Aruna Asaf Ali

Aruna Asaf Ali (Bengali: ) (July 16, 1909 July 29, 1996), born Aruna Ganguly, was an Indian independence activist. She is widely remembered for hoisting theIndian National Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement, 1942. She was 87 years old at the time of her death.

Early life[edit]
(AADIL)Aruna Asaf Ali was born as Aruna Ganguly on July 16, 1908 at Kalka, Punjab, British India, but now in the state of Haryana into a Bengali Brahmo family. She was educated at Sacred Heart Convent in Lahore and then in Nainital. She graduated and worked as a teacher. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta. She metAsaf Ali, a leader in the Congress party at Allahabad and married him in 1928, despite parental opposition on grounds of religion (she was a Brahmo while he was a Muslim) and age (a difference of more than 20 years).

Freedom struggle: early days[edit]

She became an active member of Congress Party after marrying Asaf Ali and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. She was arrested on the charge that she was a vagrant and hence not released in 1931 under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact which stipulated release of all political prisoners. Other women co-prisoners refused to leave the premises unless she was also released and gave in only after Mohandas K. Gandhi intervened. A public agitation secured her release.

Achyut Patwardhan
Achyut Patwardhan (Devangar: ; 5 February 1905 5 August 1992.) was an Indian independence activist and political leader and founder of the Socialist Party of India. He was also a philosopher who believed fundamental change in society begins with man himself.[1] Achyut's father, Hari Keshav Patwardhan, was a prosperous legal practitioner at Ahmednagar.
He had six sons of whom Achyut was the second. When Achyut was a boy of four years, Sitaram Patwardhan, a retired Deputy Educational Inspector, adopted him. Sitaram died in 1917, leaving considerable property for Achyut. Patwardhans are amongst the talented Chitpavan Brahmins who migrated from the Konkan region to all parts of Maharashtra and formed mostly the English-educated gentry from the end of the last century till recent times.

Social activities[edit]
After passing his M. A. he worked as Professor of Economics at the College till 1932. During this period he thrice visited England and other European countries and came in contact with Socialist leaders and scholars. He studied Communist and Socialist literature, resigned his Professorship and plunged in 1932 into Gandhijis civil disobedience movement. He was imprisoned several times during the next ten years.

Ram Manohar Lohia

Ram Manohar Lohia pronunciation (helpinfo),(23 March 1910 12 October 1967) was an activist for the Indian independence movement and a Nationalist political leader.[1]

Early life[edit]
Lohia was born in a village Akbarpur in Ambedkar Nagar district then Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, in India to Hira Lal, a nationalist and Chanda,a teacher. His mother died when he was very young. Ram was introduced to the Indian Independence Movement at an early age by his father through the various protest assemblies Hira Lal took his son to. Ram made his first contribution to the freedom struggle by organising a small hartal on the death of Lokmanya Tilak.

Freedom Fighter[edit]
While in Europe, Lohia attended the League of Nations assembly in Geneva. India was represented by the Maharaja of Bikaner, an ally of the British Raj. Lohia took exception to this and launched a protest then and there from the visitors gallery. He fired several letters to editors of newspapers and magazines to clarify the reasons for his protest. The whole incident made Lohia a recognised figure in India overnight. Lohia helped organise the Association of European Indians and became secretary of the club. The main focus of the organisation was to preserve and expand Indian nationalism outside of India

Jay Prakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan was born on October 11, 1902, in Sitabdiara, a village on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. His father Harsudayal was a junior official in the canal department of the State government and was often touring the region. Jayaprakash, called Baul affectionately, was left with his grandmother to study in Sitabdiara. Since there was no high school in the village, Jayaprakash was sent to Patna to study in the Collegiate School While in school, Jayaprakash read magazines like Saraswati, Prabha and Pratap, books like Bharat- Bharati, and poems by Maithilsharan Gupta and Bharatendu Harishchandra which described the courage and valor of the Rajput kings. Jayaprakash also read the Bhagwad Gita. He excelled in school. His essay, "The present state of Hindi in Bihar" won a best essay award. He joined the Patna College on a Government scholarship. Jayaprakash was married to Prabhavati, daughter of lawyer and nationalist Brij Kishore Prasad in October 1920. Prabhavati was very independent-minded and on Gandhiji's invitation, went to stay at his ashram while Jayaprakash continued his studies.

DR. USHA MEHTA For the present generation, freedom struggle is but a glorious chapter in the annals of the Nation's history. A struggle which was non violent pitted the moral strength of a subjugated nation against the might of a colonial power to emerge victorious as a free land. In this 50th year of our independence we are fortunate to have, amidst us, a few individuals who made the dream of a free India come true. This is an opportune moment to recreate the past and learn from the experience of these living legends.

Dr Usha Mehta is a veteran Gandhian who plunged into the freedom movement in her childhood and has devoted her entire life to the cause of the nation. A noted academician, she taught at the Wilson College, Mumbai and Mumbai University for 30 years. She has been a trustee of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi since its inception in 1955 and its president for the past five years. She is also actively associated with Gandhi Peace Foundation, Gujarat Vidyapeeth and SNDT Women's University. In this inerview, second in the series,she talks about her early struggle, days of hardship and determination to keep doing her best for the nation.

Krantisinh Nana Patil

Born: 1900

Krantisinh Nana Patil was one of the national leaders in the Independence movement in Maharashtra (especially in the districts of Satara and Sangli), who established a novel and unique experiment of Prati Sarkar, a parallel government during the British reign. He was born in the year 1900 in Baheborgaon village in Sangli district. He was gifted with a strong physique from a young age and later his impressive personality helped in drawing the masses towards him. After completing his education he served as a Talati for some time but his interest in social work and politics soon made him resign him from the government job. He joined the freedom struggle from the 1930 Civil Disobedience Movement. He tried to make the rural people realise their servitude and attempted to make the people fearless. He was influenced by the Warkari community. He had the ability to speak the peoples language and inspire them. Krantisinh Nana Patils significant contribution to the freedom movement was to get the rural masses people involved in the movement by invoking their self-respect.