The glory of the revolutionaries who led the armed struggle for India's freedom was that they manifested manhood enough to confront the enemy head on. Passive resistance was tantamount to a compromise with the principles of freedom and sort of an acquiescence to the force of occupation that was the Raj.
The revolutionaries could not muster support enough for their cause and were more often than not betrayed from within which foiled most of their attempts to overthrow the Raj. The Ghadar Revolution was betrayed by Kripal Singh and the INA assault on British India was weakened terribly by the betrayal of the multiple agent Bhagatram Talwar, code-named 'Silver' by the British.
But the glory of the extreme revolutionaries was that they manfully struggled to free India against terrible odds and did not give in an inch to the colonial conqueror. This was in sharp contrast to the Gandhi brigade which was ever making compromises and adjustments with the British government.
There was, of course, a logic to it. The Gandhians, led by the Mahatma himself, believed in a gradual gaining of power from the colonists for they were unprepared for the burdens of governance of such a vast country all at once. That they were thus playing into the hands of heretical historical forces was not within their comprehension. What transpired, though, in the final analysis, disillusioned them about their achievements somewhat but could not convince them quite about the essential emptiness of their methods in a world ruled by mischievous realpolitik.
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
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