Ushaben Malji, Freedom Fighter

Written History has always highlighted and glorified the achievements of few key personalities. But in the gamut of human experiences through time there are numerous inputs, anecdotes stories and deeds of heroic greatness by so many people. Ushaben Malji, a spunky, energetic 85 year old young woman, whemently advocating and protesting against the demise of the Gujarati language amongst today’s youth is one such person. Her story inextricably linked with the freedom movement in Gujarat and she shines at par with all of those luminaries enshrined in written history.

As she closes Jayanti Thakores memories of a country’s freedom won, Usha Malji’s jigsaw of an incidence flit across the air through patterns gestured by her fingers. “After the inebriated levels of trouble that we were causing the British the inevitability of capture was imminent yet this in fact spurred us on to be more and more daring and also reckless.” After the incident of raising the Indian flag on Gujarat College in August 1942 life at college for my aunt Ushaben and her colleagues had come to an end. After playing a significant role in opposing the British and therefore being pursued by the police she could not very well go back to the college and actually ended up convincing others including professors to boycott the entire institution.

All of a sudden this young woman of nineteen found herself an out log constantly staying one step ahead of arrest by the use of her wits and a lot of luck. The Quit India Movement meanwhile had spread to a major part of the country and the Sabarmati Jail was fast filling up with State guests from various territories of the country. It was Neerubhai Desai and Ramnikbhai Shah who were instrumental in organizing the student brigade of which Ushaben was a part. The clandestine press churning out revolutionary literature was on in full swing, its location being changed every couple of days to avoid detection. Printed copies were collected by groups of students and in the cover of darkness spread across the city like autumn leaf wafting in the breeze. There were times Ushaben transcribed carbon copies of the patrika, hiding them in the folds of her petticoat and sauntering past officials. This apart various bulletins and announcements needed to be imparted. After the patrika distribution boys and girls went out in groups, the former with cans of pitch and brushes and latter with pieces of chalk, while the boys traveled in front creating dark windows on walls with decisive brush strokes, the women followed filling in keybits of information as the paint dried. Ushaben and her maverick band were also assigned the task of mobilizing young children and formulating the prabhatpheri. This was an instant hit with the children as it involved generating a cacophony of sounds to awaken people at wee hours of morning, singing snatches of patriotic songs and generally making a nuisance of themselves for the authorities. The children were a perfect foil to initiate peaceful obstructions as the police could not arrest or use violent methods on minors.

Mobilizing children and restructuring non violent but politically subversive activities into fun filled enterprises was a task in itself. And it is this exposure that made Ushaben opt for a career in education later. Amongst the children the boys were formed into the Vanarsena while the girls group came to be called majarsena. More and more children joined the prabhatpheri in the coming days and along with the college the schools too shut down.

As Ushaaunty recalls, being constantly on the run did take its toll, but the people be the pol residents to waghari and chhara settlements were extremely supportive and these young adults were treated like liberators and heroes wherever they went amongst the common folk. Those were the heady days of adventure, courage and valor, sprinkled with more than their share of danger. In trying to avoid police dragnets, the youngsters used secret pathways and convoluted alleys, broad jumping walls and skirting fences, scuttling across rooftop landscapes and hiding out in fields and bushes plucking berries and fruits.

This nerve racking schedule did definitely take its toll on a fateful night when Ushaben and her younger brother, Rajnikant Lakhia came home to visit their mother and have a much needed bath, my grandmother who was waiting all this time to meet her daughter and son ,insisted that they stay on for dinner. Just as they were sitting for dinner dada (Rajnibhai) heard movements outside and everyone there knew that the game of cat and mouse had finally drawn to a close. Such was the importance being given to this nineteen year old girl that an entire contingent of police had surrounded the house along with a police van. The brother sister activists used their presence of mind and hid away a majority of the printed material they were carrying, but it was no use and they were finally captured two months after the famous Gujarat college incident.
To be continued..
Published: Ahmedabad Mirror