Lakshmi Sahgal

Lakshmi Sahgal (; née Swaminathan; 24 October 1914 – 23 July 2012) was an Indian politician and activist. She was a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army (INA), and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind Government. She is commonly referred to in India as Captain Lakshmi, a reference to her participation in the INA's Rani Jhansi Regiment during the Second World War. A prominent member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), she was a founding member of the All India Democratic Women's Association. In 1998, Sahgal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award. Following this, in the 2002 Indian presidential election, she was nominated as the presidential candidate opposite A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. A medical doctor by profession, she practiced till her death in Kanpur in 2012.

Early life

Lakshmi Swaminathan was born on 24 October 1914 to S. Swaminathan, a lawyer who practiced criminal law at Madras High Court, and A.V. Ammukutty, better known as Ammu Swaminathan, a social worker and independence activist from an aristocratic Nair family known as "Vadakkath" family of Anakkara, Ponnani taluk, Malabar District, British India. and the younger sister of Govind Swaminadhan. and later chose to study medicine and received an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College in 1938. A year later, she received her diploma in gynaecology and obstetrics. She worked as a doctor in the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital located at Triplicane Chennai. In June 1940, she left for Singapore after the failure of her marriage to pilot P. K. N. Rao During her stay at Singapore, she met some members of Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army.

It was then that Subhash Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on 2 July 1943, and reorganized the movement. Lakshmi Sahgal wrote later,

Sahgal was able to convince INA members to arrange a private meeting with Bose. After speaking for over five hours, Bose gave her six days to rally the women. She then rallied 6000 women in Singapore. Bose addressed them in Hindustani and she translated his speech into Tamil or Malayalam for them. At the end of the speech, when he asked for volunteers, they all rushed forward to show their support. The Rani Jhasi Regiment was formed on the next day under Sahgal's leadership. She then came to be known as "Captain Lakshmi", even though her rank in the INA was Lieutenant Colonel.

Captain Lakshmi was the Minister in Charge of Women's Organization in the Provisional Government of Free India led by Subash Chandra Bose in Singapore. She thus became the first female presidential candidate in India.

Personal life

Lakshmi married Prem Kumar Sahgal in March 1947 in Lahore. After their marriage, they settled in Kanpur, where she continued with her medical practice and aided the refugees who were arriving in large numbers following the Partition of India. The filmmaker Shaad Ali is her grandson.

Lakshmi published an autobiography, A Revolutionary Life: Memoirs of a Political Activist. Her body was donated to Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College for medical research.

Awards

In 1998, Sahgal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by Indian president K. R. Narayanan. In 2010, she was bestowed with honorary doctorate by University of Calicut.

In popular culture

Rajeshwari Sachdev played the role of Captain Sahgal in 2004 film Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero. Shruthi Seth played the role of Sahgal in 2020 Amazon Prime Video series The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye.

She also appears as a character in the grand strategy game Hearts of Iron: 4.

References

External links

The Pioneers: The Pioneers: Dr. Lakshmi Sehgal
Indian Express Interview: Despite differences, India is one: Captain Laxmi Sehgal
Freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sahgal dies , NDTV
Captain Lakshmi, The Economist, 4 August 2012