Thelu Mahato, perhaps the oldest of the living freedom fighters who figure in my book The Last Heroes, died at his home in Pirra village of Purulia district, West Bengal, on the evening of Thursday, April 6, 2023. He is the first of those still living when the book was published, to pass on. He was the last survivor of the historic – though now forgotten – protest march on 12 police stations in Purulia in 1942. He was somewhere between 103 and 105 years of age.
With his passing, we move a step closer to losing our Golden Generation, those who fought for our freedom and helped make India an independent nation. In five or six years, there will be not a single person alive who fought for this country’s freedom. Newer generations of Indians will never get to see, speak or listen to India’s freedom fighters. Never be told directly who they were, what they fought for – and why they fought for freedom.
And Thelu Mahato and his lifelong comrade Lokkhi Mahato were so keen to tell their stories. Anxious that the young and newer generations should know that they stood up for their country and were proud of having done so. Thelu can tell his own story no more. Neither will, in the next five-six years, the remaining survivors of his generation be able to
— source thewire.in | P. Sainath | 08/Apr/2023