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India@75 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
DR. SAIFUDDIN KITCHLEW : THE FREEDOM
his men held them at bay for
several weeks. When he was FIGHTER AND HERO OF JALLIANWALA BAGH
finally caught in, he was tied to
the tail of a horse and dragged Born: 15 January 1888, Died: 9 October 1963
to the Collector's residence at
Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. There,
his lacerated body was hung ho would not have heard the
from a Banyan tree on 13 Wname of Jallianwala Bagh in
January 1785. Amritsar? This is the same place
Later the freedom fighters where hundreds of people were
followed Tilka Manjhi and sang gunned down on the orders of British
the songs 'Hansi, Hansi, Chad officer General Dyer. The attack is
Go Phansi'. Tilka Manjhi was believed to have killed 1,000 people
a brave soldier of the Paharia and injured many more. The crowd
community. Born on 11 February that had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh
1750 in a Santhal family in that day was not for anyone but other DR SAIFUDDIN
Tilakpur village of Sultanganj in issues but to protest the arrest of KITCHLEW, A FRONTLINE
Bhagalpur, Bihar, the real name popular leader Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew FREEDOM FIGHTER, AN
of Tilka Manjhi is said to be by the British. ADVOCATE OF HINDU-
Jabra Paharia. The story of his When the British government MUSLIM UNITY IS
getting the name Tilka is no less REMEMBERED AS THE
interesting. passed the Rowlatt Act in 1919, FACE OF THE PROTESTS
Tilka Manjhi, who took a front Dr. Kitchlew, a lawyer by profession AGAINST THE ROWLATT
against the British for about 13 and a supporter of Hindu-Muslim ACT THAT THE BRITISH
years from 1771 to 1784, also unity, raised a strong voice against PASSED IN 1919
fought the local moneylenders this Act. Actually, through this law, the
and feudatories. Tilka Manjhi government could arrest any person
also led the famous Santhal without a warrant. There was a protest against this law across the
rebellion by the Santhals. Tilka country. To protest it, Kitchlew urged the people to take part in the
Manjhi Bhagalpur University strike and non-violent satyagraha against the British government.
in Bhagalpur is named after It was because of Kitchlew's appeal that about 30,000 people
him. The famous Bengali attended his public meeting on 30 March 1919, where he delivered
writer Mahasweta Devi has a powerful speech. After this, Dr. Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal led an
composed a novel 'Shalgirar anti-government procession in Amritsar on 9 April 1919. Following
Dake' in Bengali on the life this, both these leaders were arrested and placed under house arrest
and rebellion of Tilka Manjhi,
which has been published in in Dharamsala. Born on January 15, 1888, in Amritsar, Dr. Saifuddin
Hindi as 'Shalgirah ki Pukar Par'. Kitchlew graduated from Cambridge University and obtained a Ph.D.
The importance of tribal from German University. Kitchlew took an active part in the Indian
freedom fighters involved in freedom struggle and participated in the non-cooperation movement
the Indian freedom struggle is led by Mahatma Gandhi. Besides, he also played an important role in
known from the fact that to pay the Khilafat movement. He was one of the founders of Jamia Millia
tribute to them, Prime Minister Islamia in Delhi. He also played a guiding role behind the Naujawan
Narendra Modi's government Bharat Sabha, founded by Bhagat Singh. Post-Independence, he
has started Tribal Pride Day on continued working for the restoration of peace and redefining Soviet-
15 November. India relations. He became the first Indian to be awarded the Lenin
Peace Prize in 1952.
42 New India Samachar January 1-15, 2022
