Recently,
some of my music loving friends had gathered to sing and enjoy with songs of the
great singer Asha Bhonsle on her birth anniversary on the 8th of September.
It was during this event, it struck me suddenly that we are probably not remembering
and celebrating the great men and women of our country, the way they should be,
who have sacrificed their lives to achieve freedom for our country.
It is in
this connection the thought came to my mind as to why not I start a series on these great men and women, who
sacrificed their lives for the country, on their birth anniversaries, and share
between friends,
Since
already over a fortnight has passed during this month, I have covered the Heroes whose
birthdays fall from the 1st September to 11th September
in this write up.
The story
on other heroes will be shared on their respective birth anniversaries.
Puli
Thevar (September 1st
-1715)
To begin
with, let me start with Puli Thevar, born on 1st September
1715.
While the
exact date of his martyrdom is not known, it is generally believed that he died
in 1767.
Long before Mangal Pandey who ignited the revolt
of 1857, there was this Hindu, born in the land of the Raja Raja Cholan.
His name was Puli Thevar and he was born on 1st
September 1715. He is notable for being the first king to fight against the
imperial British Rule in India. He ruled NelKattum Sevval, situated in the
Sankarankoil Taluk of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu
The name Puli in Tamil means Tiger, and
this brave devotee of Shiva was one who lived up to his name. He was
unmatched in skill of warfare, understanding of politics and was full of fire. He
was born rebel. Not a rebel without
cause, rather a rebel against Adharma.
Mahfuz Khan, a nawab of
Arkot, along with the assistance of the British army under Col. Heron undertook
an expedition to suppress the revolt by Thevar in March 1755. Puli Thevar and some
other Marava Palayakkarars of the Western bloc stood firm against the
British.
After getting defeated in 1755, the coalition
of Islamists soldiers of the nawab of Arkot and the British forces took him a
prisoner by deceit in 1767 while on his way to the Sankaran Kovil temple
in 1767. He was taken through the town streets, in a procession, by the
soldiers to shame him and left him alone in the sacred sanctum of the temple
before they could take him to the courts for dispensing justice to the man who
brought the mercenaries to their knees.
It is not known as to
what happened actually, but the story has it that due to the divine intervention Puli Thevar vanished and was not to be seen
again.
Actually, Puli Thevar was thoroughly maligned as a
man who never kept his words and was deceitful to the core by the British
historians since he
did not give up or prostrate in front of the British.
Source
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr9Duu69oJduhUAixxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEybm9wYnY1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjY4MzNfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1568892731/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.hinduhistory.info%2fpuli-thevar-the-ultimate-rebel-warrior%2f/RK=2/RS=5OiVpYTXzp3RHynrPXWr_daUJuA-
DADABAI NAUROJI (September 4Th, 1825—June 30,
1917)
Educated at Elphinstone College,
Bombay, he was a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy before turning
to politics and a career in commerce that took him to England, where he spent
much of his life.
In 1865, Naoroji launched
the London Indian Society, the purpose of which was to discuss
Indian political, social and literary subjects.
In 1867 Naoroji also helped to establish the East India
Association, one of the predecessor organisation of the Indian National
Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before
the British public. The Association was instrumental in counter-acting
the propaganda by the Ethnological Society
of Londan which, in its session in 1866, had tried to prove the
inferiority of the Asians to the Europeans. This Association soon won the
support of eminent Englishmen and was able to exercise considerable influence
in the British Parliament.
In 1874, he became Prime Minister of Vadodra and was a member of the Legislative
Council of Bombay (1885-1888).
He was elected Liberal member of
Parliament for Central Finsbury, London. He became widely known for his unfavorable
opinion of the economic consequences of British rule in India and was appointed
a member of the royal commission on Indian expenditure in 1895.
He was also a member of the Indian National Association
founded by Sir Surendranath Banerjee from Koltaka a few years before the founding of
the Indian National Congress in Mumbai, with the same objectives and
practices.
The two groups later merged into the INC, and Naoroji was
elected President of the Congress in 1886.
In the session of 1906, his
conciliatory tactics helped to postpone the impending split between moderates
and extremists in the Congress Party.
In his many writings and speeches and
especially in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901),
Naoroji argued that India was too highly taxed and that its wealth was being
drained away to England.
Source
V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (September
5Th 1872 – 18 November 1936)
Vallinayagan Ulaganathan Chidambaram popularly known by his
initials, V.O.C. also known as Kappalottiya
Tamizhan "The Tamil Helmsman", was an Indian freedom fighter
and leader of Indian National Congress. He was a disciple of Bal Gangadhar
Tilak.
He launched the first indigenous Indian shipping service between
Tuticorin and Colombo with the Swadeshi Navigation Company, competing against
British ships. Tuticorin Port trust, one of India's thirteen major ports,
is named after him. At one time a member of the Indian National Congress, he was later charged
with sedition by the British government and sentenced to life imprisonment , and his Barrister license
was revoked.
In Chennai, Chidambaram met
Ramakrishnananthar, a saint who belonged to Swami Vivekananda Ashram
(monastery), who advised him to "do something for the nation". Here
he met the Tamil poet Subramanya Bharatiyar who shared his political
ideology. The two men became close friends
In the 1890s and 1900s India's independence movement and
the Swadeshi Movement initiated by Bal Gagadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai
of the Indian National Congress (INC), were at their peak. From 1892
Chidambaram was influenced by Tilak Maharaj
and became his disciple. Along with Subramanya Siva and Subramanya Bharathi, he became
a prominent spokesperson for the cause in the Madras Presidency.
Chidambaram established many institutions like Yuvanesh Prachar
Sabha, Dharmasanga Nesavu Salai, National Godown, Madras Agro-Industrial
Society ltd and Desabimana Sangam.
In response to the British’s trade monopoly, Chidambaram
started an Indian-owned shipping company. He registered the Swadeshi Shipping
Company in October 1906.
The B.I.S.N.C. attempted to buy out Chidambaram, but he refused
the deal.
The ships commenced regular service between Tuticorin and Colombo (Sri Lanka) against opposition
from British traders and the Imperial Government.
By 1908, Chidambaram's political involvement drew the attention
of the British. Hearing of his intention to speak at a rally celebrating the
release of Bengali leader Bipin Chandra Pal, Winch, a British official
invited Chidambaram to meet him in Tirunelveli with his political comrade Subramanya Siva. At the
meeting, Winch expressed concern about Chidambaram's activities and asked him
to give assurances that he would not participate in any political revolt.
Chidambaram refused to accept his conditions, so he and Siva were arrested on
12 March 1908.
Although his supporters were able to raise sufficient funds for
bail, Chidambaram refused to leave the jail without the release of Siva and his
other comrades.
He was charged with sedition, and a sentence of two life
imprisonments (in effect forty years) was imposed. He was confined in the Coimbatore Central Prison from 9 July 1908 to 1
December 1910.
The judgement was widely condemned in the popular press, with
even the British Statesmen magazine claiming that it was unjust.
Chidambaram appealed the sentence in High Court gaining a
reduced punishment of four years imprisonment and six years in exile. An appeal
to the Privy Council led to a further reduction in sentence.
He was not treated as a political prisoner, nor was the
sentence de facto of simple imprisonment; rather, he was
treated as a convict sentenced to life imprisonment and required to do hard
labour, which caused his health to suffer. Historian and Tamil scholar R.
A. Padmanabhan later noted in his works that Chidambaram was "yoked (in
place of bulls) to the oil press like an animal and made to work it in the
cruel hot sun... From prison Chidambaram continued correspondence,
maintaining a steady stream of legal petitions. He was finally released on 12
December 1912.
To his dismay, the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company had
already been liquidated in 1911, and the ships were auctioned to their
competitors. The company's first ship, the was sold to the British Shipping
Company.
Vinayak Narahari Bhave was
born in a high class Brahmin family on 11th September 1895 at Gagode in Kolaba district, Maharashtra.
His mother Rukmini Devi was a very religious person and instilled in Vinoba a
deep sense of spiritualism. As a student Vinoba was quite fond of mathematics.
He also developed a spiritual conscience quite early having studied the Bhagavad
Gita under the tutelage of his grandfather.
He left college in 1916 and started his spiritual quest. He started travelling the length of the
country, learning regional languages along with knowledge of scriptures and
Sanskrit. He began studying Sanskrit in Benares where he came across a piece on Mahatma
Gandhi, specifically a speech he gave at the Banaras Hindu University and within three months joined Gandhi's independence movement and took residence at Kocharb Ashram in
Ahmedabad.
He dutifully participated in all the
activities at the ashram, leading an austere and sparse life and eventually
dedicated his life towards various programs designed by Gandhi like the Khadi
Andolan, teaching, etc. The name Vinoba (a traditional Marathi epithet
signifying great respect) was conferred upon him by Mama Phadke, another member
of the Ashram.
Bhave excelled in confronting basic social and
economic problems, and he made mass contact with the Indian people, especially
with workers in the home industries, cloth spinning, and sanitation. In 1924 he
led a temple-entry movement for "untouchables" in southern India and
consistently worked on their behalf.
Bhave participated in
the nationwide civil disobedience periodically conducted against the British,
and was imprisoned with other nationalists.
He gained national prominence when Gandhi chose him as the first
participant in a new nonviolent campaign in 1940.
Following India's
independence in 1947 and Gandhi's assassination in 1948, Bhave focused his
efforts on sarvodaya, meaning "welfare for all." At
first Bhave was a reluctant leader and efforts were poorly organized, but
the sarvodaya adherents were imbued with deep dedication and
offered selfless service. Bhave revitalized the movement in 1951 while on a
walking tour of Telangana. A communist-led peasant rebellion marked this area
of Andhra Pradesh as India's major trouble spot. In one village, landless
peasants stated that they needed 100 acres of land. Bhave asked the landowners
to contribute the 100 acres and met with success. Thus, the bhoodan movement
was born, and the sarvodaya movement again had a true leader.
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