When LU Profs united with students to stand tall against the British
Lucknow University
, history was not merely studied; it was written on the streets, in the classrooms, and even in the hearts of those who once wore the mantle of authority.
The university's nationalist spirit surged during the
Quit India Movement
of 1942.
Students launched a rally from the Union Bhawan, chanting slogans of freedom as they marched towards the district magistrate's residence. Upon reaching Monkey Bridge (now Hanuman Setu Mandir Bridge), tensions soared.
But courageous Col. Strand, a European professor of mathematics, along with Indian professors — Birbal Sahni, NK Siddhant and Radha Kamal Mukherjee, stood with the students, physically and symbolically, refusing to let the colonial police break the peaceful protest.
Equally extraordinary was the action of Lt Col Raja Bisheshwar Dayal Seth, the then LU vice-chancellor, who not only left his office to march alongside the students but also barred British police from entering the campus.
"This was not a time for silence. When a European professor like Col. Strand risked his position to stand with Indian students, it shattered the illusion that the empire's academics were all loyal to its cause.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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And when Vice-Chancellor Seth arrived with other Indian professors at the protest site, it was not just symbolic; it was a direct act of defiance against colonial authority. That single act told the students they were not alone in the fight against the British Raj.
This event is part of the oral history of LU," said former head of the Department of Medieval and Modern Indian History, Aroop Chakravarti.
In that moment, the lines between teacher and student, lecture hall and protest ground dissolved, and the British police were confronted by a wall of united moral will and forced to retreat.
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