Rang de Basanti
When my eyes fell upon this book called “Freedom War of 1857” in my grandpa`s library, the first question that came to my mind was why isn’t the title revolt or mutiny or otherwise frequently referred as rebellion? Because this is how our history books cast an impression of the great sacrifices our freedom fighters had made. So, why is it titled as ‘ Swatantryasamar ’ a freedom war? Well, had it been a revolt and that too just based on an issue of cartridges, British could have easily suppressed it. Had it been just a rebellion from few natives and sepoys, East India Company would not have faced almost a yearlong organized fight from all sections of society. In fact, this war was not borne out of a single event but was a volcanic outburst of suppressed emotions, intolerance to animalistic treatment and endless social, economic and religious exploitation over a period of a century ever since the battle of Plassay in 1757. I think it would be safe to say that issue of cartridges wa