In 1911, Mohun Bagan, an all-Indian team from Kolkata, captured the hearts of the nation when they won the IFA Shield. The IFA Shield was a football tournament created for English troops stationed in India and Mohun Bagan’s victory became proof that the English colonialists were no more human than they. In a strange interplay between football and politics, the IFA Shield became a battleground for the hearts of the Indian people.
Bagan’s victory was about freedom; it was about liberation and most importantly it was about pride. It was payback to colonial rulers who had, in the eyes of Indian nationalists, mistreated, abused and ignored the pleas of the Indian people.
Since the early 18th century, Indians had been rebelling against English influence in their homeland and by 1911 tensions were beginning to erupt. Nationalist movements had sprung up around the colony, with scathing tomes being written about the evils of English imperialism which imposed European standards to a land with greatly different values.
Continue reading “29th July, Mohun Bagan Day : Barefooted Revolution”
