|
Flag Satyagraha
On 13th April, 1923 Gen. Avari took 36 volunteers of congress workers and started the famous ‘Flag Satyagraha’. This had spread from Jabalpur when Mahatma Gandhi ji was arrested and this movement started in Nagpur led by young Mancharsha Avari who marched with the then Flag of Congress designed by freedom fighter Lady Bhikaiji Cama who was externed from India by the Britishers. The march started from the now Chitnavis park area to the now Old Collectorate office near the present Morris college premises. He mesmerised the masses and a huge uprising followed with thousands of volunteers taking to the streets. Obviously Mr. Avari was arrested for three months, but they locked him up for fourteen months due to his intense popularity and people taking to streets to demand his release. The All India Congress Committee sent its top leaders to study the movement. Ultimately with state leaders like Mancharsha Avari in jail, the then AICC president on instructions from Mahatma Gandhi deputed Sardar Vallabbhai Patel to lead the movement in Nagpur. Top leaders like Motilalji Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Vinobhaji Bhave, Makhanlal Chaturvedi the famous Hindi laureate and others leading massive morchas in Nagpur and the flag was hoisted in front of Secretariat building, now Divisional Commissioner Office in Nagpur. This is the first time Nagpur witnessed a massive uprising led by young leader Mancharsha Avari. Ultimately the satyagrah ended when the Britishers allowed AICC leaders like Sardar Patel and Motilal Nehru to hoist this Flag. Avari ji became very popular and there were meetings held to demand his release. Ultimately, he was released after fourteen months.
In 1924, he was elected President of Nagpur District Congress Committee. His first act was to give Ultimatum to the then British Governor of the then C.P & Berar State to Quit India in month or face eviction by the masses. Huge uprising started in Nagpur. Mr. Avari organized one thousand Sevadal workers and formed a Republican Army. The volunteers were given a military dress of Khadi with Gandhi-topi and carrying a sword. He went to Gandhi ji to seek his blessings. Gandhi ji inquired how concept of Shastra goes with Ahinsa i.e. non-violence. Mr. Avari explained that the sword was given to break the British law that refused the Indians to carry arms. But he promised Mahatma ji that not a drop will be spilled. Mahatma ji gave him his blessings and jokingly inquired if you drive out Britishers then where will my C.F.Andrews go?
It was a very successful movement where thousands of people came on the streets in support of this movement. One day, the volunteers suddenly hoisted this Flag on the Sitabuldi Fort by bringing down The Union Jack. For almost a day this Flag fluttered on Sitabuldi Fort and then The Britishers imposed curfew and arrested Avari and other leaders. The movement was so successful that when Gandhiji came to Nagpur he congratulated Mr. Avari for this movement calling him “General”. His exact words were, ”Avari jaise sao captan mile toh abhi swaraj loon”. Since then young Mancharsha Avari was called General Avari and the title given by Gandhiji stuck forever. His exploits even impressed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose the then riding star of Indian politics who lavishly praised General Avari publicly in Nagpur Municipality in October 1928, when General Avari was languishing in jail. These two major movements from Nagpur soil led by General Avari ultimatelyforced the Congress party, who till now was demanding Dominion status under British Raj to go all out for complete independence in the historic Lahore session of 1929 when young Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President of Congress party.
Atrocities suffered in the British Jails
1. When General Avari was arrested in 1923 leading the Zenda Satyagraha he was given a very strict jail term. According to one of his companion in jail Mr. Ambolkar (as told to General Avari’s son Shri Gev Avari) he suffered terrible physical torture because it was the policy of the Britishers to give strong torture to first time popular leaders. Accordingly in the present day Gittikhadan area in Nagpur which was earlier a stone quary, Mr. Ambolkar himself saw General Avari’s both legs tied separately to two horses and they were speeding around the Gittikhadan area. This caused terrible injuries on General Avari’s body. This incident has already been recorded in the book “Shastra Satyagraha ke Pravartak General Avari ( His Life and Movements)” written by the famous freedom fighter and Hindi Laureate Shri Satyadev Vidhyalankar published in 1930. His second imprisonment was from 24th may 1927 to 15th april 1931 under section 124 A for preaching sedition because of his Armed Satyagraha. The first prison jail was from 13-4-1923 to 2-6-1924 for leading the Nagpur’s Flag Satyagraha. The third jail term was awarded on 7-05-1931 for three years for his movements. During his jail term in Nagpur he started a hunger strike to demand Khadi clothes in jail. Next day he was given Khadi clothes and transferred to Raipur jail. There he demanded that his underclothes like the religious ‘Sudreh’ which was refused. He was tortured in all possible ways. To break his Fast the Britishers tried to feed him forcibly by tube through his mouth, in the process breaking two front teeth when he resisited. Since General Avari knew Prananyam Yoga he would spill out the milk from his mouth through his nose. The jail officials then cut opens his veins of the hand and injected saline water in it. Again he started his usual yoga practised which stopped the beating pulse and blood circulation. Hence wonderfully enough not a drop of saline water passed in his blood though they kept the syringe for minutes together. Ultimately, they forcefully feeded him through his anus. Here he could not throw the saline water out. That was on the 75th day of his fast and he fainted. After that he was given Khadi underclothes.( This is quoted from the book of Vidyalankar from pg. 23-27.) This Fast reduced him to a state of skeleton i.e. reducing his weight from 164 lb to 114 lb. (quoted from his own words in his book “Rays from asylum” published on 9/10/1934)
2. After this torture the Britishers removed him from Raipur Jail to the Nagpur Lunatic Asylum during his 3rd jail term. Here also the tortures continued. The beautiful description of how he was rescued from lunatic asylum in Nagpur due to a mass movement is given in the autobiography of the famous Marathi Laureate Late Vamanrao Chorghade.
Book By Gen. Avari
|
Book By Mr. Satyadev Vidyalankar
|
|
|
Unveiling portrait of General Avari in Nagpur Municipality by Netaji Subhashchandra Bose.
Unveiling portrait of General Avari in Nagpur Municipality by Netaji Subhashchandra Bose. On 5th oct, 1928 Nagpur Municipality organized a big program to honour Subhashchandra Bose by presenting him ‘Man-patra’ and unveiling oil portrait of General Avari at his hands. General Avari was in jail that time. In his address, Netaji Subhaschandra Bose spoke of him as follows- “It gives me a great pleasure to unveil the portrait of Desh-bhakt like Shri Avari. Methods used by Avari or his ideas may not be liked by all but at the root of this movement is the idea of the Congress party to oppose the present day politics. This is important. Congress programs are not appealing to the youths today but this movement of young congress workers is a befitting reply to those people.... Even if following General Avari’s methods of working may not be easy to follow yet the people should carry on the nation-building work so ably started by General Avari.” Quoted from Nagpur Nagarpalika Shatabdi Granth, Nagpur Municiple Corporation in1964 edited by Dr. Padmakar Laxmikant Joshi, retired Dr. A. Raghvendra professor of political science, Nagpur University, chapter 5, pg.no. 46-47.
|
|
The story behind his marriage.
General Avari was a very good looking, fair, Parsi gentleman and a U.S.A returned Engineer. But because he sacrificed his lucrative job and all his inherited wealth for joining freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi, he remained a bachelor. There were many attempts by rich Parsi people in Nagpur and Bombay wanting to get their daughters married to him but he refused. In 1933 whike he was serving his 3rd jail term he met another young Parsi Patriot young Shri Minochehr Zaiwala who was also serving jail term. He was an educated B.T. trained school teacher from Bordi in present day Thana district. It was here that Mr. Zaiwala informed General Avari that all hs family members, except his youngest sister Dalerbanu, followed the Britishers. Since his sister was National-minded and was a fan of Mahatma Gandhi, she wrote poems and articles in Gujrati language and had already written about General Avari in one newspaper praising his movements. Ultimately Mr. Zaiwala proposed the marriage of his sister with General Avari and he agreed though there was a gap of fourteen years between them. She was niece of the famous Gujrati poet Shri Khabardar of Gujrat. Finally, the marriage was held in April 1935 and a big reception was held in Ahmedabad and then in Nagpur. The details are given by Shri Gev Avari his son in article 3 of ‘Majhe Vadil’ serialised in the famous Marathi Daily Lokmat.
|