The nation observes 160th years of Mangal Pandey’s martyrdom on April 8. Born on July 19, 1827, Mangal Pandey, was a sepoy in the 34th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) of the English East India Company. The freedom fighter has entered in the Indian history books for his act of attacking British officers that triggered off the First War of Indian Independence or the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, termed by the British.
On March 1857, at Barrackpore near Kolkata, Pandey attacked British sergeant and injured an adjutant. He was later arrested for the attack and was sentenced to be hanged on April 8, 1857. It was revealed that the prime reason for Mangal Pandey’s attack was the introduction of bullet cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle. It was said that the cartridges were greased with animal –cow and pig –fats. The fat neither consumed by Hindu nor Muslims. While the Hindu and Muslims in the British army had to bite off the cartridges to remove the cover. It was also suspected that the British did it intentionally. Later Mangal Pandey’s behaviour was also suspected as whether to consider his act brave or not, as he attacked the officer under intoxication.
The Bollywood movie ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’, released in 2005, is based on the life of Mangal Pandey. The role of the martyr has been essayed by Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan. The movie has been directed by Ketan Mehta and also features Rani Mukherjee, Ameesha Patel and British actor Toby Stephens.
Watch the videos here:
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4NLqFQpWb0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGWWYliRu70[/youtube]
