![]() ![]() ![]() And their common goal was fighting the British. They were fighting for their rights as human beings, for the survival of their occupations. We attained independence.” And every one of them had their own take on the freedom struggle, where not just Oxbridge return elites were setting the agenda. Isn’t it ironic that the fight is not over?Īs Captain Bhau says in the first line in the book, “We fought for freedom and for independence. Those struggles in fact essentialize the book. And yet some continue to struggle for the rights. It seems at one level as if on August 15th, 1947, every Indian was equally free and governed by the same set of laws. Here, Sainath speaks about the process, the people and the purpose of this unusual book. Stirring, sad, hopeful, revelatory and unexpectedly funny, The Last Heroes is truly the “Ordinary People’s History of the Freedom Struggle”, as Professor Jagmohan Singh calls it in the foreword. ![]() Some made bombs, others stopped and looted trains, and a young woman used a slingshot with great precision. With lathis, type-writers and tiffin-carriers, they took on the might of the Raj. That diversity is mirrored in their individual struggles. They come from across India and speak many languages. The big names we are all familiar with make cameo and guest appearances. ![]() 26 years after P Sainath wrote Everybody Loves a Good Drought, he’s back with The Last Heroes: Footsoldiers of Indian Freedom, one that Gopalkrishna Gandhi says “redefines biography writing”. ![]()
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