AN UNSUNG HERO NEERA ARYA-1 STORY

WHO IS NEERA ARYA?

Neera Arya was a brave freedom fighter who was born in March 1902, in the then ‘United Provinces’ (now Uttar Pradesh) Khekra Nagar to Seth Chhajoomal, an eminent businessman.

Neera Arya was an unforgettable champion, soldier of the Rani Jhansi Regiment in the Azad Hind Fauj, who was designated as being secretive by the British governments.

She had known a few languages such as Bengali, Hindi along with English during that time. Since her childhood she was encouraged to get freedom from Britishers, also she was truly patriotic and her loyalty towards the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and her country was immense.

WHY NEERA ARYA KILLED HER HUSBAND?

Her father (Seth chhajoomal) married her to an Investigation officer “Shrikant Jairanjan Das” working as a spy (CID) for the British government.

Her husband doubted Neera then he started Neera Arya’s spying. In this time her husband quickly found the whereabouts of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Srikant fired on Netaji with his bullets which hit Subhash Chandra Bose driver and Netaji ran away and saved. She was a true nationalist, she saved Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s life by killing her husband. She was sentenced to black water for the murder of her husband.

WHY HER BREAST WAS CUT OFF?

Neera Arya was tortured every single day during her life imprisonment in Andaman (Kala Pani).
She had shared one painful part of her story in the course of her prison.

She was on an unidentified island in the middle of the sea thinking about How she would take part in the freedom movement now?

There were other women indistinguishable as her, who were also political prisoners serving their punishment because they raised their voices against British rule.

She kept sleeping on the ground regardless of the heavy cold for months she did not ask for any blanket.

It was midnight, ultimately, two guards came to her compartment and they had thrown blankets on her. She felt bad about it. Finally, she was relaxed, because she had got the blanket in cold. But still, she was anxious because she was tied with a hard iron chain around her neck, hand, and legs.

The next day, a blacksmith came into her compartments. He started cutting off the chains of her hand. He had cut some flesh off her hand. She had ignored that, he had hit her bones 2–3 times with a hefty hammer when he started cutting off the shackles from her legs.
She sighed and grieved because of pain and said to him.
Are you blind you hit my legs 2–3 times?

She was full of a lot of pain as she was hit by that hammer.
The blacksmith said that you cannot do anything if I hit on your heart.
She knew that she was a slave there. They can do and behave in any way, whatever they liked. She was angry and in rage, she spat on him, and said to him “learn to respect women.”

The jailer came near to her, watching everything about the event, and asked.
If you could tell us the whereabouts of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, we will let you go.
So she replied, he died in a plane crash and everybody knows this. The jailer responded that Neera is lying, and he is still alive.
Then jailer again asked her that this is the last time I am asking you,
Where is he?
Neera Arya angrily replied he is in my heart, in my mind.
Jailer fiercely said. “If Subhash Chandra Ji lives inside her heart, then get him out from there.’’

The jailer touched her improperly and tore all the clothes and implied to the blacksmith about her breast.
The blacksmith instantly pressing her right breast with the breast ripper to cut it off, the pain had crossed all its limits.
The jailer held her neck and said if she ever argues with anyone. He will take off another balloon from her breast.

The jailer furthermore hit her with a tweezer that was lying down there and said be thankful to our Queen Victoria that this breast ripper was not warmed up.

NEERA ARYA’S LAST MOMENT

However, she has contributed towards the freedom of our country, she has not been recognized as she should be. After independence, she lived by selling flowers in Hyderabad and she left the world on 26 July 1998. The majority of our people are unaware of her efforts to get freedom. Let’s be generous in acknowledging her extreme sacrifice.