"Inquilab Zindabad!": Poets during the British RajThe Indian Independence movement was a long-drawn effort to save India from the clutches of the British Raj. The British, who originally arrived in India to establish stronger trade ties, had over a course of several decades, established control over much of the country through proxy wars, which ended with India becoming a British colony for 200 years.During the movement, India saw a great many people lay down their lives protesting the Raj and demanding independence. Many perished protesting peacefully and many were executed for being revolutionaries, who chose a more radical method in their efforts.DH looks back at some poets who chose to either support or directly take part in the Freedom Struggle, be it moderates or revolutionaries.
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Most famous for the establishment of the Aurobindo Ashram, Sri Aurobindo was a civil worker in the princely state of Baroda before his entry into nationalist politics amidst the Freedom struggle. He is noted for being accused of treason in a long trial which ended in a simple prison sentence as he could not be convicted of the charges against him.
Tagore, unlike many of the noted Freedom Fighters, was not someone who subscribed to the ideology of nationalism. He was a noted humanist and universalist and an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance. He is most noted for the song Jana Gana Mana, which became the national anthem of India and Amar Shonar Bangla, which became Bangladesh's national anthem.
'Inquilab Zindabad!', the words that underscored the Indian Freedom Movement came from the unlikeliest of sources: Hasrat Mohani, a poet who dealt in Ghazal and used love as the foundation of his works. He was also among the founders of the Communist Party of India.
Born Chinnaswami Subramania Bharati, Bharathiyar was a man influenced by many persons and cultures. From Hindu nationalism to Sikhs and Sister Nivedita herself, many factors influenced the perception of this man, who went on to support the Revolutionaries and be an editor in the Tamil weekly
The Nightingale of India, Sarojini Naidu was an established poet, politician and activist associated with the Indian National Congress during the Indian Freedom Movement. She was an equal to many other fighters, including Gokhale, Tagore and MK Gandhi and played a leading role during Civil Disobedience.
Kazi Nazrul Islam may be one of the lesser-known poets who were involved in the struggle, but his works deserve mention all the same. Though he is today the national poet of Bangladesh, he started his freedom fighting days after 3 years in the British Indian Army, the results of which were numerous influential poems such as