With the sublime blessings of Heaven pouring down in the form of smiling sunshine, dawned the Great Day of Independence—the day that will go down to India’s unborn generations as the important landmark in the history of India’s National Freedom.”
Maintaining the mood of the opening sentence, the article continued: “It was, indeed, a unique day in every respect. Those of us who have had the good fortune of seeing this Great Day universally observed throughout the length and breadth of India in all solemnity and with perfect traditional ceremony, will never forget the imposing manifestations of full-blooded patriotism that fired the heart of every true Indian worth the name…”
If you think it is a description of 15 August 1947, think again. These are the opening lines of the front-page article published in The Bombay Chronicle on 27 January 1930 — describing the country’s mood on the previous day, when India had celebrated its first Independence Day. That’s right.
Following the historical resolution of Purna Swaraj at the Lahore Session in 1929, the Congress’ new Working Committee met on 2 January 1930 and decided to observe 26 January as ‘Purna Swaraj Day’. A declaration issued by the CWC was to be read as a pledge throughout the country.
The Bombay Chronicle’s banner headline was loud and clear — ‘New Chapter in Indian History’. Some of the sub-headings of the report offer an indication of the mood in Bombay: ‘The First independence day’. ‘Heavy Demand for Flag Lockets’, ‘Perfect Organisation of Volunteers’, ‘Homage to National Flag’, and ‘C.I.D. Men as Khaddarites!’
Processions gathered at Chowpatty as ‘a sea of humanity’ where Abbas Tyabji presided over the meeting and hoisted the national flag. Secretary of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee, Abid Ali, declared that he had requested Gandhi to come to Bombay to preside over the memorable meeting. But Gandhi replied that his work lay in preparing the nation and not in presiding over the meeting. The pledge of freedom was read in Hindi, Gujarati, English, and Urdu by Gajendranath Sharma, social worker and writer Shardaben Mehta, activist Kamaladevi Nehru and Central Khilafat Committee secretary Kamara Ahmed, respectively. (The Bombay Chronicle, 27 January 1930, page 11)
The paper had also carried an appeal issued by C. Rajagopalachari from Gandhi Ashram on 21 January: “I hope on 26th January every one wanting freedom for India will decorate his house and street with national flags and festoons and attend the meeting that will be held in his town or village to hear the Congress message of freedom read. It is the day of India’s challenge to Government and every one must decide whether he will vote for Congress or Government. This is the simple issue. To remain at home without going to the meeting is to vote for Government.” (The Bombay Chronicle, 25 January 1930, page 16).
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An annual affair
The celebration of Independence Day on 26 January became customary thereafter with the Prabhat Feri (morning processions), Flag salutation, and public meetings. The editorial titled ‘Independence Day’, published by The Bombay Chronicle in its 26 January 1937 issue, noted the likelihood of unusual enthusiasm as many provincial governments banned “particular Independence pledge that was proposed to be read and reaffirmed at public meetings”.
The next year, 1938, marked the first Independence Day in which Congress functionaries took part in the festivities as the party had come to power in several provinces after the elections of 1937.
The premier (chief minister) of the Bombay Province, B.G. Kher unfurled the National Flag at Congress House. Sarojini Naidu presided over a huge gathering at Azad Maidan in Bombay. Jairamdas Daulatram, a leader from Sindh, asked the gathering not to forget that “one-fifth of the world’s population was under slavery and hence, Indian freedom was a world problem”. (The Bombay Chronicle, 27 January 1938, p1)
Congress secretary Naresh Mukherjee even introduced a motion in the Bengal Legislature to adjourn the business of the House to enable the members to participate in Independence Day celebrations. The President did not accept it as it was not received in time. (The Bombay Chronicle, 27 January 1938, p8).
Far away from Bengal, in the North West Frontier Province (present-day Pakistan), Congress president Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the National Flag at Gandhi Chowk in Bannu city. The programme was organised by Khudai Khidmatgars, a Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Nehru, in a speech after salutations, said: ‘The flag stood for India’s freedom and unity among different communities.” (The Bombay Chronicle, 27 January 1938, p 1)
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1947 changed it all
The tradition of celebrating 26 January as Independence Day lasted for 18 years. The last one was celebrated in 1947, just a few months before the actual Independence Day. Pravasi, a prominent nationalist Gujarati paper published from Bombay, brought out an Independence Day Special Supplement on 26 January 1947. The full-page advertisement of it, published in Janmabhoomi on 23 January 1947, carried an illustration by noted Gujarati cartoonist-artist ‘Shani’. The two slogans in the copy were: ‘We pledge for independence with martyrs as our witness.’ And ‘Do or die is our mantra for life.’
The front-page banner headline of The Bombay Chronicle on 27 January read: ‘India’s Final Rally For Independence.’ No processions or public meetings were held by the Congress. The only event of the day was the hoisting of a flag. Prime Minister of Indonesia Sutan Sjahrir and a delegation of the Viet Nam Republican Government in Paris sent telegrams to Jawaharlal Nehru wishing the country on the occasion of Independence Day.
“The Indonesians are watching with close interest India’s heroic struggle to attain complete independence,” Sjahrir wrote. Ambassadors and ministers from China, Syria, the Emirate of Transjordan, and Saudi Arabia also sent their wishes.
When India became a republic on 26 January 1950, Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel remembered the Purna Swaraj pledge taken 20 years ago and remarked, “Although we obtained independence on the 15th of August 1947, it was not complete in the sense of the pledge we took [as India came into existence as a dominion]. Today, by the grace of God, that pledge has been completely fulfilled.” (The Bombay Chronicle, 26 January 1950, p 1)
With the loss of identity as Independence Day after 1947 and the lack of a new identity as the day of complete independence, as explained by Patel, 26 January has lost its wider appeal.
Urvish Kothari is a senior columnist and writer based in Ahmedabad. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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