~ By Shubham Kumar Sanu
The kindhearted and brave boy Gangu Baba born in Bithoor village of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh in a Dalit family. Since his childhood, he was a vigorous and energetic child, but due to severe poverty and some social evils of society, he faced many adverse circumstances. Such milieu affected his educational life. But he did not give up from these situations, he took it as a challenge and determined to overcome it. In the early days to earn a living he also worked as a sweeper. After some time, he shifted with his family to Chunnaiganj village. The shift from Bithoor to Chunnaiganj village was one of the turning points of his life and milieu of the new place favorably favored him. He was very fond of wrestling since childhood, which was completed by coming to this village. To learn wrestling he joined a wrestler and with full devotion and dedication just within a few months, he developed mastery over wrestling art. This achievement greatly enhanced his fame and work across societies and boundaries. People started lovingly calling him by the name of Gangu Baba in place of Gangu. But these glories did not diminish his kindness and sense of belonging towards the people.
The kindhearted and brave boy Gangu Baba born in Bithoor village of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh in a Dalit family. Since his childhood, he was a vigorous and energetic child, but due to severe poverty and some social evils of society, he faced many adverse circumstances. Such milieu affected his educational life. But he did not give up from these situations, he took it as a challenge and determined to overcome it. In the early days to earn a living he also worked as a sweeper. After some time, he shifted with his family to Chunnaiganj village. The shift from Bithoor to Chunnaiganj village was one of the turning points of his life and milieu of the new place favorably favored him. He was very fond of wrestling since childhood, which was completed by coming to this village. To learn wrestling he joined a wrestler and with full devotion and dedication just within a few months, he developed mastery over wrestling art. This achievement greatly enhanced his fame and work across societies and boundaries. People started lovingly calling him by the name of Gangu Baba in place of Gangu. But these glories did not diminish his kindness and sense of belonging towards the people.
Gangu Baba’s Social Image:
Socially he was a highly eminent and respectable personality among the society. There are so many stories about his kindness and bravery that grandmothers of the village tell her children about him. It was said that he was so strong that he could change the course of rivers and chop off the heads of mountains. He could fight against two tigers together. Gangu Babu was kind and he was brave. If he saw a hungry person he would give him his own bread to eat. If he saw someone shivering in the cold he gave his own blanket to wrap. People of the area in folk also say about him that if he heard a deer crying at night he used to get so upset that he would go to the forest and break the bones of tigers. Due to all the aspects, he commanded great respect in the village. Even rich and influential landlords used to leave their chairs to embrace him.
Entry to Peshwa’s Army and First War of Independence:
Due to the Doctrine of Lapse policy of the British ruler Lord Dalhousie and the defeat of the Marathas, Bajirao, the last Peshwa of the Marathas, leave from there and settled in Bithur Nagar in Kanpur district. The Peshwa had no children so in 1857 he adopted Dhodpat Nana Saheb. Nana Saheb started the process of expanding his troops and soldiers to fight against the British. In this process once Gangu Baba was returning from the forest with a dead tiger on his back, which he had killed unarmed single-handed. Just then Nana Saheb Peshwa, the king of Bithoor, passed by with his army. When he saw the strapping young man walking nonchalantly with a tiger on his back, he stopped him and asked him to join his army. Gangu Baba was very happy to hear this. He joined the army. When the British marched on Bithoor, on 19 July 1857, fired cannons and tried to capture Nana Saheb’s fort. In this fight, Gangu Babu bravely fought against the British army and alone killed nearly 150 British soldiers with his sword. This enraged the British, Who tried their best to catch him dead or alive. After immense efforts, they succeeded in capturing him. Then the cruel British officers tied him to the back of a horse and dragged him all the way to Kanpur, which was a long way away. There they killed him by hanging him from a Neem tree in Chunniganj, Kanpur on 8th September 1859. Veer Shaheed Gangu Mehtar continued to challenge the British till his last breath and told “भारत की माटी में हमारे पूर्वजों का खून व कुर्बानी की गंध है, एक दिन यह मुल्क आजाद होगा।” To memorize his bravery the statue is installed in Chunniganj, where he had been mercilessly killed by the British. We should salute and respect to such a brave son of Mother India.
Relevance in Present and future scenario:
Life and sacrifice of Gangu Baba for the greater cause of nation and safety of motherland teach and propagates us that life is full of struggles and before giving up we should fight and defeat difficulties, we should respect the freedom that we got with the sacrifice of lakhs of freedom fighters and we should work for the greater cause of nation at an individual level to lead the society at a larger level. We can never forget the gallantry and bravery that Gangu Baba taught us. Finally, I can say that he was our hero, he is our hero and he will be our hero.
“Jai Gangu Baba!”
