Sri Dev Suman
Sri Dev Suman (25 May 1916 – 25 July 1944) was a social activist from Tehri District of Uttarakhand. He was born at Jaul village patti Bamund of Tehri Garhwal. His father was a doctor and his mother a housewife.
When the whole of India was fighting to be free from rule from the British government, Suman was advocating that Tehri Riyasat be free of the rule of King of Garhwal. He was a great fan of Gandhi and used the nonviolence way for the freedom of Tehri. [1]
During his fight with the King of Tehri called as Bolanda Badri (speaking Badrinath), he demanded complete independence for Tehri.
On 30 December 1943, he was declared a rebel and arrested by Tehri kingdom. In jail, Suman was tortured, very heavy cuffs was given to him, pieces of stone were mixed with his food, sand mixed roti was given to him, and many more tortures were applied by the jailer Mohan Singh and other staff. Then he decided to go on hunger strike. Jail staff tried to give him food and water forcibly, with no success. After being in prison for 209 days, and on hunger strike for 84 days, Sri Dev Suman died[2] on 25 July 1944[3]
His dead body was thrown into the Bhilangna River without a funeral.[4][5][6]
References
- Weber, Thomas (2004). Gandhi as disciple and mentor. Cambridge University Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-521-84230-3.
- Kumar, Pradeep (2000). The Uttarakhand movement: construction of a regional identity. Kanishka Publishers. p. 53. ISBN 978-81-7391-357-0.
- "Sri Dev Suman: The Hero of Garhwal". The Indian Hawk. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- http://aajkapahad.blogspot.com/2009/02/sri-dev-suman.html
- http://www.nainitalsamachar.in/tag/sri-dev-suman/
- ISBN 8173871345