As India is celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, marking the 76th year of Independence, wall hanging of prominent freedom fighters and from different states and union territories are adorning the magnificent walls of Red Fort in New Delhi.
These hanging walls also have different cultural, natural and religious heritage of that particular state and union territories.
Among those who found a place at the hanging walls is legendary Khasi freedom fighter Phan Nonglait.
Phan Nonglait, who hailed from the Nongrmai village in Eastern West Khasi Hills is considered to be the first woman freedom fighter from the Khasi Hills.
Born in 1799, little is known or even recorded about the life of Phan Nonglait. She got involved with India’s freedom struggle during the era of Tirot Sing, who is regarded as the ‘hero’ of the Khasi hills. She passed away on December 6, 1850 due to a prolonged illness.
According to records, on one occasion, U Tirot Sing’s soldiers heard the news that the British troops had started to move out of Mairang village and were headed for Nongkhlaw. Tirot Sing’s men immediately laid a trap for the British soldiers at Langstiehrim. It was summer, and due to the unbearable heat, the British soldiers rested near the waterfall. The brave Phan Nonglait very shrewdly took the initiative to provide the soldiers with refreshments while U Tirot Sing’s men waited in the shadows. While the tired Britishers were relaxing and getting a breather, Phan Nonglait used the opportunity to take away all their weapons and threw them under the rock hole of the waterfall. The soldiers of U Tirot Sing seized the moment and attacked and captured the British soldiers, who were unprepared and unarmed.
Other prominent freedom fighters whose photos are displayed at the walls of Red Fort are Pattabhi Sitaramaiyya from Andhra Pradesh, Moje Riba from Arunachal Pradesh, Kushal Konwar from Assam, Vir Kunwar Singh from Bihar, Vir Narayan Singh from Chhattisgarh, Lala Har Dayal from National Capital Territory of Delhi, Pursottam Kesava Kakodkar from Goa, Bhikaji Cama from Gujarat, Rao Tula Ram from Haryana, Padam Dev from Himachal Pradesh, Saifuddin Kitchlew from UT of Jammu & Kashmir, Bhagwan Birsa Munda from Jharkhand, Karnad Sadashiva Rao from Karnataka, Accamma Cherian from Kerala, Abdul Sattar UT of Ladakh, Chandra Shekhar Azad from Madhya Pradesh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak from Maharashtra, Rani Gaidinliu from Manipur, Ropuiliani from Mizoram, Khaikhojam Kuki from Nagaland, Laxman Nayak from Odisha, Bhai Parmanand from Punjab, Sagarmal Gopa from Rajasthan, Trilochan Pokhrel from Sikkim, K Kamaraj from Tamil Nadu, Sarojini Naidu from Telangana, Sachindra Lal Singh from Tripura, Anushuya Prasad Bahuguna from Uttarakhand, Mangal Pandey from Uttar Pradesh and Chittranjan Das from West Bengal.
According to the government, this gesture is a fitting tribute to these towering personalities for their unparalleled contributions, sometimes unsung, for the cause of freedom.
