Their Courage Was Not Credited: 5 Women Who Reshaped India's Freedom

The story of India’s independence is told loudly and incompletely. It remembers men who spoke from podiums and negotiated, but it conveniently forgets women who fought, organised and died without historical backing. Republic Day celebrates the Constitution, but it also demands that we confront an uncomfortable truth that freedom was not won by the loudest voices alone, and bravery was not exclusive to those whose names made it into textbooks. Those voices are only remembered once a year, if at all.

Women in the freedom struggle were expected to fight and disappear. To lead without recognition. To sacrifice without legacy.

Their resistance didn’t always look “respectable” or convenient for post-Independence narratives. Many didn’t survive to tell their own stories and land in our textbooks.

Matangiri Hazara

Matangini Hazra (19 October 1870 – 29 September 1942) was a revolutionary freedom fighter who played an active role in India’s independence movement.

On 29 September 1942, she led one of five volunteer groups of the Vidyut Bahini, organised by the Samar Parishad, in an attempt to take over the Tamluk Police Station.

British Indian police opened fire in front of the station, killing her on the spot. She became the first martyr of the Quit India Movement in Midnapore.

A committed Gandhian, she was affectionately known as Gandhi Buri “the old woman Gandhi,” a name that reflected both her age and her belief in nonviolent resistance.

Aruna Asaf Ali 

(16 July 1909 – 29 July 1996) She was an educator and political activist who played a prominent role in India’s freedom struggle.

She is best remembered for unfurling the Indian national flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay during the Quit India Movement of 1942, a moment that became a symbol of open defiance against British rule.

After independence, she continued her public life in politics and went on to serve as Delhi’s first mayor.

Usha Mehta 

Born on 25 March 1920 and passing away on 11 August 2000, she was a committed Gandhian and a key figure in India’s independence movement.

She is especially remembered for setting up the Secret Congress Radio, an underground broadcast network that operated during the Quit India Movement of 1942, keeping the resistance alive when public voices were silenced.

In recognition of her contribution, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian honour, in 1998.

Captain Lakshmi Sehgal

Lakshmi Sahgal was an Indian revolutionary, political activist, and leader in the freedom movement. She served as an officer in the Indian National Army and held the position of Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind government.

Widely known as Captain Lakshmi, the title comes from the rank she held in the Indian National Army when she was taken prisoner in Burma during the Second World War.

Durgabai Deshmukh

She (15 July 1909 – 9 May 1981) was a freedom fighter, lawyer, social reformer, and politician who played a significant role in shaping post-Independence India. She served as a member of the Constituent Assembly and later on the Planning Commission, contributing to the foundations of the Indian republic.

A committed advocate for women’s rights, she founded the Andhra Mahila Sabha in 1937 to advance women’s education and empowerment, and later became the first chairperson of the Central Social Welfare Board. In 1953, she married C. D. Deshmukh, India’s first Indian Governor of the Reserve Bank and a former Union Finance Minister.

If Republic Day is about the values the Constitution promises equality, dignity and justice, then forgetting these women is a constitutional failure of memory. Patriotism cannot be selective. Freedom cannot be gendered.