These were the places in rural India where blood, sweat and tears were shed for India’s freedom from colonial rule. On this Independence Day, here’s a look at the current state of those historic locations.
From old buildings to vacant grounds, our freedom fighters plotted long and hard in several important locations across the country to overthrow British rule. Rebellions, strategic meetings and clashes played out galore before India gained a hard-won Independence. As we celebrate the 78th Independence Day today, we take a look at some of these places that were key to our success in attaining freedom. How do they stand today? Read on…
The name of the town evokes references to the valiant queen consort of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai, who led a spirited rebellion against the British in 1857. She protested against the British-imposed law of the Doctrine of Lapse, wherein any princely state that didn’t have a male heir in the line of succession would “lapse” into British control. Her efforts in defending her kingdom fanned the Indian national movement for Independence and eternalised her name in the annals of history.
The Jhansi fort, from where she led the rebellion, continues to be a tourist attraction. You can also visit the Rani Jhansi museum. Gwalior is the nearest airport, 100 km away. Alternatively, several trains are connected directly to Jhansi.
Champaran, a small place in Bihar, came into prominence during 1917’s Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi. The British were pressurising Indian farmers to grow indigo and sell it to them at low rates. This was when Gandhi demonstrated one of his first non-violent movements against the colonisers at Champaran.
Today you can visit the Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Motihari and view the memorial pillar that was erected to commemorate the Champaran Satyagraha. The town is accessible by road and rail from Patna, the capital of Bihar.
A village located in Gujarat’s Navsari district, Dandi is the very place where Mahatma Gandhi challenged British authority by breaking the salt law. The British had levied a salt tax as a part of colonial control that had a direct impact on Indian households of all incomes. Gandhi chose to turn this into an instance of non-violent rebellion by undertaking the Dandi march from Sabarmati Ashram to the banks of Dandi where he produced salt. The march received mass support from Indians along the way.
For those wanting to visit Dandi today, the nearest airport and station is at Surat. Once there you can visit the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial which was erected to remind patriotic citizens about the movement and its significance in our freedom struggle.
Barely 14 km outside Lucknow, the sleepy hamlet of Kakori was once renowned for its literature and mystics. The culture here was anchored to Urdu and the Kalandar Sufi order. It was here that Indian revolutionaries waylaid a train in 1925 and stole from the passengers to fund weapons for the Indian freedom struggle. The Hindustan Republican Association was behind the audacious incident that came to be known as the Kakori conspiracy.
While here you can visit the Kakori Shaheed Smarak and savour the Kakori kababs that are synonymous with the town. It is well connected to Lucknow by road.
Port Blair was chosen as the location of the infamous Cellular Jail by the British because of its location way off the east Indian coast. Here all manner of torture and the detention of India’s freedom fighters was carried out. There are rows and rows of cells and seven-pronged buildings meant for solitary confinement. Today this is the spot of a jail museum that is visited by tourists who frequent Port Blair.
For those wanting to access Port Blair, and its Cellular Jail, the Andamans is connected to mainland India via airports at Chennai and Kolkata.
Located near Gorakhpur, the town of Chauri Chaura was the spot of the police station burning incident of 1922 where 23 people were burnt alive. This situation hurt Mahatma Gandhi, who had sounded a call for the non-cooperation movement in 1920. Since Gandhi had intended for the movement to be non-violent, he called it off after the Chauri Chaura incident.
You can access Chauri Chaura by road from Gorakhpur, or via a station that is located 25 km south-east of Gorakhpur junction. A Shaheed Samark memorial was built here in 1982 to remember the martyrs.
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The lead image on top shows the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi in Gujarat. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
