Prayagraj ,The Sangam City extended a grand welcome to the NCC Cyclothon called ‘SANGRAM 1857’ Flagged off from Meerut on 01 Jan 2025, the 15-member team, including five girls is now in the final stages of its 17 days, 1900 Km journey. The team was flagged in by Air Cmde Manish Sinha at Air Force Station Bamrauli.
The team is covering an average of 112 Km each day, touching the flashpoints of the revolution of 1857. The rally would finish at Delhi with the flagging in by H’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the Republic Day celebrations. During its journey, it is highlighting the events and sacrifices of our ancestors and exhorting the youth to stand united and work towards building India a Super Power.
It may be recalled that prior to the arrival of British in 1608, India was administered as multiple kingdoms during the mid-1800s, the disenchantment against the British rule was at its peak. The primary contributing factors were high land revenues, anti-domestic industry policies and general apathy towards the soldiers. The final spark came in the form of the new rifles, the cartridge of which said to be coated with pig and cow fat, had to be bit open with the mouth. Severely hurt by this, Mangal Pandey assaulted his British Officer and was hanged after a brief eight-day trail.
Instant revolts broke out in practically all Military garrisons across the region, which were supported equally by the peasants and traders. The main epicenters were Meerut, Moradabad, Bareilly, Orai, Vanaras, Allahabad, Kanpur and Jhansi.
It took the British a year and half of a reign of terror to suppress the rebellion and win back the entire area. Notwithstanding the fate it met, it was the first instance when the masses rose together, paving the way for India’s eventual independence.
