Dharam Kumar Singh was 10 when the Quit India Movement swept across the country in 1942. His grandfather, father and uncles were deeply involved in mobilising people against the British in Shivli and Rasoolabad regions, then part of Kanpur. “When the authorities failed to trace my father and others, our entire family was placed under house arrest,” he said.At that time, bands of children aiding the freedom movement were popularly called the Vanar Sena. “I was part of one such group in my village. Our role was to raise patriotic slogans, distribute pamphlets, paste posters, and carry food to revolutionaries in hiding, including my father, all while evading British spies,” he said. Eventually, the chowkidar of the village, Tendi Khurd in Shivli, alerted the police. “I too was placed under house arrest, along with my siblings, for over three months,” he added.The vision of independent India that Singh had cherished, however, remains unfulfilled, he claimed. “Crime has risen sharply, and corruption has reached alarming levels. Although we have made remarkable economic progress, crime and corruption have also grown alongside it.”
