A statue, a gate and nemesis at Lucknow –September 1857

A statue, a gate and nemesis at Lucknow –September 1857 lest we forget 25th September 1857 During the 1960s, there was a movement to remove statues of British from public places, but much before that during British time in the 1920s a statue created so much ire that an agitation was launched for its removal. It was situated at Mount Road (now Anna Salai) in Madras. The year was 1927 and a series of demonstrations spread all over Madras presidency, led by S.N. Somayajulu and K. Kamaraj. In Madurai, agitation was spearheaded by a female freedom fighter Padmasani Ammal. She pledged her jewellery to meet the expenses of those who were travelling to Madras for Satyagraha. Among those arrested included Ammapon alias Leelavathi. 11 years old. This was a 10-foot bronze statue perched on a 12-foot pedestal near the Spencer building on Mount Road. It was erected in 1861 to honour a General of Madras Fusiliers. The British treated him as a martyr who quelled the 1857 mutiny, but for the agitators, it was a badge of shame, a constant reminder of colonial brutality. A decade before the independence, in 1937, when Rajaji became premier of the provincial govt., the statue was removed. The statue was of General Neil who was described by many as ‘butcher of Allahabad’. Neill, born near Dalry, Scotland and educated at the University of Glasgow, joined the service of the British East India Company in 1827. He was in the second Burmese War and the Crimean war. Six weeks after his arrival in India Mutiny started and Madras Fusiliers was asked to go north and reached Banaras on 3rd June, 1857. At Allahabad, many Europeans were holed up in a fort fighting against the rebels. General Neill arrived on 9th June and immediately ordered the hanging of those mutineers. Neil and his troops, from June 6 to June 15, hanged indiscriminately, people from trees to create terror. There are many stories of his wanton brutality in Kanpur to avenge Bibighar's killings. He marched as a part of Havelock’s army to Lucknow in September. He had some serious differences with his Commander, Havelock. After crossing the Charbagh bridge on 25th September, overcoming fierce resistance and suffering huge losses, British forces moved ahead towards Kaisarbagh. But Lucknow has stood as one man, against the advancing army. Many pamphlets were issued on how to fight the invading army, and a few lines from one such are quoted below verbatim. “The sepoys, the nobles, the shopkeepers, the oil men, etc. and all other people of the city, being of one accord, should make a simultaneous attack upon them, some of them should kill them by firing guns, pistols, and carbines and with swords, arrows, daggers, etc. some of them lift on the spears, some dexterously snatch their arms and destroy the enemy, some should cling to their necks, some to their waists, some should wrestle and through stratagem break the enemy to pieces, some should strike them with cudgels, some throw dust in their eyes, some should beat them with the shoes, some attack them with their fists,…In short, no one should spare any efforts to destroy the enemy. “ ‘Freedom struggle in Uttar Pradesh’ (edited by Rizvi and Bhargava). suggests that this pamphlet was circulated before the advance of Havelock’s forces. There was fierce resistance, and when Neil was advancing. Located north of the Telegraph Office within the Residency complex, Sher Darwaza was the gateway to the Kaiserbagh palace. This gateway "was the scene of the battle during the struggle of 1857 and on 26th September of that year a shot was fired from the top of this gateway mortally wounded General Neill who was heading the first Relief Column to Lucknow. At the spot where General Neill fell stands a small monument with his name." (The Lucknow album: by Darogha Abbas Ali,1874), There are many versions about who and how Neil was killed, in a battle it is hard to know, maybe we can attribute it to some unknown defender of the Lucknow who avenged hundreds of hangings. The Gate was and is still popularly called Neil Gate, And Neil was not the only one for whom Lucknow proved to be a nemesis. Hodson who personally executed two of Bahadur Shah Zafar's sons in the recapture of Delhi was avenged in the storming of the Begum Kothi (now Janpath) and is buried at La Marts. Neil’s gate is on a busy road, but no guide takes any curious visitor, nor is there any sign to tell us about that fierce battle. Incidentally, if one google, one can still look at Neil’s Lines (cantonment) in Lucknow. But more interesting is that in the UK there is a crowdsourced map, ‘Topple the Racists’ (A crowdsourced map of UK statues and monuments that celebrate slavery and racism) and it does include a statue of Neil at his birthplace, Ayr. I am sharing a link, https://francescobonfanti88.medium.com/the-butcher-of... and https://www.toppletheracists.org/ Pic 1. Neil’s Gate- 1874- Lucknow Album Pic 2. Neil’s gate Now