71st Indian Independence Day: Lesser known facts about India and the Indian Freedom Struggle

India.com Buzz Desk

The 71st Indian Independence Day is just round the corner and the nation is gearing up for the celebrations. Independence Day is celebrated every year on August 15 with much pomp and fervor and the Prime Minister unfurls the ‘tiranga’ or the tricolor on the Red Fort among dignitaries and esteemed guests. India gained independence from the oppressive British Colonial rule on August 15, 1947 making it the most eventful and important day in the history of our country. The Indian national Flag which was designed by renowned freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya was first unfurled on August 15 in 1947. India is a country where people of different religions, language, caste and creed stay together in harmony. It is truly a secular and a diverse country which is united in its outlook.

 

India was under the British rule for almost 200 years and it took immense courage and sacrifice from a lot of people to gain independence. Although we study about our Indian struggle for independence in history books in school but we often fail to remember the sacrifice and the effort it took to gain this coveted freedom and start taking it for granted. Also, many a times we don’t know the salient facts and trivia associated with our Independence Day, so here are some facts to enhance your knowledge and instill pride in our motherland. Independence Day Special: How The Indian National Flag ‘Tiranga’ Came To Its Present Design.

1. India gained independence at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 2017. Korea, Congo, Bahrain and Liechtenstein also share their independence day with India on this day.

 

2. August 15 was chosen by the last Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten on a whim. He chose this date as it was the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the Second World War. The date had a personal appeal for Lord Mountbatten as he was the Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia Command and had accepted the Japanese surrender himself in Singapore.

 

3. The Indian National Anthem is ‘Jana Gana Mana’ which is written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. The Indian National Anthem was actually written to pay homage to King George V.

 

4. The National Song of India is ‘Vande Mataram’ which is a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1870s and included in his 1881 novel Anandamath. The song’s first two verses are adopted as the National Song of India.

 

5. The Indian Struggle for Freedom started in 1857 with the Sepoy Mutiny led by Mangal Pandey and the 1857 revolt that was waged against the British forces led by Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Tantya Tope, Bahadur Shah Zafar and Nana Sahib.

 

6. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had not decided which dominion to join that is India or Pakistan. Pakistan believed that J&K should belong to their side since the majority population was Muslim but the Hindu Maharaja finally agreed to join India in October 1947 giving rise to the conflict which is ongoing till today.

 

7. Bal Gangadhar Tilak along with Sir rattan Jamshed Tata conceived the Bombay Swadeshi Co-op Stores Co. Ltd. in favour of Swadeshi goods and boycotting the foreign goods in early 1900s. The store is known today as the Bombay Store.

 

8. Jana Gana Mana was chosen as the National Anthem instead of Vande Mataram because Jawahar Lal Nehru thought it would be easier for the band to play.

 

9. Cyril John Radcliffe drew the boundary between India and Pakistan, he was a British lawyer and Law Lord. He had no complete information about the geography of India and divided the boundary without knowledge of the demography of the region.

 

10. The name India was derived from the river Indus and bears testimony to the great Indus Valley Civilization that flourished between the river’s tributaries.