Al Haqeeqa
Bibi Amatus Salam, a proactive freedom fighter and close as the adopted daughter to Mahatama Gandhi, was born in 1907 at Patiala, Punjab besides, following the footprints of her elder brother Mohammad Abdur Rashid Khan, another renowned freedom fighter. Committed to Gandhian method of freedom struggle and a firm belief in non-violence, she decided to serve the people of the country and joined the Khadi movement. Later she joined Gandhiji’s Sewa Gram Ashram in 1931 and followed its strict regimen of a hard / disciplined life dedicated to poor / downtrodden. During the national movement Bibi, despite her illness she was arrested and jailed in 1932. Later she became the personal assistant of Gandhiji in Sewa Gram Ashram. Apart from achieving independence, maintenance of communal harmony as well as welfare of Harijans and women fold being her life ambitions, she accompanied Gandhiji to the riot torn Noakhali and held twenty days Satyagraha to normalize the situation in those areas. Post-independence, Bibi Amatus Salam turned down the offer of any post and away from active politics and rededicated herself to service of the people. She also accompanied Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan as his Personal Assistant, besides, committing to the promotion of National integration and amity. During 1962, Indo- China War and 1965 Indo-Pak War, Bibi took all pains in reaching the mountain and dangerous war area along with her adopted son ( as she remained unmarried devoting her life to the country), Sunil Kumar to encourage Indian soldiers besides to attending the injured ones. She, spent all her life to Gandhian ideology and service of the nation, breathed her last on October 29, 1985 to be immortal in the history of national movement.
