“She didn’t carry a gun. She carried the flag. And when she was shot, she didn’t let it fall.”
🧓🏼 A Name You Probably Never Heard in School
Born in 1870 in a small village of Tamluk, Bengal, Matangini Hazra was a widow at 18, uneducated, and belonged to a poor farming family.
But by the time she was in her 60s, she had become a fiery symbol of courage in British India’s Quit India Movement.
🔥 What Made Her a Legend?
In 1942, during the peak of the Quit India Movement, a 73-year-old Matangini led a non-violent protest of over 6,000 people, including many women.
As they marched to hoist the tricolour at the Tamluk police station, British soldiers opened fire.
She was hit once.
Then twice.
Then a third time.
But she didn’t stop.
Bleeding, stumbling, holding the flag high, she kept shouting:
“Vande Mataram! Vande Mataram!”
Even in death, she never let the flag fall.
💔 Why Her Story Was Buried
- She had no political post.
- She wasn’t from an elite family.
- She didn’t give speeches — she gave her life.
Like many grassroots revolutionaries, her sacrifice was swallowed by time, even though she gave everything.
🙏 A Nation’s Quiet Salute
- The Tamluk subdivision in West Bengal was later renamed “Matangini Hazra Block”.
- Her statue stands at Kolkata Maidan, one of the few statues of a woman freedom fighter in India.
- Yet, few know her name. Even fewer know her story.
🧠 What We Can Learn
- Age is not a limit when your courage is young.
- You don’t need a title to serve your country.
- True patriotism has no stage—only sacrifice.
✍️ From Abhijaano
The freedom we enjoy today is stitched with the blood of those whose names never made the syllabus.
Matangini Hazra was one of them — a quiet storm that shook the Empire.
We write about her because her story deserves light. Her courage deserves memory.
Let’s remember not just those who ruled the movement, but also those who bled in silence.
📣 Share this story. Talk about her.
Let’s not let Matangini Didi be forgotten.
~ Team Abhijaano