Laxmi sehgal

. . By T.V. Antony Raj . Captain Lakshmi Sehgal . On July 19, 2012 Captain Lakshmi Sehgal suffered a heart attack at her residence in Civil Lines area, Kanpur. The 97-year-old, who as a young woman fought allied forces during World War II, breathed her last in a private hospital at 11:20 a.m. on July 23, 2012 due to her advanced age and multi-organ failure. Communist Party of India (M), which she had joined in 1971, described her as an “ inspiring and courageous freedom fighter, a dedicated and compassionate doctor in the service of the poor, (and) a fighter for women’s rights…” Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the death of Sehgal, saying that the nation has lost an icon of selfless service. Who is this Captain Lakshmi? What is so special about her? A doctor by profession, as a young woman she fought allied forces during World War II leading the women’s wing of Childhood She was born as Lakshmi Swaminathan on October 24, 1914 in Madras, Madras Presidency, British India, to S. Swaminathan, a lawyer who practiced criminal law at Madras High Court and A.V. Ammukutty, better known as Ammu Swaminathan, a social worker and independence activist from the prominent Vadakkath family of Anakkara in Palghat, Kerala who later became a member of independent India’s Constituent Assembly. Lakshmi observed how the fight for political freedom was fought along the struggle for social reform in the South. Her mother, a Madras socialite became an ardent C...

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal led the Rani of Jhansi regiment of the INA; an inspiring woman who played an incredible part in the Indian freedom movement. At a time (the 1930s and 40s) when Indian women rarely stepped outside the home or their role as homemakers, Lakshmi Sahgal (nee Lakshmi Swaminadhan) had bigger plans. Born to a progressive family in Madras, she trained as a doctor, and was leading an independent life as a practicing gynecologist and obstetrician in Singapore. Fate had bigger plans with her, and when the British forces in then ‘Malaya’ were routed, and the Indian National Army formed with the support of the Japanese, she was gradually drawn into the movement. Not surprising, considering that her family had always had strong nationalist leanings and were active Congress and Gandhi supporters. Once Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose took the INA in hand and moulded it into a fighting force, she played a key role, leadings its women’s regiment. Through the rest of the war, she was active in the movement, and her role included managing the hospitals that the INA set up in Burma and Malaysia to help those wounded. She was among the many INA members arrested by the British at the end of the war (since they were on the ‘wrong side’), though she was not eventually sentenced. Till the end of her life, Captain Lakshmi was actively engaged in civil society and continued her work as a doctor almost till the last years of her life. Why we find her inspiring: What is mom guilt? Man...

• • • • When a woman is empowered and independent, she becomes a strong mother of a free daughter. Such is the legend of Ammukutty Swaminathan, Lakshmi Sahgal and Subhashini Ali, a woman, mother and a daughter, written with the ink of women empowerment. These powerful women are connected not only with a familial bond but also with the desire to emancipate women from the cages of ‘patriarchy’. Belonging to different generations, they are the epitome of women leadership and freedom. They have led women’s struggle of different generations to a new dawn of self-expression and equality. The life stories of such phenomenal women demand to be heard and absorbed in the hazy generation we reside. Ammukutty Swaminathan. Image credit: Hindustan Ammukutty Swaminathan is known as a confident, self-sustained and assertive woman of her own beliefs and idea of life. Her confident and independent character can be traced back to a 14-year old teenager who married on her own conditions in a society where women never had a voice of her own. After Swaminathan proposed a 20 years younger teenager for marriage, Ammu accepted it on certain conditions that, she will live in a city, which was Madras (now Chennai), she will be taught English by an English woman to master the language and that she will never be asked at what time she reached home because nobody asked her brothers that question. That was how a teenager unfolded her own pathway to become a woman leader, freedom fighter and an advocate ...

• Captain Laxmi Sehgal picked up the Gun for the Indian National Army (INA) founded by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and led it like a tigress for the struggle for Indian freedom. • Laxmi Sehgal was born in 1914 to a traditional Tamil family. She got her first patriotic lessons from her mother who was a member of the Congress herself. • She completed her degree in medicine from the Madras Medical College and went to Singapore for a career as a doctor, however something very different was waiting for her. • Singapore at that time was ruled by British and they had to surrender when the Japanese invaded the country. Thousands of Indians were taken as prisoners. • At this juncture, Netaji invited the Indian prisoners to join the INA and fight against the British. • Laxmi was one of them and Netaji was impressed by her courage and asked her to lead the Rani Jhansi Regiment. • She fought like a tigress against the British in the jungles of Burma. • Today octogenarian, Captain Laxmi Sehgal still has the same indomitable attitude and is a practicing Doctor in Kanpur. • She is a major attraction to the seminars and conference and is still working for the betterment of the Society. Facts and Information • Born 24 October 1914 (Madras, British India) • Died 23 July 2012 (Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) • Known for contribution as Revolutionist, Freedom fighter • Spouse(s) K. N. Rao ( -1940), Prem Kumar Sahgal (1947-1992) • Children Subhashini Ali, Anisa Puri kanpur • Grand Son Shaad Ali (filmmak...

Ninety-three-year old Captain Laxmi Sehgal led one of the first women contingents of the world. She was just a young doctor, barely out of college, when Subhash Chandra Bose picked her up to lead the Rani Jhansi Regiment of the famed Indian National Army. Having led the national freedom struggle from the front, Lakshmi saw the country shed the imperial chains. Now, an active medical practitioner in UP's Kanpur, this Captain shows no signs of relent. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Expressindia.com. How far do you think has India come after sixty years of Independence? Everything is not all right. Poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Equal growth has been elusive throughout the society. We have not been able to control our population as yet, which was our foremost priority. The common man has not been able to reap benefits of our growing economy. Unemployment is still rampant in this country and we have not been able to educate each one of us. There is much work left to be done. Healthcare has also become expensive and is increasingly growing out of the reach of the common man, which is a matter of grave concern. Adequate healthcare should be provided to the needy and more emphasis should be laid on the access to education. Do you believe that in India, only political democracy is a success and not the social democracy? Social democracy has not failed in this country, though it may have not reached the expected benchmark of success. Political d...

Captain Lakshmi was born to a Lakshmi studied in In 1940, she left for The Azad Hind Fauj [ ] In 1942, during the Azad Hind Fauj, however, received no firm commitments or approval from the occupying Japanese forces regarding their participation in the war. It was against this backdrop that Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on 2 July 1943. Lakshmi had heard that Bose was keen to draft women into the organisation and requested a meeting with him from which she emerged with a mandate to set up a women's regiment, to be called the The INA marched to Burma with the Later years [ ] In 1971, Lakshmi joined the In 2002, four leftist parties–the Personal life [ ] Lakshmi married Subhashini is a prominent communist politician and labour activist. According to Ali, Lakshmi was an Death [ ] On 19 July 2012, Sahgal had a cardiac arrest and died on 23 July 2012 at 11:20 A.M. at the age of 97 at Kanpur. Awards [ ] In 1998, Sahgal was awarded the See also [ ] • • • • References [ ] • "She was a true Communist" ". The Indian Express. 24 July 2012 . Retrieved 12 January 2022. • ^ a b c d e f Kolappan, B. (24 July 2012). . Retrieved 24 July 2012. • . Retrieved 22 October 2019. • Menon, Parvathi (23 July 2012). The Hindu . Retrieved 23 October 2019. • Asha Krishnakumar (2003). Frontline. 20 (8). • The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. 23 July 2012. Archived from . Retrieved 23 July 2012. • ^ a b c d e Menon, Parvathi (23 July 2012). The Hindu. Chennai, India . Retrieved 23 July 2012. • • Dec...