The Quit India Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi marked an important turning point in India’s freedom struggle against British rule. But while people mobilized on the streets to resist colonial rule, a different kind of resistance was brewing behind the high walls of Lahore Jail.
Without violence or the use of any weapons, they carried out a bold act of resistance in 1942, which has largely been forgotten 84 years later, but deserves recognition.
At that time, several women and girls as well as freedom fighters were housed in the Lahore prison. However, these women demonstrated that their resistance efforts were not suppressed simply because they were prisoners. Without violence or the use of any weapons, they carried out a bold act of resistance in 1942, which has largely been forgotten 84 years later, but deserves recognition.
This act of resistance involved raising the congressional flag within the prison walls. The women of Lahore Prison had secretly sewn a flag from whatever fabric they could find in the prison, including their own clothes, after their demands for better conditions for political prisoners were ignored. In the predawn darkness of October 9, 1942, they stacked their wooden charpoys on top of each other, creating a platform for climbing. They then hoisted the Congress flag in the courtyard of Lahore Jail. Replaces the Union Jack.
As the flag stood high, the women began a dharna near the prison gates and raised their voices fiercely Chant: “Fasi de takhte pe chadh ke geet vatan de Givenge (We will stand at the gallows and sing praises of our homeland),” among other resistance chants and songs.
As the flag stood high, the women began a dharna near the prison gates and raised their voices fiercely singing: “Fasi de takhte pe chadh ke geet vatan de Givenge (We will stand at the gallows and sing praises of our homeland),” among other resistance chants and songs. The words echoed through the prison, attracting armed guards who burst into the courtyard. But the women remained determined.
Subhadra Khosla, a fighter who took part in this act of resistance, told author and filmmaker Sagari Chhabra in one interview for NewsClick that the police were called and asked to shoot at the women and children who were staging the dharna. She further recalls that the women began singing a resistance song, after which the police officers were moved to tears and refused to fire, saying they would not harm their fellow Indians.
The women behind the flag
Who were these women who dared to replace the Union Jack in Lahore Jail in 1942? The Hamaara Itihaas Archives of Freedom Fighters, curated by Sagari Chhabra, answers this very question by preserving their names and stories. The women who hoisted the flag on the day included Savitri Ramkishan, Pushpa Gujral and Freda Houlston Bedi, Subhadra Khosla, Satyavati Devi and Nirmal Kant.
Satyavati Devi was a freedom fighter from Punjab. She was arrested on August 26, 1942 along with her three small children. During her time in prison, she organized protests against the poor conditions in which political prisoners had to live. On October 9, 1942, she was instrumental in mobilizing fellow prisoners to replace the Union Jack.
Savitri Ramkishan was also in prison along with her young children and was pregnant at the time of her arrest and detention. Pushpa Gujral (mother of former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral) was a committed freedom fighter. After independence, she focused on humanitarian work and co-founded a foundation in Jalandhar Nari Niketanwith her husband. Nari Niketan supported women who had been abandoned or widowed during Partition. The Trust is still active today and now functions as an organization for abandoned, destitute and disadvantaged children
Then there was Freda Houlston Bedi, an Englishwoman. She married a Sikh intellectual, Baba Pyare Lal, and lived in India. Bedi was on the other side of the colonial divide – an Englishwoman imprisoned by the British Raj who sang resistance songs for Indian independence in a Lahore prison.
However, the youngest freedom fighter among these women was Subhadra Khosla. She was born in 1928 and grew up in Lahore in a family dedicated to the freedom struggle. Khosla’s parents were heavily involved in resistance activities and her brother Krishna Kant would later serve as Vice President of India.
At just 12 years old, Subhadra was arrested while picketing Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore and was imprisoned along with her mother Satyavati for over a year. This makes her the youngest freedom fighter to be arrested during the struggle for independence.
At just 12 years old, Subhadra was arrested while picketing Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore and was imprisoned along with her mother Satyavati for over a year. This makes her the youngest freedom fighter to be arrested during the struggle for independence. During Partition, she and her family helped provide shelter and transportation to refugees in Lahore before migrating to Delhi, where they continued to serve the nation.
Preserving hidden stories
The discourse surrounding the freedom struggle typically focuses on well-known leaders, mass movements, and the contributions of men. However, the stories of the women of the Lahore Prison Resistance, like those of countless other unsung heroines, are buried beneath these mainstream stories. Until Sagari Chhabra decided to change that in the 90s and made a documentary film called “ real freedom. you too began documenting these stories, work that ultimately made Hamaara Itihaas possible.
Text about resistance in Lahore prison found in Hamaara Itihaas reads: “Even when the armed forces stormed in and the prison whistle sounded, they (women) remained steadfast – singing, fasting and hoisting the flag of freedom.” The women in Lahore prison remind us that resistance can take many different forms. Sometimes it looks like taking to the streets, other times it’s a group of women making a flag out of their clothes, hoisting it and singing resistance songs in front of armed guards.
Today, the women of the Lahore Prison Resistance are asking an uncomfortable question: How many such stories remain untold? How many Satyavatis, Savitris, Pushpas, Fredas and Subhadras have we forgotten?
Her story is important today because it challenges us to rethink what the freedom struggle really looked like. Independence was achieved not only by well-known men but also by the women who fought just as fiercely but did sidelined by history. Today, the women of the Lahore Prison Resistance are asking an uncomfortable question: How many such stories remain untold? How many Satyavatis, Savitris, Pushpas, Fredas and Subhadras have we forgotten?
Gunn Bhargava (she/her) studies political science at Delhi University and is a feminist author specializing in gender, power and human rights. Her work explores feminist media, pop culture and political analysis, drawing on her experiences with platforms such as Feminism in India, Writing Women and The Women Story. She wants to contribute to transnational feminist conversations through progressive journalism.