Five years before the country’s independence, the people of Ballia had declared themselves independent on August 19, 1942 by breaking the chains of the British rule. By implementing its own governance, it was named Independent Ballia Democracy and the headquarter was opened in Hanumanganj Kothi. Chittu Pandey also ran the government here till 22 August 1942. On the night of 23 August, the British captured it again.
Under the leadership of Sher-e-Ballia Chittu Pandey, the jailed fighters freed themselves by breaking the gate and occupied the chair of the District Magistrate and nominated themselves as Collector. The echo of Ballia’s independence echoed till London. 84 people were martyred in this battle. After this freedom struggle, the whole country got strength.
The entire district celebrates the said freedom as Ballia Sacrifice Day every year on 19th August by remembering the freedom fighters who lost their lives in the said movement. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had come last year. He had promised to cherish the district jail in the memory of the fighters.
The spark that erupted from August 9 shook the British rule
After the arrest of Gandhiji and Nehru during the freedom struggle, the district administration arrested Chittu Pandey along with his comrades Jagannath Singh and Parmatmanand Singh. The people of Ballia were upset due to this. Meanwhile, on August 9, 1942, along with Gandhi and Nehru, all the members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested and sent to an unknown place and from this day the spark of the movement flared up.
Demonstrations and strikes started at every major revolutionary places of the district. People got involved in the work of cutting wires, uprooting railway lines, breaking bridges, cutting roads, attacking police stations and government offices and hoisting the national flag on them. On August 14, the Azad train of university students from Varanasi Cantt reached Ballia station. As soon as the news of this came, the students of all the schools left the classes and joined the movement. This created a wave of enthusiasm among the public.
15 police stations were attacked simultaneously
A secret meeting took place on 15th August in Pandeypur village. In it, it was decided that Ballia would be attacked on August 19 by capturing tehsils and important places of the district by August 17 and 18. On the morning of August 17, people stormed and captured Rasda Bairiya, Gadwar, Sikandarpur, Haldharpur, Nagra, Ubhaon etc. places. Gave. By August 18, the agitators attacked 15 police stations and completely burnt eight police stations. Many railway stations were burnt. Rail tracks were uprooted at hundreds of places. 18 policemen were killed. Their weapons were taken away.
Freedom fighters martyred during the movement
After capturing all the tehsils of Ballia district, the public reached the district headquarters Ballia on 19th August. Outside the jail, about 50 thousand people were demanding the release of their leader Chittu Pandey and his companions by filling their hands with plough, pestle, spade, shovel, hasua, slingshot, meta with snakes and scorpions. Seeing the crowd of people, the then District Magistrate Jagdishwar Nigam and SP Riyazuddin had to come on the spot and both the officers went inside the jail and talked to the agitators. After this, 150 Satyagrahis including Chittu Pandey along with Radha Mohan Singh, Vishwanath Choubey, Jagannath Singh were released. All the government institutions in the district were guarded by the national government. All the government employees were locked in the police line.
