Lakshmi Sahgal | |
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 Sahgal at the 18th congress ofCommunist Party of India (Marxist) in Delhi, 2005 | |
| Born | Lakshmi Swaminathan (1914-10-24)24 October 1914 |
| Died | 23 July 2012(2012-07-23) (aged 97) Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
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| Children | 2 (incl.Subhashini Ali) |
Lakshmi Sahgal (pronunciationⓘ) (bornLakshmi Swaminathan; 24 October 1914 – 23 July 2012) was a revolutionary of theIndian independence movement, an officer of theIndian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in theAzad Hind government. Lakshmi is commonly referred to in India asCaptain Lakshmi, a reference to her rank when taken prisoner in Burma during the Second World War.
Captain Lakshmi was born on 24 October 1914 to S. Swaminathan, a lawyer who practiced criminal law atMadras High Court, and A.V. Ammukutty, better known asAmmu Swaminathan, a social worker and independence activist from an aristocraticNair family known as "Vadakkath" family ofAnakkara,Ponnani taluk,Malabar District,British India.[1] She is the elder sister ofMrinalini Sarabhai.[2][3]
Lakshmi studied inQueen Mary's College[1][4] and later chose to study medicine and received an MBBS degree fromMadras Medical College in 1938. A year later, she received her diploma ingynaecology andobstetrics.[5] She worked as a doctor in the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital located atTriplicane Chennai.[1]
In 1940, she left forSingapore after the failure of her marriage to pilot P.K.N. Rao.[1] During her stay at Singapore, she met some members ofSubhas Chandra Bose'sIndian National Army.[1]
In 1942, during thesurrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, Lakshmi aided woundedprisoners of war, many of whom were interested in forming an Indian independence army. Singapore at this time had several nationalist Indians working there includingK. P. Kesava Menon, S. C. Guha and N. Raghavan, who formed a Council of Action. TheirIndian National Army, orAzad Hind Fauj, however, received no firm commitments or approval from the occupying Japanese forces regarding their participation in the war.[6]
It was against this backdrop that Subhash Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on 2 July 1943, and reorganized the movement. Lakshmi Sahgal wrote later: “At the second mass meeting, Netaji dropped a bombshell by saying that it was his intention to form a women's infantry regiment, named after the Rani of Jhansi who had fought so heroically against the British in 1857… I told him I was ready to join... The date was July 8, 1943”.[7] Women responded enthusiastically to join the all-women brigade and Dr. Lakshmi Swaminathan became Captain Lakshmi, a name and identity that would stay with her for life.[6]
Captain Lakshmi was the Minister in Charge of Women's Organization in theProvisional Government of Free India led by Subash Chandra Bose in Singapore.
The INA marched to Burma with theJapanese army in December 1944, but by March 1945, with the tide of war turning against them, the INA leadership decided to beat a retreat before they could enterImphal. Captain Lakshmi was arrested by the British in May 1945, remaining inBurma until March 1946, when she was sent to India – at a time when theINA trials in Delhi heightened popular discontent with and hastened the end of colonial rule.[6]
In 1971, Lakshmi joined theCommunist Party of India (Marxist). During theBangladesh crisis, she organised relief camps and medical aid in Calcutta for refugees who streamed into India from Bangladesh. She was one of the founding members ofAll India Democratic Women's Association in 1981 and led many of its activities and campaigns.[8] She led a medical team to Bhopal after the gas tragedy in December 1984, worked towards restoring peace in Kanpur following the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and was arrested for her participation in a campaign against the Miss World competition in Bangalore in 1996.[6] She was still seeing patients regularly at her clinic in Kanpur in 2006, at the age of 92.[6]
In2002 Indian presidential election, four leftist parties – theCommunist Party of India, theCommunist Party of India (Marxist), theRevolutionary Socialist Party, and theAll India Forward Bloc – nominated Sahgal as a candidate in the presidential elections. She was the sole opponent ofA.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who emerged victorious.[9]
Lakshmi marriedPrem Kumar Sahgal in March 1947 inLahore. After their marriage, they settled inKanpur, where she continued with her medical practice and aided the refugees who were arriving in large numbers following thePartition of India. They had two daughters:Subhashini Ali and Anisa Puri.
Subhashini is a prominent communist politician and labour activist. According to Ali, Lakshmi was anatheist.[10] The filmmakerShaad Ali is her grandson.[11]
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.[12][13] Her body was donated toGanesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College for medical research.[14]
In 1998, Sahgal was awarded thePadma Vibhushan by Indian presidentK. R. Narayanan.[15] In 2010, she was bestowed withhonorary doctorate byUniversity of Calicut.[16]
Rajeshwari Sachdev played the role of Captain Sahgal in 2004 filmNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero.[17] Shruthi Seth played the role of Sahgal in 2020Amazon Prime Video seriesThe Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye.[18]
Subhashini Ali: "..There are religions that have very rigid rules and there are others that don't. Religion is something that I, as a person, am not interested in. I have always been an atheist. My parents were atheists. It doesn't bother me if somebody is religious. My problem is when religion is used to institutionalise other things."
Lakshmi Sahgal (played by Shruti Seth), one of the most iconic figures of the INA is included in the story, but never introduced using subtitles or any other device. I had to wait for the end credits to confirm that Shruti was playing Ms Sahgal and not another female officer.
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