Our activity was increasing in that year when I joined the revolutionary movements with the students. Especially in my college, where not only boys but also young girls had crossed every limit and joined the fight against the government.
Demonstrating against the government, organizing a no-cooperation movement, sending secret messages to freedom fighters, and even gathering secret information against government officials had all become part of our daily routine. We were all doing it fearlessly.
Almost every student then was associated with one or another union or revolutionary party and was ready to fight the government. When 21-year-old Lena debated in front of Governor David, the incident shook the entire country. The courage of this girl not only instilled fear in the hearts of the government but also challenged our orthodox thinking towards women.
Then, just like Lena, there were many other girls who did not finish their studies in our freedom struggle. They did not care to back down, but took part whole-heartedly.
Many officers were keen to leave that area and made a request for their transfer because they were afraid that any student here could insult them at any moment publicly.
The shortcoming of our history is that we students never properly told the government about our rights. Only a few student leaders got the right recognition. Even though they took part as true revolutionaries, the names of other revolutionary student leaders, particularly women leaders, are still missing from history.
I know no one considered us freedom fighters, but I am satisfied that I did everything to fight for our rights. I appreciate everyone was keen to fight against the authoritarian regime, which did not match our needs or fulfil the demands of the time. We acted like freedom fighters for our rights to education.