When India made a tryst with destiny, many Indians made promises to themselves that they will make India a better country in their own way possible. Mother India saw the sacrifice of millions of revolutionary leaders and freedom fighters to free her from the clutches of the British tyranny. The nation will never forget the sacrifices made by these leaders. However, amidst our praises for the greatest of the leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, we often forget the contribution of some unsung heroes. These unsung heroes kept the wheel of revolution rolling. They lived a life without blowing their own trumpets and never ran after fame, money and appreciation. Their contribution has been belittled by our ignorance and blind adherence to few figures.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar was one of the architects of the Indian Constitution. A very well-known political leader, eminent jurist, Buddhist activist, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, orator, writer, economist, scholar and editor, he was a “leader of the silent”. Since he had faced severe discrimination from every corner of the society and observed that cast discrimination was almost fragmenting the nation so he fought to eradicate the social evils like untouchability and for the rights of the Dalits and other socially backward classes throughout his life. Also, he strongly believed that education should be provided to all sections of the society. Ambedkar, in wake of reaching to the people and making them understand the drawbacks of the prevailing social evils, launched a newspaper called “Mooknayaka”. In 1947, he became the law minister of the government of India and made a huge uproar in the socio-political arena. This Bharat Ratna awardee’s name remains a sign of victory of the down-trodden and long-exploited.
At the small age of 11, there was this “little dynamo of man” who was interested in the country’s struggle from the foreign yoke and the process that was end day to catapult him to the national stage had already begun in his mind. It was none other than Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of India who despite of his family’s shattered hopes, gave up his studies at the age of 16 in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call to join the Non-Cooperation Movement. Humble, tolerant, with great inner strength and resoluteness, he was a man of the people who understood their language and a man of vision who led the country toward progress. He threw himself into the struggle for freedom with feverish energy. He led many defiant campaigns and spent a total of seven years in British jails and in the fire of this struggle, his steel was tempered and he grew into maturity and came to be known as a man of great integrity and competence. More than thirty years of dedicated service were behind Lal Bahadur Shastri and in this course of time, he never failed to represent the best in Indian culture.
Born in a village in Maharashtra, Savitribai Phule is formally recognized as India’s first female teacher and the mother of Indian feminism. Fortunately her husband, Jyotiba Phule believed in the power of education in removing social inequalities because of which she herself got educated and played a pivotal role in women’s empowerment with his support. “Go, get education…” was Savitribai Phule’s appeal to women, in particular, and to people from the backward castes. She exhorted them to get an education as a means to break free from the shackles of socially-constructed discriminatory practices. Although people, especially the ones from the orthodox upper-caste Hindus tried to discourage and stop their work, but the couple despite of all the troubles continued their work and did a lot of social service like promoting education and equality, encouraging widow re-marriage, organising awareness programmes against dowry and child marriage, stopping untouchability, raising awareness against female foeticide and sati system, protecting pregnant widows and rape victims and also encouraged the adoption of children borne out of sexual abuse. Her life and work is a testament to social reform and female empowerment in Indian society. She remains an inspiration for many women right’s activists in modern times when complete women empowerment is still a distant dream in India.
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari or Rajaji, as he was widely known, donned many hats- lawyer, politician, an activist for the freedom struggle, literary giant, historian, statesman and principled dissenter. Rajaji was a man ahead of his times, he was the first major proponent of minimum government intervention in the functioning of the economy at a time when socialism dominated public discourse on the economy. To him, political freedom and social justice could not exist without economic freedom. He had a pioneering ability to see and understand events before anyone else could so unlike his contemporaries, he understood the inevitability of partition, sought an accommodation with the Muslim league with his famous “C R formula” and opposed the Quit India Movement, calling it an irresponsible act.
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Another fascinating facet of Rajaji’s views was his desire for reconciliation at any cost between castes, faiths, and nations. Nonetheless, many of his ideas left behind remain profoundly relevant today. If India did follow some of his better ideas, we would have definitely been in a better place as a nation.
“A diamond remains a diamond whether it is deep inside Earth or on the surface” however, diamond becomes a jewel only when it is unearthed. Same goes for these unsung heroes. These were the heroes who had the conspicuous courage, discipline, resilience, perseverance and the indomitable will to make India a better country. These people changed India anonymously, the people without titles. They were just a drop in the ocean of blood, sacrifice, patriotism. They were inspiring in the way how they gave so much to their motherland. Thus words fall short for such personalities and it’s high time that we should realize that these people are also the heroes who changed India for better and have left an inspiring mark, such that today they are immortal in the books of history.