Brothers for Freedom

72nd Independence Day. Our National Movement has seen many illustrious brothers who have fought together to deliver freedom from the clutches of the British East Indian Company and the Crown. My special salutes to the mothers who have sacrificed more than one of their sons to our struggle for freedom. 

Chapekar brothers

Yersina pestis, the bacteria that causes bubonic plague and Queen Victoria, the record-holder for the longest rein as a queen in the world history till recently, are closely connected to the martyrdom of Damodar, Balakrishna and Vasudeo Hari Chapekar, the Chapekar brothers. 

A plague epidemic that originated in China, reached Poona (Pune) around 1896. As the usual administrative machinery that ran the town could not handle the public health catastrophe, the British (Governor of Bombay) formed a Special Plague Committee headed by W.C.Rand, an ICS officer. This was March 1897. But, the situation spiralled out of control; the men working for the Committee trampled on the norms of public morality, local customs and sentiments; in the name of checking the spread of the pandemic they themselves turned into beasts that went on a uncontrolled rampage - forcing entry into houses, stripping of females by males, destroying household things including (Hindu) idols, abusing religious sentiments associated with the last rites of a person, and so on. 

All this did not go down well with the Chapekar brothers. They were looking for the right moment to eliminate Rand. With Queen Victoria completing 60 years in throne an opportunity presented itself in June, 1897. The white men of Poona too had arranged for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The guards were down. Bullets were fired. The rest is history. Bravery. Rand and his military escort Lieut.Ayerst were eliminated by Damodar and Balakrishna Hari Chapekar, outside the Government House. Certain betrayers were killed by the youngest sibling, Vasudeo Hari Chapekar. 

All the three brothers were hanged in 1898 and 1899. At the time of their hanging, Damodar was 28 years old, Balakrishna was 26 and Vasudeo was 20.

Ghose brothers

Born in Kolkata (Calcutta), educated in England for a career in ICS, worked as an officer in Baroda under the Maharaja, drawn into the National Movement by revolutionary ideals, nurtured the radical youth including his younger brother in Bengal, underwent solitary confinement as an undertrial in the Alipore Conspiracy Case for a year from May 5, 1908, had spiritual experience while in jail, acquitted due to the assassination of the approver and key witness in jail, broke away from the past, relocated to the French colony, Pondicherry, and established a spiritual community that is revered all over the world till this day. What a life! 

Of the four Ghose brothers, Aurobindo and Barindra Kumar occupy important pages in the history of our freedom struggle during the early years of the twentieth century. Barindra Kumar Ghose was also tried in the Alipore Conspiracy Case. While the elder brother was acquitted, Barin was convicted and handed out death by hanging. Soon, the punishment was reduced and he was sent to the Cellular Jail, Andamands (1909) for life. Again, owing to a scheme of amnesty he was released in 1920. Barin followed Aurobindo to Pondicherry. But got back to journalism in Kolkata.

After his release from Alipore Jail, Sri Aurobindo wrote a series of articles describing his life inside the prison. Some of these articles and essays form the main text of Tales of Prison Life. The book also has Uttarpara Speech where he disclosed for the first time some of the spiritual experiences he had while in jail. Sample this:

'When the case opened in the lower court and we were brought before the Magistrate I was followed by the same insight. He said to me, "When you were cast into jail, did not your heart fail and did you not cry out to me, where is Thy protection? Look now at the Magistrate, look now at the Prosecuting Counsel." I looked and it was not the Magistrate whom I saw, it was Vasudeva, it was Narayana who was sitting there on the bench.'

Savarkar brothers

Due to the leadership of Bal Gangadghar Tilak, from the 1890s, Maharastra turned into a hotbed of militant nationalism that caused the British much pain. His publications 'Kesari' and 'Maharatta' fuelled the fire of freedom that made normal men make extraordinary sacrifices for the country. The eldest of the Savarkar brothers, Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (Babarao Savarkar) along with his immediate younger sibling Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar), took forward the secret society Mitra Mela, and established Abhinav Bharat Society, in 1903, taking inspiration from the Italian revolutionary movement. Among the most successful action of the Society was the assassination of A.M.T.Jackson, the District Magistrate of Nasik. 

Soon, Veer Savarkar was sent to the Cellular Jail in the Andamans. However, after an early release from the Andamans due to his mercy petitions, Veer Savarkar took up the Hindutva line of nationalism. Similarly, Babarao Savarkar was also taken out of the Andaman jails. Eventually, both the brothers provided leadership to Hindu Mahasabha and later contributed to the formation and growth of the RSS too.

While there have been many interpretations of the Revolt of 1857, in his book First War of Indian Independence, it was Veer Savarkar who termed it as a 'planned war of national independence'. Glory!

As we go back farther in time, by about a century to 1799, we can see Veerapandia Kattaboman, a poligar, hanging by the neck from a  tree in Kayathar, near the Southern tip of our country. That was the punishment awarded to him by the British East India Company for refusing to accept the Company's sovereignty. Kattaboman's fort at Panchalankuruchi was razed down. 

His brother Oomaithurai escaped from his prison in Palayamkottai; and he rebuilt the fort. Soon, taking support from Marudhu brothers of Sivagangai, he fought the Company. Canons won again. The fort fell again. Oomaithurai escaped again. But this time he was trapped. In 1801, Oomaithurai was hanged along with the Maruthu brothers.

Added based on a reader inputs:

Ali brothers
Khilafat Movement has a very important and interesting place in our struggle for freedom. The Movement was not launched due to reasons that were directly within our borders. Rather, the root of the Movement was the happenings in and around Turkey. Also, on the other hand, the Movement did not result in India's independence. In fact, the prominent leaders of the Movement were instrumental in drawing Pakistan on the political map of the world. 

The Non-Cooperation Movement (launched in August 1920), led by Mahatma Gandhi was on an unprecedented scale that worried the British. And it was the Khilafat Movement that provided a solid base for the Non-Cooperataion Movement. The Indian National Congress and the Khilafat Committee got together to launch the Non-Cooperation Movement, which also stood for the Hindu-Muslim unity during the time. It is very hypothetical, but if not for the Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922), it is highly likely that the Non-Cooperartion Movement combined with the later phase of the Civil Disobedience Movement may have won us freedom much earlier. 

The brothers here - Maulana Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali Jouhar. They were among the early leaders of the Khilafat Committee.