Saquib Salim

On 17 January 1871, Namdhari Sikhs were protesting against the British authorities' order allowing cow slaughter in Malerkotla. The police arrested many of the demonstrators as they started turning violent. The arrested 66 Sikhs were sentenced to death. They were tied up to the mouth of the cannon gun. As it was fired they were blown away to death.

The wife of Officer Cowan felt pity for a 12-year-old boy who was also  sentenced to death. She asked her husband to let go of the boy. Cowan asked this boy to abuse his Guru for letting him go. The enraged boy caught hold of his beard and didn’t leave him even when the sepoys intervened. The soldiers severed his arms with a sword to save Cowan. Later, the boy was beheaded.

This 12-year-old boy was Bishan Singh.

An artists's vision of Bishan Singh's martydom

The Indian freedom struggle was national in the true sense of the word. People from all walks of life took part in it. Not only adults, but even children also joined it.

11 October 1938: a police team reached Nilkanthapur Ghat, Bhuban, Dhenkanal district in Odisha. They were chasing a party of revolutionaries and needed boats to cross the Brahmani River. Baji Rout was a 12-year-old boatman and a scout of a nationalist organization.

The boatmen had passed a resolution that they would not ferry any English policemen in their boats. Police asked Baji to sail them across the river. He replied negatively. Frustrated policemen shot him. Baji is one of the youngest martyrs of the Indian freedom struggle.

Baji Rout

In Cuttack, a procession of young men and women attacked a police station. The pragmatic adults didn’t go close to the building. An 8-year-old girl marched forward, climbed up the roof, and brought down the Union Jack. The girl was beaten mercilessly by the police. The girl was Nandini Satpathy who become Chief Minister of Odisha.

She used to take part in these processions and paste posters on the wall.

Khudiram Bose is one of the most famous revolutionaries India has ever produced. He was hardly 15 when he was first arrested for revolutionary activities. At the age of 16, he was one of the best at planting bombs. Bose was 17 when he hurled a bomb at a judge in Muzaffarpur.

Lt. Asha Sahay

The British government hanged him soon, at the age of 17 (18 according to official records). Photographs of Khudiram were sold at shops across the country, and Khudiram style dhoti with his name at its border became a fashion among youth.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad also started his career as a revolutionary journalist and started publishing his first journal before turning 16.

ALSO READ: Netaji was also pioneer of Indian students movement against the British

Lt. Asha Sahay of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose led Indian National Army (INA) was 16 when she joined INA. She fought at the war frontier before turning 18 and  also led regular army units.

Netaji set up a separate children's volunteer group in INA, who were trained to provide help during the war.