*NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE*

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on 23 January 1897 (at 12.10 pm)
in Cuttack, Orissa Division, Bengal Province, to Prabhavati Devi and Janakinath
Bose, an advocate.[30] He was the ninth child of a total of fourteen siblings. He was
admitted to the Protestant European School like his other brothers and sisters in
January 1902. He continued his studies at this school which was run by the Baptist
Mission up to the year 1909 and then shifted to the Ravenshaw Collegiate School.
Netaji as he was called was a very prominent figure in the Indian freedom
struggle. His sole aim was the freedom of his country and he termed it as a
necessity and didnt agree with Gandhiji on the terms that it can be negotiated. He
was well educated and believed that there should be complete intolerance for
caste-differentiation, racism or religious separation. His was so active in the Indian
National Congress that he was arrested several times by the British Government.
Soon he realised that international backing was a must for Indias freedom and
hence started meeting leaders from Japan, Italy, and Germany who were against the
British forces in the World War 2.
He even met Mussolini and Hitler at different times. He was completely
against the racism that The dictators propagated but he appreciated the discipline
and unity of their men. It was on Hitlers Suggestion that he went to Japan and
formed the Indian National Army and started the Campaign Challo Dilli which
though failed, wasnt enough to break his spirit. The Slogan Jai Hind was also given
by him which still prevails.

*MANGAL PANDEY*
Mangal Pandey was born on 19 July 1827 in Nagwa, a village of upper Ballia
district, Uttar Pradesh. He joined the East India Company's army in 1849 at the age
of 22. Pandey was a soldier in the 6th Company of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry
and is primarily known for his involvement in an attack on several of the regiment's
officers. This incident marked an opening stage in what came to be known as
the India's First War of Independence or Indian Mutiny of 1857.
Mangal Pandey was a soldier in the British troops. In 1847, there were
rumours spreading that the cartridges supplied by the East India Company had pork
and beef in them and this was against the religion of both Hindus and Muslims. At
that time, Pandey convinced his colleagues that the Company wouldnt do anything
of this sort. But later after a series of event he realised that the Company didnt
have the best interest of the Indian population in its mind and was just them like
slaves. The winds of an uprising had already started flowing and soon it turned into
the first Revolt of !857 and Mangal Pandey, who was at the forefront of the
struggle became the First Freedom Fighter of the Indian Struggle for Independence.
The primary motivation behind Mangal Pandey's behaviour is attributed to a
new type of bullet cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle which was to be introduced
in the Bengal Army that year.
The cartridge was thought to be greased with animal fat, primarily from pigs and
cows, which could not be consumed by Muslims and Hindus respectively (the former
being abhorrent to Muslims and the latter a holy animal of the Hindus).[9] The
cartridges had to be bitten at one end before use. [10] The Indian troops were of the
opinion that this was an intentional act of the British, with the aim of defiling their
religions.

*BHAGAT SINGH*
Bhagat Singh, a Sandhu Jat, was born on 27 September 1907 to Kishan Singh
and Vidyavati at Chak No. 105, GB, Banga village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur
district of the Punjab Province of British India. His birth coincided with the release
from jail of his father and two uncles, Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh. [5] His family were
Sikhs, some of whom had been active in Indian independence movements, and
others having served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. His ancestral village
was Khatkar

Kalan,

near

the

town

of Banga inNawanshahr district

renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) of Punjab.

[4]

(now

His grandfather, Arjun Singh,

was a follower of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Hindu reformist movement, Arya

Samaj, which had a considerable influence on the young Bhagat. [4] His father and
uncles were members of the Ghadar Party, led by Kartar Singh Sarabha and Har
Dayal. Ajit Singh was forced to flee to Persia due to pending court cases against
him, while Swaran Singh died at home in 1910 following his release from Borstal Jail
in Lahore.
A revolutionary who was brought up in the patriotic atmosphere, Shaheed
Bhagat Singh, where Shaheed means Martyr, from a very young age all he ever
dreamed was of seeing his country free. He met Rajguru and Sukhdev who shared
his thoughts and together they fought several guerrilla wars fighting and revolting
every British law that was against the civilians and also against the right of
humanity. The Jallianwalla Baugh Massacre is one such example of the colonial
inhumanity. He even blasted bombs inside the Assembly hall shouting slogans of
Inqualab Zindabad( Independence Prevails) to revolt against two laws-Trade Union
Dispute Bill and Public Safety Bill. All three were arrested and hanged to death.
Their death, instead of silencing the people, actually acted as catalyst that ignited
the fire within people as even while leaving all three kept uttering- Sar Kata Sakte
Hai mar, Sar Zhuka Sakte Nahi ( We can have our heads chopped but not bowed).

*MAHATMA GANDHI*
Mohandas
1869

[1]

Karamchand

Gandhi was

born

on

October

in Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town on the Kathiawar

Peninsula and then part of the small princely state of Porbandar in the Kathiawar
Agency of the British Indian Empire. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (18221885),
served as the diwan (chief minister) of Porbander state. His mother, Putlibai, who
was from a Pranami Vaishnavafamily, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three
wives having apparently died in childbirth. M. K. Gandhi had two brothers and one
sister. Mohandas was the youngest of them.
The

Indian

classics,

especially

the

stories

of Shravana and

king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his

autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He
writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without
number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is
traceable to these epic characters.
One of the most iconic men that ever took birth and still continues to survive
in the lessons of passive-resistance and non-violence that he selflessly gave to the
world, hence making it a much better place. He gave up everything, his law career;
his house and wealthy family to fight for justice and for the betterment of his people
who were being treated as third class citizens by the colonial British. Even in the
harshest of conditions, he never gave up his morals and rules, no matter what the
cost of it. Mahatma Gandhi has right fully been given the title of the father of the
nation as India truly owes its independence as a republic and a democracy to this
Short, thin brown man who needed a stick while walking to support him but who
was strong enough to take the responsibility of an entire country and usher it to the
world of sovereignty.

*BHIMRAO RAMJI AMBEDKAR*

Born in a Dalit family, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a victim of the Indian
caste System. Being of the lowest caste, he was accosted with negligible
opportunities for his intelligence. But being a genius he saw the light and converted
to Buddhism helped many others from the lower castes to convert and not oblige to
the inhuman behaviour conducted towards them. His love for books and learning
played a major role in his liberation. It was this hunger for knowledge that made him
the chairman of the committee that founded the constitution of India. Dr. Ambedkar
was the one who scripted the constitution of this democratic country.
Ambedkar was a prolific student, earning a law degree and various doctorates
from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, and gained a
reputation as a scholar for his research in law, economics and political science. In
his early career he was an economist, professor, and lawyer. His later life was
marked by his political activities, where he became involved in the negotiations for
India's independence campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights
and social freedom for untouchables and contributing significantly to the
establishment of the state of India. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism, initiating
mass conversions ofDalits.
In 1990, Ambedkar was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna,
India's highest civilian award.[4] Ambedkar's legacy includes numerous memorials
and depictions in popular culture.