1. India is country with rich heritage.
2. Our country’s history is full of folklores and marked by events that changed the course of history.
3. But no occasion is more momentous than the day we got independence from British.
4. 15 August 1947 is the most important date in the history of India.
5. This was the day we regained not only our freedom but our identity as well.
6. The East India Company landed on the shores of India in the 17th century under the pretense of trade with Indian merchants.
7. What began as a trade soon became an invasion and before anybody could realize India became a colony of Britain.
8. The East India Company deployed divide and rule policy to undermine the unity of Indian states.
9. The infighting between Indian states was unduly exploited by the company.
10. While the princely states were engaged in fighting with each other, the company slowly and gradually gained control over smaller provinces and critical administrative functions of the country.
11. Once the company monopolized administrative functions it was a matter of time that the whole country became their property.
12. The company ruled over India for 200 years without any real resistance because they managed to manipulate the rulers of several Indian states for their own benefits.
13. But in 1857 the mutiny against British rule was ignited by a small yet a highly significant event in the context of India’s fight for freedom.
14. A small group of traders were forced by the company’s merchants to use bullet covers that were made from animal skin.
15. Since it was against their religious belief so they were resisted it which led to a skirmish between the traders and British soldiers.
16. After this event the fight for freedom gained the impetus which it lacked before.
17. In the following years many prominent leaders emerged and led this movement for freedom.
18. Like other revolutions, India’s revolution was also marked with some extremely gory events in which many people sacrificed their lives for this cause.
19. On the other end of the spectrum there were legends like Mahatma Gandhi who believed in the concept of non-violence and fought this was with unwavering faith in this concept.
20. Finally on 15 August 1947 British agreed to relinquish control over India.
21. On the eve of this day our first Prime Minister Jawarlal Nehru gave a speech which became a stuff of legends.
22. Every year we celebrate this day with supreme pride and in the memory of those who laid down their lives for the freedom of the posterity.