Many of us will be surprised by the fact that Indian literature, written in English, Hindi, Urdu or any other regional languages, played a very important role in the freedom struggle of India. The literary works of patriotic writers like Rabinderanath Tagore, Kashi Prasad Ghosh, Sarojini Naidu, Raja Rao, Micheal Madhusudan, Nissim Ezeikil, Aurobindo Ghosh, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhya etc. inspired and encouraged people of India to fully participate in the freedom stuggle of their country and fight against the oppressive rule of the Britishers in India. In this blog we are going to discuss the role of literature especially Indian literature in the freedom fights of India.
Role of Literature in Indian freedom Struggle
Many patriotic poetry, novels, dramas and short stories were written that depicted the oppression and cruelty of the British rulers against Indians and acted as great weapons against the British rule in India. During the freedom struggle against the British rule, a number of poets wrote revolutionary poems which inspired Indian youths to take part in the freedom fight against the British. Hindi revolutionary poet, Makhan lal Chaturvedi’s poem, Pushp ki Abhilasha, (A Flower’s Desire), inspired the freedom fighters during the freedom fight of India. Moreover who can forget the famous couplet of the great Indian freedom fighter , Ram Prasad Bismal:
(The desire for martyrdom is in our heart, We will see how much strength is there in the arms of the oppressor.). This couplet filled the Indian youths with enthusiasm during the freedom fight and the result is before our eyes. We are living in an independent country. Besides this, many news papers were published by Indian patriotis to expose the cruelty and oppression of the Britishers and to awaken the people of India against the British rule. The important news papers of those times are ‘ Sambd Kaumodi’, edited by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, ‘Bande Mataram by Bipin Chndra Pal, ‘Harijan’ by Mahatma Gandhi. The publication of News papers and their circulation played a miracle in the war of freedom of India. These news papers made the people aware of the present deteriorated condition of their country by the hands of the English and raised nationalist sentiments in their hearts.
How was literature Helpful in Freedom Struggle
- Literature raised nationalist sentiments among the people.
- It evoked their emotion for their country.
- The need for freedom was expressed in literature.
- Literature encouraged Indian people, through the themes of patriotism and nationalism, to fight for the independence of their country.
- It played the role of public awakening.
- People were mobilized through literature by the intellectual classes.
- Literature united Indian people against the British otherwise they were divided on the basis of caste and religion.
- Literature told the people about the importance of freedom and thus inspired them to sacrifice everything for the cause of freedom of the country.
- Patriotic poetry, novels, dramas and short stories filled the people with patriotic feelings that proved to be great weapon against the British rule.
Thus we see that news papers, pamphlets, poetry, novels, dramas and other forms of literature played an important role in liberating our beloved country from the cruel clutches of the British rule. Actually literature awakened the people to fight for their independence by highlighting the plight of their brothers and sisters by the hands of the English in other parts of their country. Through literature Indian came to know that all the Indians are treated with the same cruelty by the English and so they started fighting unitedly against the British rule and as a result India finally got its independence on 15th August, 1947.
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Prof. Asghar Ali Ansari
School of Language, Literature & Society.
Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India