->Pranesh Ravikumar at 10:57, 11 January 2022

2022-01-11T10:57:29Z

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{{Short description|Indian female freedom fighter}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Durgavati Devi
|image=
| caption =
|birth_date={{birth date|1907|10|07|df=yes}}
|birth_place=
|death_date={{death date and age|1999|10|15|1907|10|07|df=yes}}
|death_place=[[Ghaziabad district, India|Ghaziabad]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India
|movement=[[Indian independence movement]]
|organization=[[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]], [[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]]
|spouse = [[Bhagwati Charan Vohra]]
|children= Sachindra Vohra
}}

'''Durgavati Devi''' popularly known as '<nowiki/>'''Durga Bhabhi'''' (7 October 1907 – 15 October 1999) was an Indian revolutionary and a freedom fighter. She was one of the few women revolutionaries who actively participated in armed revolution against the ruling [[British Raj]]. She is best known for having accompanied [[Bhagat Singh]] on the train journey in which he made his escape in disguise after the [[Bhagat Singh#Lala Lajpat Rai's death and killing of Saunders|Saunders killing]].<ref name="tribuneindia1999">{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99nov14/sunday/head3.htm |title=The Tribune...Sunday Reading |publisher=Tribuneindia.com |date= |accessdate=9 November 2012}}</ref> Since she was the wife of [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] (HSRA) member [[Bhagwati Charan Vohra]], other members of HSRA referred to her as ''Bhabhi'' (elder brother's wife) and became popular as "Durga Bhabhi" in Indian revolutionary circles.

==Life==
She was born into [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] [[Brahmin]] family in [[Allahabad]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maclean|first=Kama|title=Freedom files: The secret life of Durga Devi Vohra|url=http://scroll.in/article/805597/freedom-files-the-secret-life-of-durga-devi-vohra|access-date=2022-01-11|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref>Durgavati Devi was married to Bhagwati Charan Vohra when she was eleven.

She was an active member of the [[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]], Devi came into prominence when the Sabha decided to observe the 11th anniversary of [[Kartar Singh Sarabha]]’s martyrdom on 16 November 1926 in Lahore. Devi was instrumental in helping [[Bhagat Singh]] and [[Shivaram Rajguru]] escape after the killing of J. P. Saunders.

She led the funeral procession of [[Jatindra Nath Das]] from Lahore to Calcutta after his death in a 63-day jail hunger strike. All along the way, huge crowds joined the funeral procession.<ref name="tribuneindia1999"/>

==Revolutionary activities==
After Bhagat Singh surrendered himself for the 1929 Assembly bomb throwing incident, Durgawati Devi attempted to assassinate Lord Hailey; he escaped, but many of his associates died. She was caught by the police and imprisoned for three years. She had also sold her ornaments worth [[Rupee|Rs]]. 3,000 to rescue Bhagat Singh and his comrades under trial.<ref name=children>{{cite web |title=Children of Midnight Durgawati Devi: The Fearless Lady!|url=http://youngbites.com/newsdet.aspx?q=223303 |website=YoungBites |publisher=Major Kulbir Singh|date=11 January 2018|accessdate=19 June 2019}}</ref>

Devi, along with her husband, helped Vimal Prasad Jain, an HSRA member, in running a bomb factory named 'Himalayan Toilets' (a smokescreen to hide the agenda of making bombs) at Qutub Road, [[Delhi]]. In this factory, they handled [[picric acid]], [[nitroglycerine]] and [[fulminate of mercury]].<ref name=children/>

Two days after killing Saunders, on 19 December 1928, Sukhdev called on Devi for help, which she agreed to do. They decided to catch the train departing from Lahore for [[Bathinda]] ''en route'' to [[Howrah]] ([[Calcutta]]) early the next morning. She posed as the wife of Bhagat Singh and put her son Sachin in his lap while [[Shivaram Rajguru|Rajguru]] carried their luggage as their servant. To avoid recognition, Singh had shaved off his beard and cut his hair short the previous day and dressed in Western attire. In fact, when Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev came to her house on the night of 19 December 1928, Sukhdev introduced Bhagat Singh as a new friend. Devi could not recognise Bhagat Singh at all. Then Sukhdev told Devi the truth and said that if Devi could not recognise Bhagat Singh in his changed clean-shaved appearance despite knowing him well, surely the police would not recognise him as they would be looking for a bearded Sikh.<ref name=children/>

They left the house early the next morning. At the station, Bhagat Singh, with his concealed identity, bought three tickets to Cawnpore ([[Kanpur]]) — two first-class tickets for Devi and himself and a third class one for Rajguru. Both men had loaded revolvers with them to deal with any unanticipated incident. They avoided raising the suspicions of the police and boarded the train. Breaking the journey at Kanpur, they boarded a train for [[Lucknow]] since the CID at Howrah railway station usually scrutinised passengers on the direct train from [[Lahore]]. At Lucknow, Rajguru left separately for [[Varanasi|Benares]] while Bhagat Singh, Devi and the infant went to Howrah. Devi returned to Lahore a few days later with her infant child.<ref>{{cite book |title=Revolutionaries and the British Raj |first=S. R. |last=Bakshi |publisher=Atlantic Publishers |year=1988 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_rWWDEgIQMC&pg=PA61}}</ref>

==Later life==
[[File:Durgawati_Devi.jpg|thumb|Durgawati Devi]]
Unlike other freedom fighters, after Indian independence, Durga started living as a common citizen in quiet anonymity and exclusion in [[Ghaziabad district, India|Ghaziabad]]. She later opened a school for poor children in [[Lucknow]].

Durgawati Devi died in Ghaziabad on 15 October 1999 at the age of 92.<ref name="tribuneindia1999"/>

A small reference to her character was seen in [[Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra]]’s 2006 film ''[[Rang De Basanti]]'', where [[Soha Ali Khan]] played her part.<ref name=children/>

The seventh episode of the 2014 Indian [[Epic TV]] anthology television series, ''[[Adrishya]]'', is about Durgawati.

==See also==
*[[Ram Prasad Bismil]]
*[[Kakori Train Robbery]]
*[[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]
*[[Manmath Nath Gupta]]
*[[Delhi Conspiracy Commission]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?choice=co_patriots_details&Person_ID=10|title=Shaheed Bhagwati Charan Vohra|work=shahidbhagatsingh.org|accessdate=2 November 2012}}

{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Durgawati}}
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]]
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh]]

Durgawati Devi - Revision history

->Pranesh Ravikumar at 10:57, 11 January 2022