Click to play videoChauri Chaura (Uttar Pradesh): During the Independence movement, a small town in UP became a lasting emblem for ending the non-cooperation movement.
But today, Chauri Chaura - the place where Gandhi's ideal of non-cooperation met its death – doesn’t exist for modern India.
At the police station in Chauri Chaura, the 70-year-old caretaker Ali Raza has been on duty for 30 years.
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| 70-year-old Ali Raza has been on duty for 30 years at the historic police station |
After all, it's a piece of history and a family legacy that he's in charge of.
In 1922, when this police station was burnt down by angry Satyagrahis, Raza’s father was the gardener here.
When he died, Ali Raza took over his father's mantle and his sickle.
"It was a small gathering of people who were peacefully protesting. The police attacked. Then the freedom fighters retaliated and they doused the police station in kerosene and burnt down the building," Raza says.
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| Chauri Chaura became an example of just how difficult it was to maintain the Gandhian ideals. |
Nineteen Satyagrahis were hanged in 1923 for the incident and they were immortalised by a memorial in the middle of a secluded area of Chauri Chaura.
Chauri Chaura became an example of just how difficult it was to maintain the Gandhian commitment to non-violence.
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| Gulzar Hussain says he doesn't any longer care for the cause Satyagrahis died for |
Peaceful protest was the mark of the Satyagrahi but in Chauri Chaura, Gandhi's precious ideal was embarrassingly overthrown
Today, this little town comprising two villages - Chauri and Chaura - doesn't figure on any tourist map.
Unemployment is high and the families of the Satyagrahis are either small landowners or badly paid labourers.
Seventy-five-year-old Gulzar Hussain, a former madarsa teacher and the grandson of Satyagrahi Lal Mohammad, is now living a hand-to-mouth existence.
Once a week he hobbles up towards the memorial to remind himself of his lineage.
"No one in this town cares for these people, for what they died for. No i don't care either. What will I do by caring? They may have fought for freedom but I still feel like I am living in chains," Hussain says.
A town well known during the freedom movement, is now a forgotten landmark. The men who died for Gandhian principles exist only as ancient grooves in blocks of marble and in the hearts of bitter descendants.
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