When determined to achieve something, age becomes just a number! The story of 'Gandhi Buri' and her extraordinary courage!
When determined to achieve something, age becomes just a number! The story of 'Gandhi Buri' and her extraordinary courage!
Matangini Hazra, a lady of strong determination who actively participated in the Indian independence movement, led the group of women into freedom struggle and took bullets of British Indian police on 29 September 1942 and sacrificed her life for the sake of the country.
She died chanting 'Vande Mataram', with the Indian tri-colour in her hands.
Matangini was born in the small village of Hogla, near Tamluk in 1869. She did not obtain a proper education due to her father Thakurdas Maity’s poor financial condition. She was married early with Trilochan Hazra of Alinan village , who was much older than her. She was widowed by the age of eighteen. Thereafter she devoted herself to social service, working tirelessly for others.
Among the hundreds who led the protests against British, Matangini Hazra, a woman from West Bengal, stands out in her own right. she went on to become a highly respected figure in the history of the Indian Independence movement.
In 1905,when the Nationalist movement was at its peak in Bengal, Matangini Hazra became deeply inspired and influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, and followed his teachings so religiously that she later came to be known as 'Gandhi Buri', Bengali for old lady Gandhi..
She served the poor and the diseased and also spun her own yarn and wore khadi. However, the turning point in her life came a few years later. On the 26th of January, 1932, hundreds of men were marching on the streets to bring attention to the atrocities of the British government. As they passed Matangini’s home, the 62-year-old joined the men in chanting slogans and marching with the hundreds of young men.
Later that year she produced salt at the Alinan salt centre, which led to her arrest by the British police, who made the frail old lady walk several miles before imprisoning her.
She was promptly released, but protested for the abolition of the tax. Arrested again, she was incarcerated for six months at Baharampur.
In the Jail she met with many other political prisoners and learned more about the freedom movement. After being released, she became an active member of the Indian National Congress and took to spinning her own Khadi.
In 1933, she attended the sub divisional Congress conference at Serampore and was injured in the ensuing baton charge by the police.
In the same year Sir John Anderson, the then Governor of Bengal, came to Tamluk to address a well-screened gathering, but Inspite of that tough Security , she managed to stage a black flag demonstration in front of the dais.
As part of the Quit India Movement, members of the Congress in Midnapore District planned to take over the various police stations of Midnapore district and other government offices. This was to be a step in overthrowing the British government in the district and establishing an independent Indian state.
In August 1942, the INC launched the Quit India Movement, and Gandhi’s passionate call to “do or die” inspired millions across the country.
The night that he delivered the speech, all prominent leaders of the Congress were arrested by the Government. Left leaderless, the supporters of the Congress started initiating their own protests, demanding that the British Quit India immediately.
Matangini, who was a 71-year-old, led a band of 6000 protestors, a majority of whom were women, to take over the Tamluk police station. The plan was to take over the police station and establish home rule in the small town.
When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code by the police. Amid the chaos, the villagers were ordered to halt by bayonet-clutching British soldiers.
As she stepped forward, Matangini Hazra was shot once. Apparently, she had stepped forward and was appealing to the police not to shoot at the crowd.
"Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind. The police shot her three times. She continued marching despite wounds to the forehead and both hands."
As she was repeatedly shot, she kept chanting Vande Mataram. She died with the flag of the Indian National Congress held high and still flying.
Matangini Hazra is not only remembered for her role in the freedom struggle, but also for upholding the importance of women in the life of a nation. She is an epitome of infinite courage and leadership.
The parallel Tamluk government incited open rebellion by praising her "martyrdom for her country" and was able to function for two more years, until it was disbanded in 1944, at Gandhi's request.
India earned Independence in 1947 and numerous schools, colonies, and streets were named after Matangini Hazra.
The first statue of a woman put up in Kolkata, in independent India, was Hazra's in 1977. A statue now stands at the spot where she was killed in Tamluk.
In 2002, as part of a series of postage stamps commemorating sixty years of the Quit India Movement and the formation of the Tamluk National Government, the Department of Posts of India issued a five rupee postage stamp with Matangini Hazra's likeness. Hazra Road in Kolkata is also named after her.
