
It is the year 2105. A new state of ‘Astrikis’ has emerged. It has captured the whole of Europe and some parts of asia. The days of peace of and harmony has gone. Only sour and hardness is everywhere. Loot, massacre, hatred is ruling everywhere. But brave Bharat is standing intact.
Madhav and his son Bablu sitting on their terrace looking at the sky in free India. Bablu asks ‘Dad, why there is news everywhere of pain and struggle? Why is the child crying? (Pointing at the picture of an Armenian child). Madhav says ‘the suffering you are seeing is result of greed, disunity and lack of love for motherland. But one day all these will be over, and patriots will lay their body over the line for freedom.’
Madhav remains silent for a minute and again says ‘FREEDOM COMES AT GREAT STRUGGLE and there is no substitute to it’. He traverses back in time and starts the story of great Indian freedom struggle.
India has had a rich and varied history, one that isn’t devoid of any struggles. For 200 years, India struggled to free itself from the shackles of the British Raj, making the fight to freedom a long-drawn one.
India has its rich and varied history, one that isn’t devoid of any struggles. For long 200 years, India struggled to free itself from the shackles of the British Raj, making the fight to freedom a long-drawn on March.
Only britishers were not who had long held us under their cruel rule but Mughals, Afghans and others and their share. While every day was a struggle for the Indians fighting for their freedom, some key events rattled the British monarchy, enough for India to awaken to its freedom on August 15, 1947.
1857 – India’s First War of Independence, termed Sepoy Riots by the British was an attempt to unite India against the invading British.
The rebellion led to the end of the East India Company’s rule in India. In August, by the Government of India Act 1858, the company was formally dissolved and its ruling powers over India were transferred to the British Crown1885 – The Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party/INC) was created and became India’s major political party.
The party became the Nation’s leader in the Independence Movement in its struggle against the British Empire.
1915 – Gandhiji returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress. He took leadership of Congress in 1920 and began agitating against the British. On January 26, 1930, the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India which the British did not recognize.
1916 – Lucknow Pact was an agreement reached between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League.
Muhammed Ali Jinnah, then a member of the Congress as well as the League, made both the parties reach an agreement to pressure the British government to adopt a more liberal approach to India and give Indians more authority to run their country.
1919 – The tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13. This event in which Brigadier-General Reginald E.H. Dyer ordered indiscriminate firing at a crowd including women and children, killing hundreds of them, caused much resentment and anger among the people and led to the Non-Cooperation Movement.
1920 – The Non-Cooperation Movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the Indian values of honour and integrity.
1935 – The Government of India Act and the creation of a new constitution laid the foundations for the events that would follow in the next decade and thereafter.
1940 – England’s involvement in the Second World War weakened the British Empire. After shaking off the effects of the First World War this war caused the thinning of the British resources and would be significant in deciding India’s future.
1942 – The Quit India movement called for the immediate withdrawal of the British from India and the British responded by putting most of the INC leadership in jail.
1947 – End of British rule and partition of sub-continent into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority state of Pakistan. And India welcomed its new dawn with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous words – “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.
The story ends and Madhav says ‘you have to fight for your own existence above all war, nukes and bullets, because motherland is our existence, and our existence is for her service.
JAI HIND…..
Written by Sonali Priyadarsini Dalal, 2nd Year