Old records give a glimpse into British excesses, freedom struggle

ALLAHABAD: Rare records pertaining to freedom struggle retrieved by officials of regional archives from the record room of Allahabad collectorate provide a glimpse into excesses by the British to suppress resentment among Indians.

To silence rebellion, the British lodged FIRs against leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamla Nehru and jailed them for a period ranging from six months to one year. Records reveal that former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri was arrested on December 16, 1933 at Handia and Sarai Mamrez police stations in Allahabad for holding public meetings against British govt. He was charged with inciting farmers to not to pay tax to the British.

FIRs were lodged separately at both police stations and sixmonth rigorous imprisonment was awarded to Shastri along with a fine of Rs 25. Regional archive officer Amit Agnihotri said some of the records which remained dumped for over seven decades in the record room were in bad shape but most of them were readable.

Similar FIRs were also lodged against other leaders like Kamla Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and Nawab Yusuf. Agnihotri said old records included pamphlets and other material attached with copies of FIR by the British as evidence against several unsung heroes of freedom struggle. “A pamphlet titled ‘Congress Bulletin’ in Hindi, issued by the then dictator (now president) of the City Congress Committee, Prayag, Salig Ram Jaiswal, declares schedule of I-Day celebrations on Jan 26. It also asks students to jump into freedom struggle,” said Agnihotri. Another document, printed in January 1933, urges Indians to observe ‘Swadheenta Vrat’ during I-Day celebrations on January 26, 1933 and vow to uproot the British.