LESSER KNOWN FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Introduction:

Welcome to our skit on Lesser Known Freedom Fighters. We all know the illustrious
names of Gandhiji, Subash Chandra Bose, and Bhagat Singh.
But among the martyrs of the Indian Freedom Struggle are many patriotic
revolutionaries whose names do not figure prominently in the history books.
On March 4, 2019, a museum at the Red Fort in New Delhi was inaugurated, dedicated
to the lesser known freedom fighters, the unsung heroes of the Independence
Movement. Our skit is about a few of those lesser known freedom fighters. We have
taken some liberties with chronology to gather together these heroes in one place in the
present day. I would like to introduce the cast:

Cast:

Hakim Ajmal Khan (Muslim member of the Khilafat movement)

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (Kulpati) (active in Quit India Movement, founder of

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)

Potti Sreeramulu (supporter of Gandhiji)

Bhikaji Cama (member of Indian Independence Movement and fighter for gender
equality)

Garimella Satyanarayana (Andhra poet who fought the British)

Lakshmi Sahgal (Captain in the Indian National Army and leader of the Rani of Jhansi
regiment)

Sucheta Kriplani (A Gandhian, first woman to become minister of an Indian state)

N. G. Ranga (Gandhian leader of the Indian Peasant Movement)

Abadi Bano Begum (Bi Amma) (Champion of Hindu-Muslim unity)

Senapati Bapat (leader of the Mulshi Satyagraha)

Ram Prasad Bismil (Hindi-Urdu poet and founding member of Hindustan Repubican
Association

Setting: Azadi Ke Diwane Museum, Red Fort, New Delhi; March 4, 2019
 ***

(The scene is the front veranda of the Azadi Ke Diwane Museum, Red Fort, New
Delhi. Enter Hakim Ajmal Khan and Abadi Bano Begum)

Hakim Ajmal Khan: Bi Amma! I was hoping to see you here. Today is a glorious
day for all of us, a day of remembrance.

Abadi Bano Begum: I never thought that a museum would be dedicated to our
revolutionary work. Those days are still so alive in me. It’s hard to think of them
belonging in a museum!

Hakim Ajmal Khan: But you deserve a place in this museum. I think you are the
only woman in history to have addressed a crowd, demanding freedom, while you were
still in purdah! Once you gave up your purdah, you played an important role in the
freedom struggle, asking women to use khadi and boycott foreign goods. You also
became a champion for Hindu-Muslim unity.

Abadi Bano Begum: And while I was boycotting foreign goods, you were boycotting
Western medicine. After all, you are from a long line of healers; your ancestors were
illustrious physicians, including your grandfather who was personal physician to the
Mogul emperor, and you were also a court physician. You are known as the
champion of our indigenous Indian medicine, Aryuveda and Unani Tibb, which the
British were trying to suppress. I remember, Dr. Hakim, when you gave that
memorandum to the Viceroy of India.
Hakim Ajmal Khan: Yes, we were a delegation of Muslims who met the Viceroy,
Lord Minto, in Simla. We presented him with an address that demanded
recognition of the Muslim community in India and guarantee of our political
rights. He appeared to accept our address, but we all know the tragic history of
partition that followed.
Abadi Bano Begum: Indeed. Perhaps it is time for us to go inside. I understand that
the Union Minister of Culture will be inaugurating the function.
Hakim Ajmal Khan: Yes, let us go in.
[They exit]

[Enter Sucheta Kriplani, N. G. Ranga, Potti Sreeramulu]

Sucheta Kriplani: Sri N. G. Ranga! Potti Sreeramulu! So wonderful to see you!

N. G. Ranga: Yes, it has been a very long time. But as the children of our Bapu,
Gandhiji, we are never really apart.
Potti Sreeramulu: [To N.G. Ranga] You were always rallying the peasants for marches
in support of Gandhiji, while I was with him on the Salt March and in and out of prison.

Sucheta Kriplani: Yes, Sreeramulu, I remember that famous remark by Gandhiji: "If
only I have eleven more followers like Sreeramulu I will win freedom from British rule in
a year."

Potti Sreeramulu: Well, it took us much longer than a year, but you did your part,
Sucheta. During the Partition riots, you worked closely with Gandhiji as a strong voice of
peace and sanity.

N.G. Ranga: [to Sucheta] And you were rewarded with being a member of the
Constituent Assembly that drafted our Constitution, and you went on to become India’s
first female Chief Minister in the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

Sucheta Kriplani [to Sreeramulu] It is only because of you that Andhra even existed, as
you devoted your life after Independence to the creation of Andhra for the Telugu-
speaking population.

Potti Sreeramulu: [to Ranga] And you, Ranga, were the champion of the peasants.
The farmers, the coolie workers, and the common man all joined in your Swatantra
Party and sent you to Parliament where you have served for 60 long years. And now,
there is a museum to tell our stories, so that we Indians do not forget.

N.G. Ranga: I can hear them inside testing the microphone. Perhaps the moment has
come for us to take our seats.

[They exit]

[Enter Garimella Satyanarayana, Ram Prasad Bismil]

Garimella Satyanarayana [to Ram Prasad Bismil] : Excuse me, have you come for the
inauguration of the museum? Let me introduce myself. I am Garimella Satyanarayana.

Ram Prasad Bismil: Oh, sir! An honour to meet you! I have read your poems! My
name is Ram Prasad Bismil.

Garimella Satyanarayana [astonished]: Not the Bismil? The Hindi/Urdu poet? I have
also read your work and admired it greatly.

Ram Prasad Bismil: Well, finally we two poets meet, and on an auspicious occasion. I
know well why you are being honoured in this museum. You have been an inspiration
for the people of Andhra Pradesh. You used your skill to write influential poems and
songs that motivated your people to join the movement against the British.
Garimella Satyanarayana: And you, sir, did much more than write poems. You were a
freedom fighter, associated with Arya Samaj, and one of the founding members of the
Hindustan Republican Assocation. Bhagat Singh called you the greatest poet of Urdu
and Hindi.

If you will permit me, I have memorized some lines of one of your poems in Hindi. It
starts:

सससससससस सस सससससस सस ससससस ससस ससस सस,

ससससस सस ससस ससससस सससस-स-ससससस ससस सस स
I had made an English translation:

The desire for sacrifice is now in our hearts

We shall now see what strength there is in the boughs of the enemy.
O country, why does no other speak?
Whoever I see, is gathered quietly in your party...
O martyr of country, of nation, I submit myself to thee
For yet even the unacquainted speak of thy courage
The desire for struggle is in our hearts
We shall now see what strength there is in the boughs of the enemies.

Ram Prasad Bismil: If I may, I will return the favour. I remember those lines of yours
that were sung by all of us:

We don't want this White man's rule, O God,

We don't want this White man's rule,

Stalking our lives, robbing us of our honour,

Bring on the Gandhi cap,
It is rebellion against State, all over the Country.

Garimella Satyanarayana: You will agree, we have both lifted our pen against the
British. Now as free Indians we can enjoy reciting our poetry for the occasion inside. Let
us join the others.

[They exit. Enter Senapati Bapat]

Senapati Bapat [to himself, looking at his watch]: I hope I’m not late. I was supposed to
meet Munshi here on the hour.
Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi [rushing in] Senapati Bapat! It has been a very long time!

Senapati Bapat: Sri Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, my old friend. I still call you Kulpati. It
is no surprise that you are being honoured here today. How many times were you in
prison during the Freedom Struggle?

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi: I lost count! Especially during the Quit India Movement,
the British wanted me to quit speaking! But you, Senapati, were also jailed for public
speaking. And I remember when the police were looking for you to book you for
vandalism, you turned yourself in, because you were a satyagrahi. Non-violence was
your guiding principle.

Senapati Bapat:Of course, we all learned it from our beloved Gandhiji. I remember
when I had the honour of hoisting the Indian flag in Pune for the first time after
Independence. I will never forget seeing the saffron-green-and white freely floating in
the air. My heart floated with it.

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi: I had the same experience when I founded Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan with the blessings of Gandhiji. That was in 1938. Our motto is:

“Indian culture is composite and comprehensive and includes the cultures of all religions
and communities. It believes in the fusion and synthesis of the basic ideals and tenets
of all faiths and an equal respect for all religions.”

Senapati Bapat: That noble idea will be enshrined in this new museum. I look forward
to your remarks on this occasion. Shall we go in?

[They exit. Enter Bhikaji Cama and Lakshmi Saghal]

Bhikaji Cama: Captain Lakshmi!

Lakshmi Saghal: Bhikaji Cama!

Bhikaji Cama: Whatever are you doing at the inauguration of this museum dedicated to
lesser known freedom fighters? You are quite well known, famous not only in India, but
around the world.

Lakshmi Saghal: Well, I suppose they have asked me to give the Keynote Address
after the Minister’s Inaugural Address. But you, too, Bhijaki, there are so many roads
and buildings around the country named for you! Not only were you prominent in the
Indian Independence Movement, you have also been a leader for gender equality. Your
orphanage for girls….your motivation for women to join the freedom struggle. You were
also well respected abroad. I heard that you once unfurled the Indian flag at a
conference in Germany.

Bhikaji Cama: It’s true that in the freedom struggle I devoted myself to women’s issues.
And in that line, what an inspiration you were as an officer of the Indian National Army .
When you were asked to set up the INA’s women’s regiment, the Rani of Jhansi regiment,
so many enthusiastic women volunteered for the cause of independence. I understand that
there will be a women’s section in this new museum.

Lakshmi Saghal: Yes, I’ve been told that it is a very high-tech, state-of-the-art museum
with touch displays, videos and scenarios, along with biographies of many long
forgotten freedom fighters. There is also a national register of martyrs and multimedia
reconstructions of Indian history between 1857 and 1947. Even for those of us who
were in the struggle for independence, there is still much to learn.
Bhikaji Cama: Well, you will be on the dais and I will be on the front row, listening to
every word of your Keynote Address. What a wonderful reunion for all of us! Let us join
the other freedom fighters.
[They exit. From the hall is heard the strains of “Vande Mataram.”]