Celebrating unsung freedom fighters: Author P Sainath on new book

The book chronicles the roles of 15 people in the country’s freedom struggle

Twenty-five years after publishing Everybody Loves a Good Drought, P Sainath has come out with his new book, The Last Heroes in November, whose promo event was held at Blossoms Book House on Sunday.

Sainath took the stage to explain the multiple perspectives the book offers.

The Last Heroes chronicles the roles of 15 people in the country’s freedom struggle. Stories are mainly drawn from the south, east, west, and northwest regions. Sainath says the book is inclusive in nature.

“The history books we read at school depict the freedom struggle was entirely fought in the north, and other parts are highly neglected,” Sainath told DH.

“Prominent people like Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Doreswamy are less known because the history books neglect the struggle from the south,” he said.

“Contrary to this, the last heroes bring forth the stories from all parts of the country,” he added.

Read | 'If you do challenging journalism, you will be challenged', says Sainath

Explaining the inclusivity of women, Sainath said: “There’s a story (in the book) of a woman called Bhabani Mahato that explains how we are conditioned to neglect the efforts put in by women in the freedom struggle.”

Celebrating 75th year

When Sainath spoke about the book at the Bangalore Literature Festival, the moderator commented that it is a perfect celebration of the 75th year of India’s independence.

Speaking on the same lines at Blossoms, Sainath said people who used the word ‘azadi’ from the tagline ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ in the government’s website are put behind bars.

The website doesn’t have a small paragraph about the freedom struggle or a single picture of any freedom fighter.

“Instead, we know whose picture we have. The Indian flag is brought down to mourn the death of a queen of a country due to which India suffered. Is this the way to celebrate the 75th year of Independence?” he asked.