FOREIGNERS WHO FOUGHT FOR INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE
Do you know that, in India’s struggle for freedom, there are some foreigners as well, who passionately loved India and fought for her freedom? Let us take a look at some of those brave and kind souls, who lent a helping hand to Indians in the fight for independence.
Annie Besant
Annie Besant – Born to a working-class Irish family, Annie Besant first arrived in Quite a while in 1893 to go to the yearly show of the Theosophical Society in Madras. In the wake of visiting India and seeing the mistreatment of Indians by the British, she propelled a paper called ‘New India’ to offer a voice to the working class of India. She once broadly announced in her paper New India, “I love the Indian individuals as I love none other, and my heart and my mind have long been laid on the altar of the motherland.”
C.F. Andrews
C.F. Andrews – Charles Freer Andrews was a cleric from the Church of England, an instructor, and social reformer. In 1904, Andrews joined the Cambridge crucial Delhi and showed up there to educate at St.Stephen’s College. Frightened by the social and social unfairness perpetrated upon the Indians by the British, he became a part of the social and political movements of the day. His love and compassion for the poor earned him the affectionate title Deenabandhu – ‘friend of the poor’.
Iwaichi Fujiwara
Iwaichi Fujiwara – In September 1941, Major Iwaichi Fujiwara was sent by the Japanese with insight missions, to enlist whatever number fighters as could be expected under the circumstances from South Asian British states, including India. Fujiwara found himself impressed by the revolutionary fervor of Indians, particularly the Sikhs. Inspiration for the organization of the Indian National Army grew out of talks between Fujiwara and two Sikhs: Preetam Singh and Capt. Mohan Singh. In discussions with Mohan Singh, Fujiwara highlighted a few memorable ties among Japan and India and proposed the Pacific War was an opportunity for Indians to rise and battle for Indian freedom with Japanese help. This was the beginning of the Indian National Army. Fujiwara was later self-portrayed as ‘Lawrence of the Indian National Army.
Madeline Slade
Madeline Slade, also known as Mirabehn. Born into an aristocratic British family Mira Behn came to India in 1925. Inspired by Gandhi’s principles, she dedicated her life to human development and social reform. She helped Gandhi in the opportunity battle and was captured/ arrested on numerous occasions for challenging the British government. She assisted Gandhi in the freedom struggle and was arrested multiple times for protesting against the British government. Following Gandhi’s death in 1948, Mirabehn chose to remain in India and took on various community projects. She was awarded India’s second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan in 1981.
Nellie Sengupta
Nellie Sengupta – An English woman married to Jitendra Mohan Sengupta, a successful lawyer from Calcutta, Nellie Sengupta fought for India’s independence along with her husband. Inspired by Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, she went from door to door selling khadi products. She was jailed for her protests and provoking speeches. In 1933, she turned into the leader of the Indian National Congress, when numerous senior leaders of the party were arrested during Salt Satyagraha. In 1973, the Indian government honored her with Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India.
Satyananda Stokes
Satyananda Stokes – Satyananda was born Samuel Evans Stokes, in a very successful business family in America. From a young age, he was interested in doing the greater good in life, and came to India against his parent’s wishes in 1904, to work at a leper colony. He was the only American to become a member of the All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress. He called upon Indians to stop taxpayer-supported organization and turned into the only American to a political prisoner of Great Britain in the freedom struggle.
Savitri Devi Mukherjee
Savitri Devi Mukherjee – Born as Maximiani Julia Portas in France in 1905, Savitri Devi traveled to India in 1932 in search of the roots of the Aryan civilization. She published a booklet in 1939 called ‘A Warning to Hindus’. She engaged in intelligence gathering on the British in India and passed it on to Japanese intelligence officials. She also enabled Subhash Chandra Bose to make contact with representatives of Japan.
Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita – Born Margaret Elizabeth Noble, Sister Nivedita was an Irish social extremist and educationalist. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, she left her family behind and landed in India in 1898. She took an active interest in promoting Indian culture and pan-Indian nationalism. She was so inspired by Vivekananda’s love for India and appealed to the Indian youth to rise against the oppressive rule of the British government. Through her lectures, she urged many youths to take up the cause of freeing India
