10/08/2014
After the Rebellion of 1857 was suppressed, it was a period of growing political awareness, manifestation of Indian public opinion and emergence of Indian leadership at both national and provincial levels. It was during this time that Dadabhai Naoroji founded the East India Association and Surendranath Banerjee founded The India National Association. Also, inspired by A.O. Hume, 73 Indian delegates met in Bombay and founded the Indian National Congress.
This was a period that saw the awakening of Nationalism in the country's people. Socio-religious groups like Arya Samaj (founded by Dayanand Saraswati) and Brahmo Samaj (founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy) played integral roles in reforming the Indian society.
Works of people like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Sri Aurobindo, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai Subramanya Bharathy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Rabindranath Tagore and the Scots–Irish Sister Nivedita, spread the passion for rejuvenation and freedom.
As India's 68th Independence Day nears us, we pay homage to these true sons and daughters of India and pledge to give do everything we can to help eradicate the evils that still plague our society. Their sacrifices were not in vain. Nationalism still survives.
This 15th August, let's rekindle the fire. Let's be the citizens that our country needs.