P. Sainath

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<p>
   Rural Indians were both the foot soldiers of freedom and the leaders of some of the greatest anti-colonial uprisings ever seen. Countless thousands of them sacrificed their lives to rid India of British rule. And many who lived through great suffering to see a free India were mostly forgotten soon after. From the 1990s, I recorded the lives of several of the last living freedom fighters. Here you’ll find the stories of five of them:
  </p>

<h2><a id="1042" linktype="page">When Salihan took on the Raj</a></h2><p>Demathi Dei Sabar and her friends took on gun-toting British officers with lathis in Nuapada, Odisha<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

When ‘Salihan’ took on the Raj

<h2><a id="87" linktype="page">Panimara&#39;s foot soldiers of freedom – 1 </a></h2><p>When poor Odiya villagers took over and tried to run the Sambalpur court<br/></p><h5>July 22, 2014 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Panimara's foot soldiers of freedom - 1

<h2><a id="93" linktype="page">Panimara&#39;s foot soldiers of freedom – 2 </a></h2><p>The little settlement in Odisha that earned the name ‘Freedom Village’<br/></p><h5>July 22, 2014 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Panimara's foot soldiers of freedom - 2

<h2><a id="503" linktype="page">The last battle of Laxmi Panda</a></h2><p>The impoverished INA freedom fighter whose only demand of her nation was recognition. And so the ageing soldier&#39;s fight continued even six years after Independence<br/></p><h5>August 5, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

The last battle of Laxmi Panda

<h2><a id="121" linktype="page">Nine decades of non-violence</a></h2><p>Baji Mohammed, the man whose non-violent struggles continued 60 years after Independence<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Nine decades of non-violence

<p>Together with these is a set of five stories first published in the
   <i>
    Times of India
   </i>
   and reproduced here with far more photographs. That ‘Forgotten 
Freedoms’ series was woven around the villages that were the cradles of 
great revolts. Indian Independence was not about a bunch of urban 
elites. Rural Indians fought in far greater numbers and for more than 
one kind of freedom. The many battles of 1857, for instance, unfolded in
 the villages at the same time the elites of Mumbai and Kolkata were 
holding meetings to pray for the success of the British.  In 1997, 50 
years into freedom, I returned to some of those villages for these stories:<br/></p>

<h2><a id="1040" linktype="page">Sherpur: big sacrifice, short memory</a></h2><p>The Uttar Pradesh village that raised the flag in 1942 and paid the price for it<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Sherpur: big sacrifice, short memory

<h2><a id="1030" linktype="page">Godavari: and the police still await an attack</a></h2><p>From Rampa in Andhra, Alluri Sitaramaraju led one of the greatest anti-colonial revolts</p><p></p><p></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Godavari: and the police still await an attack

<h2><a id="1038" linktype="page">Sonakhan: when Veer Narayan Singh died twice</a></h2><p>In Chhattisgarh, Veer Narayan Singh sought no charity, but gave his life fighting for justice<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Sonakhan: when Veer Narayan died twice

<h2><a id="1024" linktype="page">Kalliasseri: in search of Sumukan</a></h2><p>The village that battled on all fronts, fighting the British, local landlords, and caste<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Kalliasseri:  in search of Sumukan

<h2><a id="1026" linktype="page">Kalliasseri: still fighting at 50</a></h2><p>When the God of the Hunters sheltered the communists in Kerala from the Raj<br/></p><h5>August 14, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/p-sainath">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Kalliasseri:  still fighting at 50

<p><i>PARI continues to trace and document the lives of the very last freedom fighters, now in their 90s.</i><br/></p>

Ten tales of freedom

अजादी के दस कहिनी

આઝાદીની દસ કથાઓ

పది స్వాతంత్య్ర గాథలు

ਅਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਦਸ ਕਹਾਣੀਆਂ

സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യത്തിന്‍റെ പത്ത് കഥകള്‍

ಹತ್ತು ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯದ ಕಥೆಗಳು

ସ୍ୱାଧୀନତା ସଂଗ୍ରାମର ୧୦ କାହାଣୀ

স্বাধীনতার দশটি আখ্যান

பத்து முத்தான விடுதலைப் போராட்ட கதைகள்

স্বাধীনতাৰ দহটা কাহিনী

आज़ादी की दस दास्तान

स्वातंत्र्याच्या दहा कहाण्या

آزادی کی دس کہانیاں

Saliha

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<p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI exists to change that.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>

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Ten tales of freedom

Retelling forgotten stories of courage and sacrifice that got India its Independence

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