prime Minister Nehru, he called Gaidinliu rani, a queen, for having stood strong despite her hard life. In the meanwhile there was strong opposition to Heraka by several Naga leaders, and Gaidinliu went into hiding in 1960. She continued to work to strengthen Heraka. In 1966 she returned to the mainstream and met Prime Minister Shastri. Her followers were employed at the Nagaland Police.

The government of India conferred Gaidinliu with the Padma Bhushan in 1982. Her work has also been recognised with the issue of a postage stamp and a commemorative coin in her honour. Gaidinliu died in 1993 at the age of 78.  

 

Ref.

1. History of the frontier areas bordering on Assam 1883-1941 - Sir Robert Reid. 

2. Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging - Arkotong Longkumer

#BlogchatterA2Z     https://www.theblogchatter.com/

A word about BlogchatterA2Z - This is an annual event during which I have taken up the challenge of blogging on Women in Indian History starting with A and ending in Z during the month of April, 2021. Here then is G - Gaidinliu, a commoner termed a queen for her stand against the British and for her work to strengthen Naga society. Drop in everyday to read my posts on other interesting women as I work my way down the alphabet to Z! 

Velu Nachiyar - Sivaganga's Queen who fought the British

 Resistance in India to foreign rule

Velu Nachiyar (1730-1796) the third ruler and queen of Sivaganga, in present-day Tamil Nadu, was among the early royalty to put up armed resistance against British rule in India. Another Indian queen who ruled nearly a century earlier and also did not allow foreign powers, the Portuguese, to gain a foothold on Indian soil was Abbakka Chowta of Ullal in the 16th century. And of course a queen who embarked on the same mission against the British, less than a century after Velu Nachiyar, was Lakshmibai of Jhansi.

The spark ignited by the spirited fight of Velu Nachiyar and her compatriots, the Marudu brothers, against the British inspired the common people to also take up arms against foreign rule. The brothers were hanged for their efforts, but the fact is that sporadic resistance efforts were on from when the first European powers tried to expand from their initial mercantile activities to exerting political influence over local rulers in India. The First War of Independence of 1857 was the stage at which many of the rulers of the time decided to act together, not individually, to have a greater impact.

Velu Nachiyar’s rule in Sivaganga

Velu Nachiyar became the de facto ruler after the death of her husband Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Oodaya Thevar and his first wife Gowri Nachiyar in 1780. His death was the successful culmination of a plot by the Nawab of Arcot to get rid of him. 

India Post, Government of India

Upbringing as heir to the throne

It seemed like Velu Nachiyar’s upbringing was tailored for this very role she would play in later life. As the sole daughter of the ruler of Ramanathapuram (also known as Ramanad) she was given a wholistic education. She was tutored extensively in scholastics and became proficient in several languages - Tamil, French, English, Urdu, Malayalam and Telugu. She even travelled to France for some medical intervention. 

Velu Nachiyar’s education included the study of classical Tamil works. She also trained in martial arts and in fighting with weapons such as the valari, a traditional lethal throwing weapon. All this education was customary for the heir to the throne and her gender made no difference. Thus she was no helpless queen but one whose confidence was bolstered with both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

Velu Nachiyar became Vaduganatha Thevar’s second wife at the age of fifteen in 1746. The couple soon had a daughter named Vellachi Nachiyar. Velu Nachiyar took an active role in the administration of the kingdom as Vaduganatha Thevar trusted her managerial and diplomatic acumen.

Political Background

By the late eighteenth century European traders - English, French, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese - were vying for favourable trading terms from the local rulers in peninsular India. At the time South India was a chess board in which diverse pawns made their moves for the better part of a century. The  English, the French and to a lesser extent, the Portuguese were the Europeans trying to secure their mercantile fortunes. The Danes who had a few godowns for their merchandise did not expand as much territorially. 

The British and the French duplicated their war against each other in Europe at the time by aligning with rulers in India against each other. Thus Hyder Ali and the French came to the aid of Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai against the Marathas and the English who wanted to annex her kingdom.  

Vaduganatha Thevar granted commercial facilties in his territory to the Dutch. This was after the British had earlier rejected a similar offer from him. However, now the British were uneasy about this arrangement in Sivaganga with a rival European trader. Besides, they wanted to force Sivaganga to pay tribute to their ally the Nawab of Arcot.

Opposing powers in the area

Both Mohammad Ali Khan Wallajah the Nawab of Arcot, and the ruler of Pudukottai were British allies. The local chieftains, palaigar, in the area took a stand against the oppressive taxes levied on them by the Nawab, and allied themselves with Hyder Ali in the 3rd Mysore War. The people decided to oppose the British, who were an arrogant power. To make matters worse the British has put an embargo in place that led to shortage of essentials. 

Vaduganatha Thevar was well aware of the covetous ways of the English and kept them at arm’s length, refusing to make any concessions for them. The British were in turn aware of the strength of the Sivaganga army and of the Maruthu brothers who were in charge of it. In June 1772 they decided upon attacking Vaduganatha Thevar from two sides led by two generals, Joseph Smith from the east and Benjour from the west. Vaduganatha Thevar had also made his preparations to counter the attack. He decided to take a stand in the forested area of Kalayar Koil.

First the British troops occupied Sivaganga. Then Benjour and his troops took over Kalayar Koil. Vaduganatha Thevar and his army put up a valiant fight but he died on the battlefield on 27 June 1772. Velu Nachiyar is also reputed to have fought bravely in the battle.

Velu Nachiyar and her daughter fled to Virupakshi in Dindigul district. There they were joined by the Marudu brothers. Soon, the brothers returned to Sivaganga to organise a rebellion. Velu Nachiar wrote to Hyder Ali of Mysore who was a sworn enemy of the British, met him and decided to join forces against the British East India Company.

Velu Nachiyar formed a women’s battalion ‘Udayal Padai’ in her army. It was very motivated and well trained. Kuyyili, the commander in this battalion and a close associate of Velu Nachiyar became known for her brave martyrdom while blowing up the British ammunition stock at the fort of Sivaganga.

In 1780 the combined armies of Sivaganga and Mysuru defeated the joint forces of the Nawab of Arcot and the British and reestablished the throne of Sivaganga. 

Velu Nachiyar’s rule in Sivaganga

Velu Nachiyar ruled from 1780. It is speculated she was on the Sivaganga throne until 1790. Vengum Peria Wodaya Thevar, husband of Vellachi Nachiyar, succeeded to the throne. In time it became obvious that he was a ruler in name only, the actual powers behind the throne were the Marudu brothers.

In 1793 Vellachi Nachiyar and her infant daughter died of an illness. This affected Velu Nachiyar profoundly and her own health deteriorated.

Vengum Peria Wodaya Thevar married Muthathal, daughter of one of the Marudu brothers. To stamp their authority the brothers captured the fort of Sivaganga. This turn of events was a further blow to Velu Nachiyar. She developed a heart ailment.

Velu Nachiyar decided to have surgery in France and it was performed successfully. She returned to Sivaganga six months later. However she passed away in Virupakshi on 25 December 1796.

The legacy of Velu Nachiyar

Velu Nachiyar’s fight was not just for herself or her kingdom but was also that of the common man, the palaigar and the Marudu brothers fighting against oppressive taxes and other atrocities of the British and their allies. 

At the time of Velu Nachiyar’s rule, India saw the initial rumblings of a concerted attempt to oppose the British and not succumb to their authoritarian tactics. Indians were not completely successful in their endeavour at the time for several reasons yet they did not give up without a fight. Velu Nachiyar’s fight was one more step towards emboldening Indians to gather strength and continue the struggle for freedom.

References -

https://sivaganga.nic.in/tourism/eminent-personalities/

South Indian Rebellion - K Rajayyan

Queen Velu Nachiyar: First Women against British - Jekila Antony Raj

Perin Naoroji Captain - A Life Dedicated to India's Freedom

Family Background
Perin Naoroji Captain was the granddaughter of the scholar-politician Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, and thrice its president. Naoroji was a British MP as a member of the House of Commons. 

Perin was born at Mandvi in Kutch, Gujarat on 12 October 1888. Her father Ardeshir was a doctor and Dadabhai Naoroji’s son. He died when she was yet five years old. Perin came from a large family of eight children, many of whom took up the nationalist cause. She married the eminent lawyer DS Captain in 1925. The couple did not have children. 

Perin Naoroji Captain

The Beginnings 

As a student at Sorbonne in Paris Perin met the nationalist Bhikaiji Cama who lived there in self-exile, and was a close associate of VD Savarkar. At the time Cama was deeply involved in trying for the release of Savarkar who was in prison at London for defying the British. Perin became a close friend of Kamala Nehru there. 

Later Perin and Savarkar attended the first Egyptian National Congress at Brussels. In London Perin and her sister Gosi worked with Polish organisations against Czarist Russia and learnt from a Polish revolutionary to use firearms and assemble bombs. This activity brought her under surveillance by the British, but that did not deter her. It is interesting that despite this early exposure to how violence was being used in other parts of the world Perin, Gosi and another sister Nurgis (the Captain sisters who married three brothers) turned completely to non-violence as the path to follow under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1911 Perin returned to India. She met Mahatma Gandhi in 1915 and became convinced that his approach to securing India’s freedom from British rule was the right one. From 1920 she took to wearing khadi and began working for the nationalist cause in right earnest. In 1921 she was one of a group that established the Rashtriya Stree Sabha, a nationalist wormen’s organisation run on Gandhian principles.  

Public Life

The Civil Disobedience Movement

The Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 was a watershed moment in the history of the struggle for freedom in India. This movement was the method that the Indian National Congress decided was the means to attain Purna Swaraj (complete independence). The movement spread all over India. In Bengal Matangini Hazra was one of the prominent activists.

Perin Captain’s leadership qualities saw her playing an active role in many other areas, but the Civil Disobedience Movement was a defining episode in her public life.

Perin Captain addressing a political meeting on Chowpatty Beach in Bombay, 1930 Source: Women of India, Tara Ali Baig

Perin had had a long association of social and political work with stalwarts working in the field, well before the call for Civil Disobedience by Gandhi. Although from an influential family and well known to the leading lights of the era, Perin was a Congress worker who served the country by taking part in the big issues of the day. She was a hands-on political worker, did not shy away from the hurly-burly of public engagement and underwent multiple jail terms like most national leaders at the time.

During the Civil Disobedience Movement Perin with several other women under Desh Sevika Sangh played a prominent role in going from shop to shop in Bombay asking the owners not to sell imported cloth. Thus far the colonizers had crippled Indian weavers and the textile segment by exporting raw cotton and importing textiles into India. This boycott of British textiles in India was a direct hit at manufactured goods from Britain. The group also made continuous appeals to shoppers to participate in the Swadeshi movement and not buy imported fabric. In the first ten months of 1930 as many as 17,000 women were convicted for this activity. Closing shops was unlawful, and now shopkeepers were also arrested along with the women for boycott of foreign goods.

Her Arrest and its Aftermath

3rd July 1930 was the fourth day of Boycott Week in Bombay. There were crowds on the streets shouting boycott slogans, lorryloads of volunteers passing around flags and pamphlets to boycott British goods, house to house collection of Swadeshi pledges (2,00,000 pledges had been signed thus far). Mahatma Gandhi sent Perin a cable to “alert Congress to scrupulously avoid all violence, direct indirect passive or active” by any of the picketers. Perin replied that the instruction would be carried out. The Bombay Chronicle of 4 July 1930 reported the arrest of Perin that morning as she was setting out to the Congress office for a day’s work. She ‘cheerfully submitted to the officers’ who came to her home. 

Once the news of her arrest spread, the Municipal Corporation of Bombay adjourned, the Sugar Merchants’ Association passed an unanimous resolution to boycott British refined sugar,  and other merchant associations went with the boycott. 

The Municipal Corporation of Bombay passed a resolution that “Mrs. Captain was an accomplished lady and was a grand-daughter of the late Dadabhai Naoroji popularly known as the Grand Old Man of India. Mrs. Captain was a lady of sound and sober views and took her education in England. It was Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji who first started the idea of swaraj for India and Mrs. Captain took her education in England under the guidance of her revered grandfather. Self sacrifice and service were the mottos of her life and she was acting upto her honest conviction with courage.” 

When Perin and other women activists were released from prison, a mile long chain of about 5,000 women led by Sevikas welcomed them back. There were crowds of women reportedly 10,000 strong at both ends of the parade. Such active participation of women in the freedom struggle was in part possible because of the example and the leadership of Perin and her compatriots.  

The struggle for freedom - The Implications for women

The wholehearted participation of women gave as much a fillip to the women’s emancipation movement as it did to the struggle for freedom. The women volunteers in the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements had a huge impact on the general perception about women’s capabilities. The menfolk were in prison so the women took charge. Women from the most aristocratic and orthodox families to the poorest participated. They took not just the British administration but even their own menfolk by surprise. This participation opened up avenues for social and political rights for women. 

As the Congress party was in the forefront of the struggle, Perin and her sisters were in the thick of all party activities in Bombay (now Mumbai). Perin became the first woman president of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee in 1932. 

For better clarity of purpose and organisation, many smaller bodies were merged into the Gandhi Seva Sena of which Perin became the Honorary General Secretary, a post she held until her death. The Gandhi Seva Sena promoted khadi by selling rural and khadi products from their stores. One store is still in business in Mumbai selling herbal cosmetics, oil and pulses.

Khadi, also known as khaddar, was originally from Eastern India but eventually was woven by people from all over the country. It is handwoven cloth made of natural fibre, mainly cotton, but also to a lesser degree of silk and wool. It is traditionally woven with the spinning wheel, the charkha. During the freedom movement Khadi became the symbol of India’s resistance to imported cloth and of self-reliance. Today Khadi has had a rejuvenation and is also used by fashion designers in high-end clothing. 

Greater Responsibility

In 1937 the Congress Party came to power in eleven provinces in the provincial elections held under the Government of India Act 1935. These were Madras, The Central Provinces, Sindh, Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, NWFP, Assam, Bombay Presidency and United Provinces. This development raised expectations of a greater role for the party in the future and the need to prepare for it. The Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee with Jawaharlal Nehru as Chairman. Perin was member of the sub-committee ‘Women’s Role in a Planned Economy’ with several others who were active in the freedom movement and in women’s associations. The committee  debated and planned policy for issues such as women’s social, economic and political status, education, marriage, maternity and succession. The committee’s report was absolutely clear that the position of women should be on an equal footing to that of men in the India of the future. 

After India’s Independence

Perin was appointed Chief Commissioner of Bharat Guides and had a hand in voluntary social welfare work among young girls. She was honoured with the Padma Sri in 1954, the first batch of civil awards presented in independent India. 

Perin Naoroji Captain died in Jahangir Nursing Home, Pune in 1958.

Reference 

1. Gandhi, Women and the National Movement 1920-47 - Anup Taneja

2. Women in Satyagraha - Aparna Basu

3. Gandhi’s Passion. The life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi - Stanley Wolpert

4. The Bombay Chronicle, 4 July 1930

5. https://dinyarpatel.com/naoroji/family/

Matangini Hazra - Freedom's Champion

India won independence from British colonizers by the continuous efforts of not just the important freedom fighters who are justly remembered today, but also by the spirited defiance of people from all over the country. Each of them contributed in their own way by never being defeatist and complacent, always working towards throwing off the foreign yoke. 

Matangini Hazra

Statue at the Maidan, Kolkata

(Wikipedia, PK Niyogi)

Setbacks were no impediments

Matangini Hazra (1870-1942) was born in the village Hogla in Tamluk, Midnapore district, Bengal in the family of a poor farmer. Child marriage was prevalent at the time and Matangini was married as a young child to a rich widower Trilochan Hazra, who was 62 years old. She did not receive an education. After her husband died she returned childless to her parental home at the age of 18, to a life of poverty at the edge of society. The immediate years thereafter in her life were uneventful as she immersed herself in social service, unknowingly preparing herself for a bigger role in society. Later in life she was inspired by Gandhiji. She spun yarn and wore khadi, so much so she came to be affectionately called Gandhi Buri (Old Lady Gandhi in Bangla).

Civil Disobedience and other protests

A notable feature of the freedom movement at Midnapore was the large numbers of women who participated. Matangini’s public life has been recorded since 1930 when she took part at Alinan, West Bengal as a 62 year old in the Salt Satyagraha (March - April 1930) called by Mahatma Gandhi as a part of the Civil Disobedience movement which spread all over the country. In Bombay (today's Mumbai) Perin Naoroji Captain took a leading part.

Matangini joined the various protests despite her age. Women picketed liquor shops from which the government earned a hefty revenue. Matangini was arrested, like thousands of others at the time, for breaking the Salt Act. She was punished upon her arrest, but that did not deter her and immediately upon her release participated in the Chowkidari Tax Bandha (movement for abolition of Chowkidari Tax). 

The agitation against Chowkidari Tax

Resentment was building up among the people against the age-old practise of taxing villagers to pay for chowkidars (watchmen and caretakers). The chowkidars were ostensibly employed to support the police in far-flung areas. They were, however, detested by villagers since they additionally acted as spies and worked for the local landlords. 

Popular opinion was that this tax had to be abolished in Bengal. Resentment with the practice was high because the government regularly confiscated huge tracts of property disproportionate to the tax accrued. Once the protest began, the agitators were beaten and tortured. Matangini Hazra got fully involved in the agitation. The governor of Bengal, Sir John Anderson, constituted an illegal court to try everybody in the movement. Despite tight security Matangini sneaked into the court premises and staged a black flag demonstration. She was arrested with several others. Her sentence this time was for six months and she was lodged in Behrampur jail.

More oppression did not stop service of the needy

This arrest only served to steel Matangini’s resolve to fight harder for India’s independence from the oppressive British rule. After she was released, she joined the Indian National Congress which was in the forefront of the struggle for freedom. Matangini continued to be deeply involved in all manner of protest against British colonial rule and continued her service of the people. She was badly injured when lathi-charged by the police at the Mahakuma Congress Conference, a district-level meeting at Serampore. Soon after that a periodic small-pox epidemic hit Bengal, and Matangini worked tirelessly amongst the afflicted. This spirit of service inspite of severe personal difficulties endeared her to people.

The Quit India Movement and its aftermath

The political and social scene in India was filled with turmoil and agitations as the Quit India Movement began in August 1942. When all the leaders of the Congress Party were arrested after Gandhiji’s inspirational call of ‘Do or Die’ in the course of this agitation, several protests were launched locally all over India. Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code that prohibits the assembly of 5 or more people and the holding of public meetings was then imposed by the government. 

The plan in Midnapore, however, was to capture the police station, the court and other public buildings. In defiance of the prohibitory order, at 72 years of age, Matangini led a procession of 6,000 Congress supporters, mostly women, with a flag in her hand. The flag was saffron, white and green, with a charkha in the centre. As chants of Vande Mataram rent the air the police opened fire. Matangini was first hit on one hand and then the other. The third bullet hit her on her forehead even as she continued forward, appealing to the police to stop. 

Matangini Hazra died for her cause, with no thought for her own safety or well-being. She did not hanker for honours, nor did she care for any personal benefits. 

A people’s hero

An interesting fall-out of Matangini Hazra’s death was the impact it had on the people. The residents of Midnapore declared independence from British rule soon after, in 1942. The people remained very agitated, they took over all government offices. No British official was allowed to enter for years. It took an appeal from Gandhiji to the people - to join in fighting for a just cause, to not allow the situation to deteriorate that would lead to bloodshed if armed forces were sent by the government, that all would together fight for the independence of the whole of India - before they bowed out. This was the impact of Matangini Hazra.

Today, nearly 80 years after she lay down her life Matangini Hazra continues to be remembered by a grateful nation. A statue of hers stands in Midnapore at the spot she was shot. Hers was the first statue of a woman to be put up in Kolkata, at the Maidan, in 1977. Schools and streets in West Bengal are named after Matangini. In 2002 when India released postage stamps to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Quit India Movement, Matangini Hazra was one of the freedom fighters honoured in the series.

Although as a young girl Matangini Hazra had the odds stacked against her in every way from the start of her life, as a woman she took charge and rewrote her life’s trajectory to emerge a role model for her can-do spirit and the refusal to accept defeat.

Ref:

Banglapedia, National Encylopedia of Bangladesh 

Bipin Chandra and others, India’s Struggle for Independence

KB Sundarambal - When life gave her lemons, she made lemonade.

This is the story of a woman, a singer, who is a living memory for many of the older generations in South India. Sundarambal’s life and career coincided with several crosscurrents in twentieth century India - the arrival of an increased number of gramophone companies from Europe into the country in search of new voices, the introduction of cinema and its slowly increasing popularity and the escalation in political activity in India because of the freedom struggle. It was also the time when, increasingly, young women joined the nascent theatre and film industry which stigmatized them rather unfairly. Many traditional patrons of artistes, basically royalty and landed gentry, had lost the resources to continue to extend their age-old support to musicians, actors and dancers. In the changed scenario drama troupes and film studios became the new venues for artistes to showcase their talent, and earn a living.

Photograph taken October, 1932

(https://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:K.B.Sundarambal.jpeg)

The Early Years

Kodumudi Balambal Sundarambal was from Erode, Tamil Nadu, born in October 1908. Her early life was one of extreme privation. At one point, unable to cope with dire poverty, Sundarambal’s mother was about to jump into the Kaveri with her three children, when the little girl convinced her to give life another chance. Sundarambal, even at that young age, promised her mother to earn for the family by her talent for singing. And she kept her word.

Sundarambal began to sing on trains to entertain passengers, and earned money. This was all the musical training Sundarambal had, but one apparently so complete that it stood her in good stead all her life. Her strong and resonant voice, her dignified demeanour and her confidence on stage became her hallmarks. Soon she came to the attention of people connected with Tamil theatre who were on the constant look-out for fresh talent.