Govt plans to honour ‘unsung’ freedom fighters
The Union government is planning to showcase unsung heros and little-known groups and events of the freedom struggle during the yearlong celebrations to mark 75 years of India’s independence, officials said on Friday, adding that several events and lectures will be organised to underline their contribution.
The government has drawn up a list of 146 names and planned 75 regional, six national and two international seminars under the banner of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, the campaign to mark 75 years of Independence. The names have been compiled separately by government departments and the Indian
Tope, and called for a revamp. Also included are Jana Sangh ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh and the Hindu Mahasabha in the list compiled by government departments.
“When Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March flagged off the 75-week long programme Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence, he referred to a shlok (verse) of Yajurveda. Through that he gramme to celebrate the lives of our unsung heroes,” said ICHR director (research and administration), Om Jee Upadhayay.
The 146 names have been classified by state of origin, and also include figures from smaller tribes and castes. In the list are Gandhians such as Ghelubhai Naik, agricultural economist Mohanlal Lallubhai Dantwala, former Jana Sangh idelogue Nanaji Deshmukh,
The list also includes several tribal leaders, including Laxman Nayak from Odisha, Telanga Kharia from Jharkhand and Komaram Bheem from Telangana.
The government also drew up lists of lesser-known events and literature. The first list included the Surat salt agitation (1840s), war against the company raj, (1857-58), Bundelkhand resistance (1808), and Rangpur peasant uprising (1783), among others. The second list includes Ekshlok Geeta (Marathi book, 1910), Hindu Dharm Ka Jhanda (Hindi pamphlet 1927), Gadar di Gunj (Gurumukhi, 1910), Chauri Chaura judgment (English, 1923), and Inquilab (Urdu, 1927), among others.
Some experts criticised the inclusions. “We cannot call Subhas Chandra Bose, Chandrashekhar Azad and Birsa Munda as ‘unsung ing committee of education, V Sahasrabuddhe, disagreed. “If have not done justice to them, there has to be a time to do ju Whether it is Subhas Cha Bose or any of the others, haven’t received the credit deserve,’’ said the MP.
Sucheta Mahajan, historian professor at Jawaharlal N University, said the names f some states were indeed of pe who were “lesser known” added that some other nam such as Bose -- were of popula ures. “We should make a dis tion on when we use the term dom struggle. We should pic people from the late 19th cen when the national conscious came. So, in my opinion pe from 1857 cannot be know freedom fighters. The list defin needs a revamp,” she said.