The Indian National Congress and the Independence Movement
A set of drawings of most of the presidents of the Indian National Congress
The gods of the Hindu pantheon bless the leaders of the Independence Movement
Agricultural development is also blessed, liquor is depicted as a traditional demon-witch, and untouchability is deplored
Bharat Mata, "Mother India," a new nationalist goddess of the Independence Movement (*Manushi 142*)
Sarojini Naidu, poet, activist, and Congress leader, was also a kind of symbolic mother figure
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, mentor of both Gandhi and Jinnah
At Gandhi's insistence Congress supported the Khilafat Movement, in alliance with Maulana Mohamed Ali
Rabindranath Tagore, poet, sage, and educator, who followed his own path
Starting with Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920), an increasingly militant strain in the Independence movement began to develop
Militants were often sent to the Andaman Islands penal colony-- where in 1872 a prisoner named Sher Ali assassinated the Viceroy, Lord Mayo
The young Khudiram Bose, hanged in 1908 for an attempted bomb assassination of a British officer, was one of the first militant martyrs, but far from the last
There were also martyrs to the fight against communalism: patriots who died trying to stop Hindu-Muslim riots
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, founder of the Nazi-sponsored "Azad Hind Fauj" (Indian National Army), was a hero to many Indians
Shivaji was envisioned as a warrior-comrade of Subhash Chandra Bose and the militant Chandra Shekhar Azad-- and as blessed by the Goddess
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1884-1966), inventor of "Hindutva"
Nehru was superimposed on the map of India, with Gandhi hovering over his right shoulder and Netaji over his left

 
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