In two Greater Noida villages, stories of freedom fighters live on
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In Kanarsi, the day begins with children garlanding a memorial plaque outside the primary school. It bears the name of the late Chandu Singh, who, in 1942, joined Azad Hind Fauj under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
"He left home in 1940 because he could not bear to see the country in chains," said Chandu Singh's son, Bijendra Singh Nagar. "He didn't tell anyone. One day, he was just gone."
He fought in the Malaya Peninsula, Singapore and Burma, alongside Japanese forces, until the war's tides shifted in 1945.
By Aug 1945, Japanese surrender and Germany's collapse had left INA stranded. "He told us later how they scavenged for food in the jungles of Burma, trying to avoid both the British and hostile terrain," recalled Bijendra. Eventually captured and held as a prisoner of war, Chandu Singh returned to Kanarsi only two years after Independence.
"When my father walked back into the village, everyone thought they were seeing a ghost," said Bijendra, smiling.
"For us, it was like a miracle."
Recognised by then PM Indira Gandhi with a copper plate in 1972, Chandu Singh remained a local hero until his death on Aug 15, 1999, at the age of 86. "He only spoke about one thing — patriotism," said grandson Rohtash Nagar. "He wanted every child here to know what the freedom struggle meant."
In May this year, Chandu Singh's wife, Vidya Devi, passed away at the age of 108. Several local netas, including Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, went to their home to pay their respects.
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In Junaidpur, 15km away, another story will be told — one set nearly a century earlier, during the uprising of 1857. Villagers will gather at Shaheed Dariyav Singh Nagar Chowk, named after a man they call a fearless revolutionary.
"The British feared him so much they avoided these parts," said villager Dinesh Nagar, who says he is a descendant of the freedom fighter.
On May 12, 1857, under the leadership of Raja Rao Umrao Singh of Dadri, Dariyav Singh joined others in attacking Secunderabad tehsil, seizing British weapons and the treasury.
According to local accounts, Dariyav Singh confronted British soldiers who were using bulls to plough fields. He forced them to do the work themselves, a symbolic act of defiance meant to remind them that "this was our land, not theirs", according to Mahesh Nagar, another villager.
On May 14, Dariyav Singh, along with over 40 others, was captured by the British for this defiance and was hanged at Kale Aam in Bulandshahr. "Our elders say he went to the gallows without fear," said 70-year-old villager Surajpal. "He told the people to keep fighting, even if he could not."
Every year, Junaidpur marks his martyrdom on May 14 with garlands, wrestling bouts and a communal feast. "We do this so his name is never forgotten," said Dinesh. "History books may skip him, but here, his story lives on."
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