The event will be a 3 hour show with live music and pulsating drama depicting the struggles of the freedom fighters such as Mangal Pandey, Rani of Jhansi, Bhagat Singh and Gandhi Ji (MKG) and their earnest fight for self-rule (Swaraj) and independence of the nation. The lists of freedom fighters are unending and this is not surprising when these freedom fighters fought for their rights and freedom for self rule. Whatever perception the readers have of freedom fighters, the current generation should imbibe the good attributes and virtues inherent in those freedom fighters, and unite to forge ahead good links amongst the community on its global level. The ten characteristics of the achieving person are: focus, preparedness, conviction, perseverance, creativity, curiosity, resilience, risk taking, independence and a sense of higher purpose.
The rationale for such an event is to give the young generation a sense of deep understanding about their roots and cultural heritage. The impetus to this event is a conglomeration of young talented British-born Indian with an avid affinity for the land of their ancestors.
The event will be held at Watford Colosseum, Rickmansworth Road, Watford WD17 3JN. The doors will open at 1700 hours.
Mangal Pandey is a household name and he was a soldier who is known for his role in the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
In 1857, when India was ruled by the British East India Company. Mangal Pandey is a sepoy, a soldier of Indian origin, in the army of the East India Company. Pandey is fighting in the Anglo-Afghan Wars and saves the life of his British commanding officer, William Gordon and is indebted to Pandey and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending both rank and race.
Gordon and Pandey's friendship is challenged following the introduction of a new rifle, the Enfield rifled musket. In reality, rumours began to spread among the sepoys that the paper cartridges that held the powder and ball for the rifle were greased with either pig fat or beef tallow. Since the process of loading the cartridge required the soldier to bite the cartridge open to pour in the loose powder, the soldiers believed that the process would require them to consume pork or beef - an act abhorrent concept to Muslim and Hindu soldiers, respectively, for religious reasons.
Gordon investigates, and is told to assure Pandey that the cartridges are free from pollution. Demonstrating his total trust in Gordon, Mangal bites the cartridge. But Pandey soon discovers that the cartridges really are greased by animal fat. The rumour of this imposed pollution is the spark that ignites the powder keg of resentment in the country. Mutiny breaks out, led by Pandey. At one point Pandey and Gordon become involved in direct hand-to-hand combat as the latter tries to dissuade the sepoy from what he believes to be a futile exercise that will lead to only death. Pandey is captured and executed, despite the protestations of Gordon, who reasons that Pandey will be revered as a martyr and that his legacy will cause more uprising. Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi (c.19 November 1835 – 17 June 1858) ruled the princely state of Jhansi, situated in the Northern part of India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and a symbol of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company in the subcontinent.
Bhagat Singh (September 28, 1907 – March 23, 1931) was an Indian nationalist considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He is often referred to as Shaheed(martyr) Bhagat Singh.
Born into a Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj, as a teenager Singh studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchist and Marxist ideologies. Bhagat Singh, regarded Kartar Singh Sarabha as his Guru, friend and brother.
Singh was involved in the assassination of a British police officer, John Saunders, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, but eluded efforts by the police to capture him. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly, subsequently volunteering to surrender and be arrested. Held on this charge, he gained widespread national support when he underwent a 116 day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for British and Indian political prisoners. During this time, sufficient evidence was brought against him for a conviction in the Saunders case, after trial by a Special Tribunal and appeal at the Privy Council in England. He was convicted and subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder, aged 23. His legacy prompted youths in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and he continues to be a youth idol in modern India, as well as the inspiration for several films. He was commemorated with a large bronze statue in the Parliament of India, as well as a range of other memorials.
In 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar, non-violent people gathered at a public meeting were fired upon without warning, killing hundreds. This set him thinking about India's independence. He was an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920, , and openly defied the British by following Gandhi's wishes of burning his government school books and any imported British clothing he could find. On February 20, 1921, the custodian of Nankana Sahib (Guru Nanak's birthplace) and his men, fired on protesters, which killed a large number of unarmed protesters. In 1922, he became disgruntled with Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, after Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement following the violent murders of policemen by villagers, which were a reaction to the police's killing of three villagers by firing at Chauri Chaura in the United Provinces, and joined the Young Revolutionary Movement. There, he began advocating the violent overthrow of the British.
A year later, to avoid getting married by his family, Singh ran away from his house to Kanpur. In a letter he left behind, he stated: "My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now..." Bhagat Singh.
In the words of Subhash Chandra Bose: "Bhagat Singh had become the symbol of the new awakening among the youths ...” Nehru acknowledged that the popularity of Singh was leading to a new national awakening, saying "He was a clean fighter who faced his enemy in the open field....he was like a spark that became a flame in a short time and spread from one end of the country to the other dispelling the prevailing darkness everywhere."
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. A pioneer of satyagraha, or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience—a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total non-violence—Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma "Great Soul," an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore).
Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, but above all for achieving Swaraj—the independence of India from foreign domination.
Non-cooperation movement
Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance
as his "weapons" in the struggle against the British Raj. In Panjab,
the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of civilians by British troops (also
known as the Amritsar Massacre) caused deep trauma to the nation,
leading to increased public anger and acts of violence. Gandhi
criticised both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliatory
violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to
British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial
opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional
speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could
not be justified. After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi
began to focus on winning complete self-government and control of all
Indian government institutions, maturing soon into Swaraj or complete
individual, spiritual, political independence.
Quit India Movement
When World War II broke out in 1939. Gandhi initially favoured offering
"non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other
Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of
India in the war without consultation of the people's representatives.
All Congressmen resigned from office. After long deliberations, Gandhi
declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought
for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India itself.
As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence,
drafting a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. This was
Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at
securing the British exit from India.
Quit India became the most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale. Thousands of freedom fighters were killed or injured by police gunfire, and hundreds of thousands were arrested. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they would not support the war effort unless India was granted immediate independence. He even clarified that this time the movement would not be stopped if individual acts of violence were committed, saying that the "ordered anarchy" around him was "worse than real anarchy." He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maintain discipline viaahimsa, and Karo Ya Maro ("Do or Die") in the cause of ultimate freedom.
Partition of India
While the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to
quit India, the Muslim League passed a resolution for them to divide
and quit, in 1943. Gandhi is believed to have been opposed to the
partition during independence and suggested an agreement which required
the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain independence
under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition
could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim
majority. When Jinnah called for Direct Action, on 16 August 1946,
Gandhi was infuriated and visited the most riot prone areas to stop the
massacres, personally. He made strong efforts to unite the Indian
Hindus, Muslims and Christians and struggled for the emancipation of
the "untouchables" in Hindu society.
On the 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Act was invoked and the following carnage witnessed a displacement of up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire with an estimated loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million. But for his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there would have been much more bloodshed during the partition, according to prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip. Stanley Wolpert's words sum up Gandhi's role and views on the partition perfectly: Their plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi, however, who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a non-violent one.
Swaraj- Self-Rule
Gandhi was a self-described philosophical anarchist, and his vision of
India meant an India without an underlying government. He once said
that "the ideally non-violent state would be an ordered anarchy." While
political systems are largely hierarchical, with each layer of
authority from the individual to the central government have increasing
levels of authority over the layer below, Gandhi believed that society
should be the exact opposite, where nothing is done without the consent
of anyone, down to the individual. His idea was that true self-rule in
a country means that every person rules his or herself and that there
is no state which enforces laws upon the people. This would be achieved
over time with non-violent conflict mediation, as power is divested
from layers of hierarchical authorities, ultimately to the individual,
which would come to embody the ethic of non-violence. Rather than a
system where rights are enforced by a higher authority, people are
self-governed by mutual responsibilities. On returning from South
Africa, when Gandhi received a letter asking for his participation in
writing a world charter for human rights, he responded saying, "In my
experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human
duties." A free India for him meant the existence of thousands of
self-sufficient small communities (an idea possibly from Tolstoy) who
rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely
transferring a British established administrative structure into Indian
hands which he said was just making Hindustan into Englistan. He wanted
to ultimately dissolve the Congress Party after independence and
establish a system of direct democracy in India, having no faith in the
British styled parliamentary system.
Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire civilised world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its over estimation of brutal violent forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational works. We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come.
The list of freedom fighters in India is endless. Gandhi Ji was dedicated to the ideals of truth, non-violence and love. He was the architect of India’s freedom and one of the greatest men of the century. Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Swaraj is our birthright thundered Tilak, the Lion of India. He founded schools and published newspapers all for his mother land. He wore himself out till his last breadth, awaken his countrymen. Bhagat Singh was the symbol of the heroism of the youth of India. Udham Singh and Randhir Singh are names that also go unmentioned. Bhagat Singh, threw a bomb when the Legislature was in session to warn the British Government. He was put to death but lives in the hearts of his countrymen. Tatia Tope, a hero of the fight for freedom in 1857. His very name made the mighty English generals tremble. Deceived by his friend, he faced death like a hero, for the sake of his country. Madame Cama, the fiery patriot who first unfurled India's flag at an international assembly. She turned away from a life of luxury and lived an exile - to serve her country, and the mighty British Government grew afraid of her. Sardar Patel, India's Man of Steel, who gave up his practise in order to fight for the freedom of the country. He was sent to prison. As the Deputy Prime Minister of free India, he became the architect of the integrity of India by merging of hundreds of princely states with the Indian Union. Ramaprasad Bismil, a brave revolutionary who up his life smilingly for the sake of the Motherland. He was hunted by the police and betrayed by fellow workers. He was the brave leader of Kakori Rail Dacoity Episode. Khudiram Bose was the hero who threw the first bomb on the British who were crushing India. The boy of sixteen defied the police. At the age of nineteen, he became a martyr, with the holy book the Bhagavad-Gita (The Divine Song) in his hand and with the slogan ' Vande Mataram' on his lips.
The event is sponsored by a growing and modest charity, Divya Seva Foundation. Divya Seva Foundation (DSF) is a UK registered charity committed to empowering and working with underprivileged and marginalised communities in less developed countries. The Foundation works with disadvantaged children, orphans, the elderly and the destitute to provide them with better education, health care, clothing and an improved community life.
https://youtu.be/s--klB4e0vU
https://youtu.be/xhJj9mziLrA
https://youtu.be/L6UywSt9_vM
References: Stanley Wolpert, Gandhi's Passion, The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford University Press