Top 3 unknown people fought for India's freedom

Prerna Ekka

1. MATANGINI  HAZRA

She was born in a village named Hongla, near Tamluk, in 1869. Matangini Hazra was an unusual woman for her time. Not much information is publicly available for her early years. Still, according to research in West Bengal, she was the daughter of a poor farmer who could not afford formal education. At the age of 12, she married Frilochan Hazare, a 60-year-old man from Alina village in Medinipur. By 18, Matangini Hazara was widowed without any children. After his husband's death, she began devoting herself to working for social causes. In the early 1900s, the Nationalist movement started gaining traction across the subcontinent, and Gandhi traveled extensively across the

Length and breadth of the region, raising awareness for the freedom movement. According to State government archives, Hazra became so inspired by Gandhi's beliefs that she became a devoted follower of the leader, earning herself the name,' Gandhi bura.'In the skirmish between protesters and police, Hazra stepped forward with the flag of the freedom movement in her hand to appeal to the authority not to shoot at the procession. His pleas went unheard, and British police officials shot her thrice. Despite her wounds, she continued marching with the freedom flag, chanting 'Vande Matram,' till she collapsed and died, the flag still clothes in her hands. Matangini Hazra was got forgotten by the country. In 1977 the first statue in the Kolkata Maidan dedicated to a woman revolutionary was Matangini Hazar.

2. SENAPATI   BAPAT

Bapat was called 'Senapati' or 'commander' for his leadership during the Muslim satyagraha in 1921, leading to what social scientist Ghanshyam Shan called the "first recorded organized struggle against the displacement" of farmers. Born on 12 November 1880, Bapat has raised in a lower-middle-class Chitwpawan Brahmin family in the Partner town of Ahmednagar district Maharastra. By 1920, He had bought into Gandhi's vision of 'Swaraj.' However, the following year, he came into prominence, leading the Muslim satyagraha, the world's first anti-movement.

In 1904 after passing out of college, He earned a scholarship and left for England to study at Heriot-Watt college in Edinburgh. Among other workers, Dadabhai Naoroji's treatise 'Poverty in India' helped him understand the exploitative nature of British rule on the Indian economy. Here, he developed links with prominent British socialists of the time and met several Russian revolutionaries who introduced him to Bolshevism. However, his public speeches against British rule in India, which were profoundly critical and provocation, and his association with the India House in London, a hub for anti-colonial political activism, resulted in him losing his scholarship in 1907.

By 1920 He had bought into Gandhi's vision of 'Swaraj.' However, the following year, he came into prominence, leading the Malshi Satyagraha, the world's first anti-dam movement. On 15 August 1947, Bapat had the honor of raising the Indian national flag over Pune for the first time.

Bapat eventually passed away on 28 November 1967 at the age of 87. However, his memory would come alive post freedom in one issue of the Amar Chitra Katha Comic book series in 1964. In 1977, the government of India issued a postage stamp in his honor. Bapat was a maverick in his own right, not a beholder of any party or personality.