Neera Arya

Neera Arya (1902 – 1998) was a soldier of the Rani Jhansi Regiment in the Azad Hind Fauj, who was also accused by the British government of being a spy. She died in 1998 in Hyderabad. She is also known as Neera Nagini. His brother Basant Kumar was also in the Azad Hind Fauj. Many folk singers have also written poetry collections and hymns on the life of Neera and her brother Basantkumar.There is also an epic on his life by the name of NeeraNagini. There is also news of a film being produced on her life. She was a great patriot, courageous and self-respecting woman, who is remembered with pride and pride. The women of Hyderabad used to call her as Pedamma. A national award has also been instituted in the name of Neera Arya. Akhilesh Pandey was given the Neera Arya Samman in a grand ceremony.

Birth and Education :-
Neera Arya was born on 5 March 1902 in Khekra Nagar, then United Provinces Into a Hindu Jat Family. He was a reputed merchant of the time, whose business was spread across the country. Especially in Calcutta was the main center of his father’s business, his religious father Chhajjumal had arranged his early education in Bhagwanpur village near Calcutta. The name of Neera’s early teacher was Bani Ghosh, who gave her the knowledge of Sanskrit. Later education took place in the city of Calcutta. Nira Arya was proficient in Hindi, English, Bengali as well as many other languages. He was married to CID Inspector ShrikantJairanjan Das in British India. ShrikantJairanjan Das was a devout British officer.

Contribution to India’s freedom struggle:-
She had killed her husband, ShrikantJairanjan Das, an officer in the English army, to save the life of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. started to go , but during this time Neera Arya had taken SrikantJairanjan Das with a bayonet in his stomach and took him to the hereafter. ShrikantJairanjan Das was Neera Arya’s husband, so Netaji called her Nagini because of killing her husband. After the surrender of the Azad Hind Fauj, he was sentenced to black water for the murder of his husband, where he was subjected to severe torture. After independence, he made a living by selling flowers, but did not accept any government assistance or pension. His brother Basant Kumar was also a freedom fighter, who became a sanyasi after independence. He has also written his autobiography on the role. He also narrated many incidents of his life to Urdu writer Farhana Taj (who writes in Hindi as MadhuDhama). He has also written a novel on his life, in which his contribution in the freedom struggle has been underlined.

Here is a heartwarming excerpt from his autobiography – “I was first sent to Calcutta jail after being arrested. This incident is from Calcutta Jail, where our place of stay was the same cells in which other women political criminals had lived or lived. We were locked in cells at 10 o’clock in the night and could not even hear the name of mats, blankets etc. My mind used to worry that how would we get freedom living in an unknown island in the deep sea where we were to be sent, Now the need has come to give up the attention of wearing clothes? As soon as he rolled on the ground itself and sleep also came. Around 12 o’clock a guard came with two blankets and without speaking, threw them up and left. The falling of blankets and the breaking of sleep also happened at the same time. It felt bad, but after getting the blankets, the satisfaction also came. Now only he was with the pain of an iron bond and the meditation of being separated from Mother India. “As soon as the sun came out, I got khichdi and the blacksmith also came. While cutting the hand chain, a little leather was also cut, but while cutting the shackles from the legs, check the bone of the feet with a hammer only two or three times to see how strong it is. I once sadly said, “What is blind, who kills in the foot?” “Let will we even kill in the heart, what will you do?” He told me. “I am in bondage, what can I do even for you…” Then I spit on him, “Learn to respect women?” The jailer was also with him, so he said in a stern voice, “Leave you It will be given, if you will tell where is your Netaji Subhash?” “He died in an air crash,” I replied, “the whole world knows. “Netaji is alive…you lie that he died in the air crash?” said the jailer. “Yes Netaji is alive.” “So where are you…. “He is alive in my heart. ”

As soon as I spoke, the jailer got angry and said, “Then we will remove Netaji from your heart. “And then he put his hand on my lap and, tearing my fire, again pointed to the blacksmith … The blacksmith used a big jambud tool like a flower to cut the leaves growing here and there, that Picked up the breast ripper and went to bite my right breast by pressing it in it…but it didn’t have edge, was stub and giving unbearable pain by pressing on the breasts Jailor from the other side hit my neck Holding on, he said, “If you fight again, these two balloons of yours will be separated from the chest…” He said again, hitting the pliers on my nose, “Thank our Queen Victoria that it is not with fire. Had it been heated with fire, then both your breasts would have been completely uprooted.

Azad Hind Fauj’s first spy:-
By the way, Pavitra Mohan Roy was the Chairman of the Intelligence Department of the Azad Hind Fauj, under which both women and men came under the Intelligence Department. But Neera Arya has the distinction of being the first spy of the Azad Hind Fauj. This responsibility was given to Neera by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose himself. Along with his companions Manvati Arya , Saraswati Rajamani and Durga MallaGorkha and young man Daniel Kale he also spied the British for Netaji. An excerpt from his autobiography related to espionage is as follows: I had another girl with me, Saraswati Rajamani. She was younger than me, who was originally from Burma and was born there. He and I were once assigned the task of spying on English officers. We girls adopted boys’ clothes and started working in the homes of British officers and in military camps. We gathered a lot of information for the Azad Hind Fauj. Our job was to keep our ears open, discuss the information gained with our colleagues, then pass it on to Netaji. Sometimes we used to carry important documents in our hands.

When all the girls were sent to spy, we were clearly told that if caught, we had to shoot ourselves. A girl missed doing so and was arrested alive. Due to this, danger started looming on all the colleagues and the organization. Me and Rajamani decided that we would rescue our partner. We dressed as eunuch dancers and reached the place where our companion Durga was being held captive. We fed the officers with drugs and ran away with our partner. Everything was fine till now, but while running, an accident happened, the bullet fired from the gun of one of the soldiers who were on guard, sunk into Rajamani’s right leg, leaving a fountain of blood. Somehow limping she climbed a tall tree with me and Durga. The search operation continued below, due to which we had to stay hungry and thirsty on the tree for three days. After three days we took courage and safely returned to the base of Azad Hind Fauj with our companions. The bullet in the leg for three days left Rajamani limp forever. Netaji was very happy with this bravery of Rajamani and he was given the rank of lieutenant in Rani Jhansi Brigade of INA and I was made Captain. I jokingly told Rajamani one day, ‘You have become lame, now who will marry you? So said, ‘There are thousands of children in Azad Hind, among them, one who will take bullets on the chest and on both the legs in the war and will pile up the enemies, I will do it with the same pair. Stop speaking!

Last days of life :-
She made a living by selling flowers in the last days of her life and lived in a hut in Falaknuma, Hyderabad. Their hut was also demolished at the last minute, as it was built on government land. In old age, he embraced death in the form of a poor, helpless, destitute, sick old woman on Sunday 26 July 1998 at Osmania Hospital near Charminar. Chaudhary Tejpal Singh Dhama, a journalist of the Hindi daily SwatantraVarta, who was involved with MF Hussain over the controversial painting of Bharat Mata, performed his last rites with his colleagues.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]