A Tale of Sufferings: How the idea of Ahimsa Conquered minds and won a country
Client-: Orchids the International School
Title Tag-: Reminiscences on the eve of India’s Independence Day
Meta Description-: How many times have you thought about the struggles our forefathers had to do during India’s independence struggle? Let this india’s independence day be a moment to think.
Key words-:
About India’s Independence Day, India’s Independence Day
Everyone likes to hear stories right? It is because stories give us some sort of solace and happiness. If the story is gripping, which can make us feel like standing in front of a cliff, make us on the edge of our seats, chances are there that it will make one feel at ease. One would feel like the inside of the story and experience it with all the emotions. This time, let us talk about a story involving crores of a people, the legend of a battered and broken country that soared high into the horizons of independence. Every August 15 is celebrated in style to commemorate the heroes in that story. When it comes about India’s Independence Day, we have to think about the struggles of our forefathers.
The Arrival of the English
About India’s Independence Day, much has been written and spoken about.Once upon a time, before the arrival of electricity and train, India was a land divided into many. There was an emperor, a Mughal emperor, but his strength had already weakened. The nation was divided into numerous princely states, at war with each other. Around that time, there appeared a group of merchants from the Island of English, who named themselves as the English East India Company. They had merchandise as their aim. Finding the political climate suitable for their intended motives, they put one ruler against the other, thus smoothly playing their parts. But not everyone agreed with the arrangement. Siraj-Ud- Dawla, the mighty Nawab of Bengal, was one of them.
He decided to turn the tables and teach English a lesson that they will never forget. Unlike other rulers, he never condescended in front of these merchants. As all the diplomacy from the Englishmen had failed, a battle was on the cards. Then, in 1757, The Nawab’s army took it upon the Englishmen. The English power easily succeeded and subdued the Nawab as they bought off Mir Jaffer, the Nawab’s confidant. The Nawab was cheated and defeated.
So in this way, the English East India Company had started its rule in India. The British were in awe about the immense rich contained in India which soon they began to transfer to their homeland, which was slowly growing as a global superpower. Within a short span of time, they created a political arrangement with the governor-general at the top. Many Indians were uneasy about a foreign rule in India, and numerous rebellions had happened in many parts of the vast country. With advanced technologies to aid them, the company found it easy to crush most of the rebellions. But eventually, the affected people’s war cry had resulted in the great rebellion of 1857, which is our first war for Independence. That was a fierce war. Disenchanted Nawabs, Rajahs and local chiefs took arms and fought bravely against the Englishmen. They almost succeeded but the better equipped English had the last laugh. The rebels had marched to Delhi and even printed currencies in the name of Bahadurshah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor. The rebels proclaimed him as their Emperor. The revolt was suppressed brutally, but the rule was taken from the hands of the company the reigning Queen of Britain, Queen Victoria.
The English language became the official language and by that time, many Indians got an opportunity to study in institutions governed by the English. They got a new perspective about things in general and produced brilliant men like Dada Bhai Naoroji, who talked about the looting of India. The English wave had also reflected in arts, with poets such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Toru Dutt got fame. The arrival of Social reformers such as the great Raja Ram Mohan Roy was also a product of this intellectual climate, who voiced against social evils such as ‘Sati’. The thinking men of the time found the disparity between the ruler and the ruled, as the ordinary Indian was struggling to make both ends meet.
The Indian National Congress was formed in 1883, as a platform for these thinking men to voice their concerns. It was patronized by some English men, especially A.O. Hume, a former Civil Servant. Soon it began to change into an entity that criticized the imperial policies and began to voice for more autonomy for the country. Some of the earlier leaders of this Era includes Balagangadhar Tilak and Gopala Krishna Gokhale, both of them were staunch patriots.
The Phenomenon called Gandhi
1900s.
A barrister goes to the country of South Africa for pleading a case. He was from Kathiawar, then a princely state, now in Gujrat. His name was Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi. He was well-read and could speak articulately. This country was also ruled by the British and a war was going on, between them and the Boers, descendants of early Dutch settlers. There he realizes that Indians are always treated as second class citizens, even if he is equal to the British in position and knowledge. This revelation shakes him, and after giving this matter a lot of thinking, he returns to his motherland. By that time he would have developed a personal philosophy. He soon organizes people and becomes an integral part of the Indian National Congress. He would be amply helped by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru, the well-read political leader, Vallabh Bhai Patel, and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad. He would organize rebellions such as ‘the salt satyagraha’ much to the chagrin of the British. People would be horrified by events such as ‘the Jalian wala bagh massacre, where the British army murdered hundreds of people.
His ways would be different. He chants ahimsa and champions non- violence. His followers would be known as ‘ Satyagrahis’ and would be brutally tortured by the rulers. At the same time, unable to sit idle when the whole country is suffering, young men like Bhagat Singh takes to the path of Violence and chooses martyrdom. Surya Sen, a small-time schoolmaster in Chittagong, in today’s Bangladesh, would organize a large scale rebellion, only to be crushed by the British. Subhash Chandra Bose resigns from the Party and chooses guerilla warfare. Gandhi with his disciples sticks to the path of Ahimsa and travels all over India to dissimulate the message of peace.
The flames of his non- violent rebellion would spread all over India, and masses would join him in huge numbers. They knew they would suffer, but the freedom of the motherland enchanted them. The world, going through an inhuman second world war, changes the status quo. It was the year of 1942 and the allies and the axis powers were fighting a bitter war in many of the theatres. Then, Gandhi organizes ‘the Quit India’ rebellion and people join en masse, and the British find it hard to stop the rebellion.
Towards Independence
1946.
The decisive year. Lord Mount batten arrives as the Viceroy of India and within months, the power dynamics of the British political system would change. The labour party would win and Clement Attlee would take the chair as the prime minister. He assigns lord mount batten to have the preparations for the independence of India and Pakistan, the new country. He obliges and the new country takes shape as India, with C. Rajagopalachari as the governor-general and Jawahar Lal Nehru as the first prime minister. India’s Independence Day must be a moment to think about what we had endured in the past.
India’s Independence Day is celebrated always with much pomp.So, let us take a step back. Look into the kaleidoscope. One thing becomes crystal clear- this freedom we enjoy now is a hard-earned one. It’s our responsibility to respect that and contribute to the nation-building.
