Munish Sood
MANDI: In the quiet village of Pangna nestled deep within the hills of Himachal Pradesh, stands a crumbling ancestral home. Once a nerve centre of revolutionary planning, it now lies in neglect — a stark reminder of how India often forgets its own heroes. Within those walls lived and hid Narsingh Dutt Sharma, popularly known as “Bhau Leader”, a name that inspired courage in the face of repression and rallied the masses during one of India’s lesser-known freedom struggles the Suket Satyagraha.
While the pages of Indian history brim with stories from Bengal, Bombay and Delhi, princely hill states like Suket (in Mandi district) fought their own battles — not against the British alone, but against despotic princely regimes that denied their people basic rights. It was in these difficult circumstances that Narsingh Dutt Sharma emerged as a fierce proponent of people’s sovereignty.
A close aide of first state Chief Minister Dr YS Parmar, he was one of the earliest architects of Himachal’s democratic foundation.
Early awakening against injustice
Born in October 1919 into a modest Brahmin family in Pangna, Narsingh Dutt Sharma’s political awakening came early. He grew up hearing stories of the 1857 revolt and witnessed the waves of people’s uprisings in Suket — first in 1862, then in 1876 and again in 1924 — each a reaction to the oppressive taxation and authoritarian rule of the local monarchy.
By the late 1930s, the freedom movement in princely states had taken shape under the banner of Praja Mandals — people’s associations demanding representative governance. In Suket, Sharma quickly rose to prominence, eventually becoming the founding president of the Suket Praja Mandal on April 14, 1945.
Dhami massacre where blood spilled for democracy
His defining moment came during the Dhami firing incident on July 13, 1939, one of the most brutal and underreported chapters in India’s freedom saga. When protesters demanding civil rights gathered in the Dhami princely state, they were met with gunfire. Sharma was on the frontlines, shoulder to shoulder with Pandit Sita Ram Sharma. The crackdown left several dead and injured. Even Mahatma Gandhi condemned the massacre in strong words.
Narsingh Dutt was brutally assaulted but remained undeterred. Marked as a threat by the regime, he went underground, hiding for days in a concealed dark room inside his cowshed in Pangna to escape royal spies.
Trusted ally of Dr YS Parmar
His influence extended beyond Suket. He was a trusted confidant of Dr YS Parmar, the future first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. When the Praja Mandal movement intensified in the 1940s, Sharma provided not just ideological support but shelter and strategy. Dr Parmar would often stay at Sharma’s home during his secret visits to Suket. Together, they drew the blueprint of the Suket Satyagraha, one of the most meticulously organised and successful civil resistance movements in the region.
In Sirmaur’s Bogdhar region when the police attempted to arrest Parmar and other leaders, local women heroically hid them, smuggling them to safety — a telling testimony to how deeply the people trusted leaders like Sharma and Parmar.
After India’s Independence and the formation of Himachal Pradesh in 1948, Sharma gradually moved away from politics but remained active in social service. When he passed away in 1975, then Chief Minister Dr YS Parmar wrote a personal condolence letter, describing the loss as “both personal and irreparable to the state”. The Government of India posthumously awarded him a Tamra Patra (Copper Plaque) for his contribution to the freedom struggle.
Yet, the irony is stark. His ancestral house — where some of Himachal’s earliest freedom blueprints were sketched — now stands abandoned and decaying. There are no plaques, no memorials, no school lessons that remember him.
Call for historical justice
Historians and cultural experts like Dr Himendra Bali and Dr Jagdish Sharma emphasise that the freedom movement in princely states like Suket remains underrepresented in India’s national narrative. “Narsingh Dutt Sharma, or Bhau Leader, was not just a freedom fighter but the soul of a silent revolution in the hills, one who deserves to be remembered alongside the likes of Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose,” says Dr Bali.
As India commemorates 78 years of independence, perhaps the time has come to revisit the overlooked chapters of our freedom, to celebrate not just the well-known, but also the unsung warriors who stood tall against feudal repression with nothing but resolve, courage and belief in democracy.
