Ballia Collector Office
Every year in the month of August when the whole country is celebrating independence, the people of Ballia are still seen lost in their fun. In this fun the people of Ballia misunderstood one of Gandhi’s appeals. Its result was seen not only by the whole country but also by the British government in the form of the August Revolution. With the start of this revolution in Ballia, Ballia became independent in the year 1942 itself. This unplanned incident shocked the British. The result was that the British put the rebel label on the district’s name. Even today, instead of the name Ballia, the word Bagi Ballia is found in gazetteers.
Due to this rebellious attitude of the people of Ballia, the district came to be known as the ‘Land of Braves, Land of Soldiers, Rebel Ballia Uttar Pradesh’ in the 70s. Today we are going to discuss the same incident and fun of Ballia. In fact, the rebellious attitude of Balia, the land of sages, is no more today. Millions of years ago, when Lord Rama of Ayodhya performed Ashwamedha, he abandoned the Yagya horse. This horse wandered into the Doaba of Bali. Lord Rama’s own sons Lav and Kush, who lived in Maharishi Valmiki’s ashram here, captured this horse and declared war against Ayodhya. This is the first example of Balia rebellion in religious texts.
Bhrigu Rishi kicked Narayana on his chest.
Bhrigu Rishi gives another example of the rebellious attitude of this soil. When the gods had to decide who was the best among Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, Balia’s own son Bhrigu Rishi was sent to test him. At that time sage Bhrigu kicked Lord Narayana on his chest. That’s all about the scriptures, now let’s come to the history of modern India. In 1857, the Meerut Revolution was carried out by Balia’s brave son Mangal Pandey. After this, in Ballia, Babu Jagannath Singh announced the mutiny by tying the crown of a British prince to his boot lace. Be it the non-cooperation movement or the flag satyagraha and the civil disobedience movement, the people of Ballia found themselves at the forefront everywhere.
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The people of Ballia could not understand the meaning of Gandhiji’s slogan.
In this order, it was the day of 8 August 1942. Mahatma Gandhi raised the slogan of Karo Ya Maro in the rally in Mumbai. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel were also there at that time. As soon as they raised these slogans, the British government arrested all of them. At that time only two people had radio license in Ballia. The news was broadcast on this radio on the night of 8th August and by the morning of 9th August the news spread all over Ballia. The people of Ballia did not understand what Gandhiji meant by do or die. While they were trying to find the meaning of this slogan, the news of Gandhiji’s arrest came and the people of Ballia decided to fight together.
Women came out for freedom with brooms and rolling pins
On the next day i.e. 10th August, as soon as the sun rose, chants of Bharat Mata Ki Jai started echoing all over Ballia. Not only the city, people from far-flung villages started marching towards the district headquarters with sticks, spears and sickles. The women here came out with a broom and a rolling pin in hand. These groups had no leader. There was no plan. However, when the group reached the Collector’s office on the morning of 11th August, the condition of the then Collector Jagadishwar Nigam was dire. He immediately informed the British government about the situation. At that time many people were arrested and tortured by the British.
Collector Jagadishwar Nigam got scared and left his chair
In this anger, the people of Ballia occupied the railway station and the post office and hoisted the tricolor. After this, advancing, they uprooted the English flag from the town hall and trampled it under foot. Meanwhile, a train coming from Lucknow reached Ballia station. At that time, students set fire to the station and captured this train and ran it to Lucknow in the name of Azad Express. Then came the date of 19th August. On that day the people of Ballia were ready for the final and decisive battle. When the collector got wind of this, his pants got wet and he immediately got out of the chair. After this Chittu Pandey sat on Balia’s chair. Thus, Ballia was the first district in the country to become independent on 19 August 1942.
