Great Freedom-fighters

This Pancharatna series of Amar Chitra Katha comics features five legendary figures from India’s freedom movement. They are: Lokmanya Tilak ; Mahatma Gandhi ; Veer Savarkar ; Subhas Chandra Bose; and Bhagat Singh.
The 1857 War of Independence ended in disaster; the British succeeded in putting down the uprising and the people of India accepted British rule as a fact of life.

It was at this critical juncture that Lokamanya Tilak dedicated himself to the cause of the nation with the avowed object of throwing off the British yoke. “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it” – this was the inspiring message Tilak gave to his countrymen.

The role of Mahatma Gandhi in the shaping of this nation can be gauged from the fact that he has been referred to as the Father of the Nation. He has been the only politician in modern history who strove to rule not men but the hearts of men.
The story of Veer Savarkar tells us the hardships Indian revolutionaries had to suffer and the sacrifices they had to make for their country’s freedom.

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose stands out as a dynamic, restless force in an ear which had chosen the path of Gandhi, the path of peace and non-violent non-cooperation. Bengal chose to voice its protest militantly and Subash Chandra Bose’s stirring victory slogan, ‘Jai Hind”, drew India into one united whole.

Bhagat Singh is perhaps the most celebrated revolutionary of India. Bhagat Singh and his comrades were not bloodthirsty, trigger-happy terrorists. They were waging a war against a relentless colonial power. They compelled the British authorities to sit up and take note of the deep unrest prevailing in the country.