Captain Lakshmi Sehgal - first woman leader of the Azad Hind Sena.

23/7/2024,

Today is the death anniversary of Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, the first woman leader of the Azad Hind Sena.

She was an associate of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and a revolutionary in the Indian independence movement. He was born on October 24, 1914, in Chennai, to

 

Ammu and S. Swaminathan, the doctor. In the Madras High Court, his father practised law. His mother worked for Congress. Lakshmi went to the Congress session in Kolkata in 1928 with her mother. During the conference, two hundred volunteers participated in a military-style march led by Subhash Chandra Bose.

 

 Lakshmi was impressed by the military discipline of the parade.

Lakshmi actively participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930. He was then arrested. However, schools and colleges remained closed. He believed that education was essential for the freedom of the country. During his college days, he met B. K. N. Rao.

The marriage took place. However, they parted ways following ideological differences with Rao. He completed his MBBS at Madras Medical College in 1938. She completed her post-graduation in gynaecology and obstetrics in 1939. Lakshmi then worked briefly at the Kasturba Gandhi Government Hospital in Chennai. In 1940, at the suggestion of a classmate, she moved to Singapore, where she opened a clinic for migrant workers from India.

Subhas Chandra Bose visited Singapore on July 2, 1943. He wanted a separate women's wing in the Azad Hind sena. Responding to this call, Laxmi Azad joined the Indian Army and inspired many women to join her. Subhash Babu gave her the leadership of Rani Lakshmi Paltani in the army. Then, on October 21, 1943, Netaji announced the Azad Hind government, and Lakshmi was made Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Welfare. 

Within a year, a battalion of fifteen hundred, consisting of one thousand female soldiers and five hundred nurse soldiers, was formed. Under the guidance of the Japanese soldiers, along with learning the tactics of hand grenades and guerrilla poetry, these warriors left the British soldiers in the jungles of Burma. But in 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan and Japan surrendered, the Azad Hind sena had to retreat. 

By the end of the war, Captain Lakshmi had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He was arrested in Rangoon. He was released after India's independence.

She married Prem Kumar Sehgal, a colonel in the Indian National Army, in 1947. Colonel Sehgal settled in Kanpur, and Lakshmi resumed her medical practice. He provided free medical treatment to many refugees who were injured after the partition of India and Pakistan. 

He later joined the Communist Party of India. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1971. He set up camps in Kolkata for refugees after the Bangladesh war and also provided medical assistance. He also provided medical assistance to the victims of the Bhopal Air Disaster. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan. She lost the presidential election against Abdul Kalam. He died on July 23, 2012.