2. India’s Long Road to Independence

I bow to you, Mother! The song praises the motherland as one who is rich in water (sujalām) and fruits (suphalām), cooled by breezes from the south (malayaja-śhītalām) and green with crops (śhasya-śhyāmalām).

In the second stanza, her nights shine with bright moonlight, she is adorned with trees full of blossoming flowers, she smiles sweetly and speaks sweetly, and she gives happiness and blessings (sukhadām varadām).

• Self-confidence and courage — overcoming fear and self-doubt helps us face exams, competition and challenges.
• “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached” — teaches hard work and perseverance.
• Science with our own roots — learn modern science and technology without blindly imitating others.
• Service to others — helping society gives meaning to success.

Yes, these values can help me set a goal, work towards it steadily and not give up after failures.

Openly demanding ‘independence’ could be treated as sedition. The government could ban the paper and jail its editors. So it used safer words that still conveyed the same idea.

It means India ruling itself completely, without any foreign control. It was a clever way of demanding full independence without using that word.

The left box says ‘Swadeshi Paper of India’ and the right box says ‘Our Policy: India for Indians’. Below the title it says ‘A Daily Organ of Indian Nationalism’. These show that the paper stood for Swadeshi and for India being ruled by Indians.

Similar: Both show India as a divine mother, inspired by Bankim’s idea of the motherland.

Different: Abanindranath Tagore’s painting shows a calm, saffron-clad woman with four hands holding a book, sheaves of grain, a cloth and a rosary — gifts of learning, food, clothing and spirituality. The Vijaya cover is a black-and-white printed drawing that shows Mother India with the map of India and the words ‘Vande Mataram’, with people around her.

Details in Vijaya: The title ‘Vijaya’ in Tamil at the top, the figure of Mother India, the outline of India and ‘Vande Mataram’ written in Devanagari.

• Tirot Sing — led the Khasi Revolt (1829–1833) in Meghalaya.
• Maniram Dewan and Piyali Baruah — hanged by the British during the 1857 rebellion in Assam.
• Rani Gaidinliu — began fighting the British at 13 in Manipur; asked people not to pay taxes.
• Kanaklata Barua and Kushal Konwar — martyrs of the Quit India Movement in Assam.
• U Kiang Nongbah — led the Jaintia people against the British and was hanged in 1862.

Tilak meant that his imprisonment would inspire people even more than his writings and speeches. His suffering would awaken the nation and strengthen the cause of freedom.

“Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it” shows that he was fearless, determined and self-confident. He believed freedom was the natural right of Indians and not a favour to be begged from the British.

Tagore meant that the British rulers felt proud of the massacre. They thought they had taught Indians a ‘salutary lesson’ and frightened them into obedience. They ignored the pain and anger of the Indian people.

• Freedom is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people.
• People have the right to enjoy the fruits of their toil and the necessities of life.
• If a government oppresses people, they have the right to change or abolish it.
• British rule had exploited the masses and ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually.
• So India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj — complete independence.

These figures show that the freedom struggle was not the work of a few leaders. Lakhs of ordinary men and women went to jail, were beaten and even killed. The numbers kept growing with each movement. It shows the huge collective sacrifice of the Indian people and their growing determination to be free.

Some more names: Krantisinh Nana Patil, Senapati Bapat, Babu Genu, the Chapekar brothers, Shyamji Krishna Varma, Velu Nachiyar, Tantia Bhil, Tirot Sing and Annie Besant.

1. Right from its inception, the Indian National Congress called for India’s independence. — False
   In the beginning, the Congress expressed faith in British rule and asked only for reforms.
2. Bal Gangadhar Tilak turned a Shivaji festival into a popular event. — True
3. The Ghadar Movement of 1914–15 aimed to start a mutiny within the British Indian Army while British troops were busy with World War I. — True
4. Vallabhbhai Patel earned the title ‘Sardar’ for his leadership during the Satyagraha agitation in Gujarat. — True
   Gandhi gave him the title after the Bardoli movement (1928).
5. The Kakori train robbery of 1925 was carried out to fund the activities of the Hindustan Republican Association. — True
6. The ‘Do or Die’ call was given by Mahatma Gandhi during the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. — False
   It was given during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
7. B.R. Ambedkar and Gandhi were in total agreement regarding the issue of ‘separate electorates’ for Dalits. — False
   They disagreed; the Poona Pact was a compromise.
8. Sir Stafford Cripps was sent to India in 1942 because Winston Churchill supported immediate independence for India. — False
   Churchill sent him under pressure to get India’s support in the war; he offered only dominion status after the war.
9. Subhas Chandra Bose raised an army during his stay in Germany. — False
   He formed the Indian National Army in Singapore in 1943.
10. The Radcliffe Line was announced a few weeks before Independence Day. — False
    Radcliffe got only five weeks to draw it; the line was made public just after Independence.

1. ‘Lion of Punjab’, injured in a lathi charge during the Simon Commission protest — Lala Lajpat Rai
2. “Swaraj is my birthright…”; used Kesari and Ganesh Chaturthi — Bal Gangadhar Tilak
3. Nationalist leader who wrote in Bande Mataram about absolute autonomy — Aurobindo Ghose
4. Nicknamed ‘Bagha’; died in a gunfight awaiting German arms — Jatin Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin)
5. Organised the bomb attack on the Viceroy in 1912; escaped to Japan — Rash Behari Bose
6. Martyred young after an attempt on a British judge — Khudiram Bose
7. Martyred young after throwing non-lethal bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly — Bhagat Singh
8. Made the freedom struggle a mass movement through ahimsa and satyagraha; led the Dandi March — Mahatma Gandhi
9. Sought help from the Axis powers to organise the INA — Subhas Chandra Bose
10. British lawyer given five weeks to draw the partition line — Cyril Radcliffe

Freedom needs great sacrifices — soldiers lost their lives in wars, families starved in famines, and leaders and ordinary people were jailed, beaten and even hanged. Many lost their homes, jobs and education.

Yes, I would have participated. I would have been willing to give up foreign goods, comforts, a government school or job, and even face jail for the cause of my country’s freedom.

It reflects self-respect, courage, determination and the belief that freedom is a natural right.

Yes. Young people today can use these values to stand up for their rights, fight injustice, work hard for their goals and protect the freedom of the nation.

• Peasants refused to pay unjust taxes and joined movements like Champaran, Kheda and Bardoli.
• Workers went on strikes, as in the Ahmedabad mill strike and during Quit India.
• Tribals rose in armed revolts, like Birsa Munda’s Ulgulaan and Rani Gaidinliu’s struggle.
• Students left government schools, joined processions, picketed shops and some became revolutionaries.

Unlike leaders who made speeches and negotiated, they gave the movement its mass strength through direct action and sacrifice.

“Redeem our pledge” means fulfilling the promise Indians had made long ago to win freedom — as in the Purna Swaraj resolution of 1929.

The ‘soul of a nation’ is its shared spirit — its culture, values, history and the hopes of its people. Under colonial rule it was suppressed; with freedom it could express itself again.

(a) I support non-violent mass movement — boycott, Swadeshi and satyagraha — because it involves millions of ordinary people and wins moral support.

(b) Some classmates may support the revolutionary path of Bhagat Singh or the armed struggle of Subhas Chandra Bose. Debate respectfully.

(c) It teaches that people can disagree on methods and still be united in their goal. Respecting different views makes a movement stronger.

Title: ‘The Long Road to Freedom’

• A charkha (spinning wheel) — represents Swadeshi, self-reliance and Gandhi’s mass movement.
• A copy of the Kesari or Bande Mataram newspaper — represents the power of the press in awakening people.
• A letter from the Cellular Jail — represents the suffering and sacrifice of revolutionaries.

Note: Visitors should feel proud and grateful for the sacrifices of countless Indians and understand that freedom must be protected.