In Indian history post 1947, no due attention was paid to the women freedom fighters, barring a few cases. it was a male-dominated world. In those conservative days, despite the societal restrictions these bold and highly motivated women came out of their closet stood side by side with male freedom fighters and scarified their social and family lives to get freedom for our countries. It is an indisputable fact, an unfortunate one that many women patriots remained behind the scene of activities - invisible, unknown and unsung.
Among the women freedom fighters who found a place in the Indian history books invariably many came from affluent families or had middle class backgrounds. They got the inspiration from their male relatives or parents who never stood in their way. They received support from their relatives too. More often than not, in the case of highly spirited women hailing from ordinary or poor families with little education, the atmosphere was not conducive to them. By dint of hard work with commitments these women hit the forefront and got a name for themselves. Among them, you can pick
Great Kakori train robbery aAlchetron |
Alchetron |
Above images: The Kakori Conspiracy (or Kakori train robbery or Kakori Case) was a train robbery that took place between Kakori and, near Lucknow, on 9 August 1925 during the Indian Independence Movement. The robbery was organised by the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). The robbery was conceived by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan. It was to plunder a train carrying government money on one of the Northern Railway lines to get the needed money for purchase of weaponry. The robbery plan was executed by Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, Chandrashekhar Azad, et al. They made only an abortive attempt. ......................................
Hailing from the little-known Banda zilla of Kanpur, she and her husband were close to Mahatma Gandhi and Chandrashekhar Azad. Kakori dacoity case was related to a sensational train robbery attempt made by freedom fighters to lay their hands on government money to buy ammunition for the revolutionaries and Chandrasekar Azad was one among the brains. This group did not want to follow the path of non-violence as followed by Gandhiji as it did not yield the desired result. Raj Kumari played no less role in this matter than others. Unfortunately, her keen participation in the Kakori dacoity case is hardly figured in the chronicles of freedom movement. Rajkumari had to carry out an important but dangerous assignment - supply of revolvers, etc., to those revolutionaries who were involved in the Kakori operation. Besides she was also carrying secret messages to the freedom fighters. When carrying weapons, To avoid being caught, she safely hid the firearms in her undergarment, casually wearing Khadi clothes to deliver them. To divert attention, she took her three-year-old son in tow.
As ill-luck would have it, she was caught and arrested. In the aftermath of this incident,
her husband's family disowned her and she had to leave the marital home.
Note: Correct image of Ms. Rajkumari Gupta is available
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/unsung-heroines-of-independence/article3764609.