Going viral: Slogans that built solidarity during freedom struggle

Going viral: Slogans that built solidarity during freedom struggle With the internet nowhere in sight, India's independence struggle nationwide's different parts harmonised via slogans.

Key points

• From The History of the Indian Mutiny, volume VII, by Charles Ball, published by The London Printing & Publishing Firm (c1860).
• Young Bhagat Singh, in 1929, popularised Urdu poet Mualana Hasrat Mohani's "Inquilab Zindabad " in India's struggle for freedom.
• A demonstration in the streets of Karachi, calling for a boycott of Western foods on January 3, 1931.
• Procession being taken out against the Commission in Madras on February 18, 1929.
• Seen here are volunteers to the non-co-operative movement, dressed in their home woven costumes and shouting "Swaraj", 1922.

Seen here are volunteers to the non-co-operative movement, dressed in their home woven costumes and shouting "Swaraj", 1922. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Slogans are dispatches, a voice of persuasion and resistance, and hence, carry as much historical and cultural value as our monuments. Though the trajectory of sloganeering has evolved with time, the essence of its purpose is still the same – bringing change.

More than 150 years ago, sepoys in North India echoed three words with intense vigour. Maaro Firangi ko (Strike down the foreigners) kept ringing in the air, shaping the message of the 1857 revolt, the first major and revolutionary uprising against British authority. The revolt additionally came to be known as the First War of Independence. The slogan was a linguistic weapon. It spread from the sepoys towards the common individuals like artisans and peasants, awakening and uniting them (cutting throughout religions) for the first time, excavating bits and pieces of a national consciousness and the idea of a nation-wide resistance. For the British, this was a shocker.

Notably, a print of Delhi, India, circa 1860. From The History of the Indian Mutiny, volume VII, by Charles Ball, published by The London Printing & Publishing Firm (c1860). Photo Credit: Print Collector/Getty Images.

In practice, the spirit of resistance, social frustration, and emotional call to action packed in those simple three words had a sense of straightforward urgency. At the most immediate of our understanding of slogans in any case, is this function. In this way, slogans become rhetorical devices. This is why slogans are able to catch the attention as well as backing of numerous individuals. Slogans thus support a revolt, like the 1857 one here, achieve virality. Political culture of 'opposition and resistance'.

After spending much time in jail in Mandalay, Myanmar for defending, in his newspaper Kesari, Indian revolutionaries and calling for Swaraj (self-rule), Bal Gangadhar Tilak from the Lal Bal Pal trio formed the Indian Home Rule League in 1916.

Tilak perfectly captured the emotion of discontent and protest and cried out an unforgettable, goosebump-inducing slogan – Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it! The slogan was confidence personified and it inspired an anti-colonial solidarity where 'we' are in opposition with 'them'.

In practice, a demonstration in the streets of Karachi, calling for a boycott of Western foods on January 3, 1931. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Coming out of a preoccupation with constitutional reforms, "Swaraj" symbolised an Indian renaissance, spontaneously becoming a language of its own and developing sister ideals like swadeshi and non-cooperation. "Swaraj" travelled through gossip, tea conversations, news, songs, and performances instantly into the cultural and economic spheres of thought.

With working class strikes and labour unrest clearly on rise against colonial exploitation during the 1920s, the British administration began committing brutal atrocities and heavily censoring the press. Mahatma Gandhi had additionally risen as a prominent leader, launching the non-cooperation movement after the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy. The resistance was unrelenting. Students participated, protesting in their colleges (walking out of colonial institutions), with placards and their own slogans.

Did you know? Mygurudu was a Malayalam-based secret language developed during the Malabar Rebellion in 1921. It supported prisoners communicate without their messages getting leaked amidst an environment of military-excercised heavy brutality which saw deaths as numerous as 10, 000!

Young Bhagat Singh, in 1929, popularised Urdu poet Mualana Hasrat Mohani's "Inquilab Zindabad " in India's struggle for freedom. After throwing non-lethal, low-intensity smoke bombs in the Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt stayed shouting " Inquilab Zindabad ". This marked a significant shift towards a higher level of resistance, aiming for " Poorna Swaraj " (complete independence), additionally coined by Mohani. Even today, in protest spaces we hear the booming chants of Inquilab Zindabad, depicting that slogans are versatile, universal, and move beyond the space-time of its birth and breakout.

Meanwhile, the slogan "Inquilab Zindabad" written on a wall at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi during the CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) protest demanding educational reforms and accountability for national exam paper leaks, July 25, 2026. Photo Credit: Reuters.

Resistance was not the only idea covered by slogans. National consciousness and collective identity were simultaneously being formed via slogans. The first rallying cry in that regard was thanks to Bengali novelist and poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who wrote down two words together – Vande Mataram – in his Bengali language novel Anandamath. The words meant "I Bow to Thee, Mother", venerating India as home and mother. During the partition of Bengal in 1905. It showcased 'divide and rule' policy from the British to weaken the nationalist movement, Vande Mataram took a life of its own. For the individuals of Bengal, the slogan was a mantra and the passion behind it caused severe anxiety to the British. B.T Ranadive, who was an Indian politician and freedom fighter, wrote in an essay published in 1986 that even schoolchildren who sang Vande Mataram were beaten.

"Jai Hind " was another slogan that carried the same message of a united Indian nation. It was coined by Indian revolutionary Chempakaraman Pillai as a salutational watchword meaning 'Hail India'. Look at the simple lexical choices here. In minimal presentation, the slogan represented a maximal thought of freedom. Throughout the freedom struggle, these words were rock, even becoming the official slogan of Subhas Chandra Bose's INA (Indian National Army) which rose the revolutionary spirit. Bose solidified the sentiment by giving a fierce, direct slogan of his own – Offer me blood and I shall provide you freedom! – which inspired individuals as they began to believe in total mobilisation. Indians living in other British colonies like Malay (present-day Malaysia and Singapore), Burma (Myanmar), etc., were now an active part of the country's freedom movement. Things were looking precarious for the British.

Seeing, hearing, and memory (especially, Simon).

By now you must be understanding that slogans are not just some aesthetic catchy accessories of a rebellion. It carries as much depth as an efficient conversation between two individuals. When one notes Jai Hind, the meaning is that you stand for unity. When you see Inquilab Zindabad written on a wall or a placard, it is a symbol that the fighting spirit will prevail no matter what.

Procession being taken out against the Commission in Madras on February 18, 1929. Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives.

For context, the most iconic, specific, and punchy visual of a slogan from our freedom struggle has to do with the memory of a man named Simon. Under British politician John Simon's chairmanship, a commission arrived in India in 1928 to review the constitutional reforms in British India. The 1920s, which saw massive protests and strikes unlike never before, with a politically conscious working class could see that the commission was insulting without a single Indian member in it. The dislike was evident. Sizeable flags with "SIMON GO BACK" (in all caps, one cannot imagine this slogan without all caps) in its faces were paraded through streets alongside residents chanting the same. Again, look at the lexical choices here – Simon's name and a pressing directive voicing the people's opinion against the British government's movements. The tale and memory of the commission is forever etched into this slogan.

Gandhi talking to crowd. Photo Credit: AP.

After years of negotiating and protesting, India's freedom struggle reached its climax. The rising new world order, effects of World War II in the global arena, fall of British colonies like Burma, Malay, etc. Was worsening the situation in India. The need for freedom couldn't be delayed anymore. On August 8, 1942, Gandhi famously remarked, " Karo ya Maro ". It translated as "Do or Die", starting the great Quit India movement. It signalled that whatever the result is, it will be created now. " Quit India – Bharat Chodo " slogan was a threat to the British which was carried forth by "Do or Die" becoming the social attitude of all the common Indian individuals. This was radical. The two primary word choices 'Do' and 'Die' angled towards extremes – either we obtain freedom or we die. From professing "Jai Hind" and "Swaraj is my birthright", the shift is drastic. There would be no more in-between, no more waiting, no more compromise. All the past years had been precisely that. The slogan began a chain of events and mobilised residents throughout the nation into a final act which, in retrospect, we know produced British powers realise that there are no more chances.

"Here is a mantra, a short one, that I offer you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours offer expression to it. The mantra is: 'Do or Die.' We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery."Gandhi.

For now, going viral: Slogans that built solidarity during freedom struggle remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.