Lakshmi Sahgal, born on 24th October, 1914 in Madras was a freedom fighter, social activist and the first woman commander of Indian National Army. Lakshmi was inspired by the progressive views of her mother and spoke against the caste practices in Kerala. After an unsuccessful marriage at a young age with a pilot, P.K.N Rao, she returned to her hometown and resumed her studies.
She moved to Singapore and established a clinic for the poor and migrant workers from India. She was also closely associated with the India Independence League. In 1942, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Dr. Lakshmi provided medical aid to the prisoners of war
Dr. Lakshmi became Captain Lakshmi when she joined the All Women Infantry Regiment of INA formed by Subhas Chandra Bose. She was appointed the commanding officer of Rani of Jhansi Regiment comprising 1200 women and later was the only woman minister in Netaji’s Council of Ministers of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind. In 1944, the regiment fought the guerilla war against the British at the Burma front. Captain Lakshmi was arrested by the British forces armed forces in July 1945 and detained in Rangoon for over one year. She was repatriated to India in March 1946. On her return to India, she actively associated herself with raising funds for the destitute families of INA who returned to India.
Captain Lakshmi married Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, an officer of INA in Lahore and moved to Kanpur in March 1947. During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, she joined the People’s Relief Committee of Bengal.
Captain Lakshmi was one of the founding members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association in 1981 and also led a medical team to Bhopal after the gas tragedy in December 1984.
She continued to look after her patients in Kanpur till the age of 92 and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1998 and bestowed with honorary doctorate by the University of Calicut in 2010. Captain Lakshmi Sahgal influenced thousands of lives and passed away on 23rd July 2012 at the age of 97.
