More than 3 lakh religious scholars lost their lives during freedom struggle. Muslims were in majority who were given death sentence in prisons by the Britishers. Even the first person who was sent to kala pani was also a Muslim.
The opulent mansion located at Koti, which was converted into the women’s college in 1949 was once the British Residency. On the back side of the darbar hall of the residency lie jail cells. The freedom fighters who were arrested were kept those cells. It is said that more than 500 Muslim freedom fighters were imprisoned there. Prominent among them were Cheeda Khan, Maulvi Syed Allauddin and Turrebaz Khan.
After a meeting at Makkah Masjid, Turrebaz Khan led a band of soldiers and mounted an armed attack on the Residency on July 17, 1857. He was taken to prison. He was to be deported to `Kala Pani’ in the Andamans but he escaped from custody. He was caught within a day and shot. His corpse is stated to have been hung from a pole at the Koti crossroads where today Kothi bus stand is located. For all his valour, Turrebaz Khan had to wait for a century (1950s) to be recognized. A Martyrs Memorial, comprising a pylon was installed in a park right in front of the Residency.
The present generation have forgotten the intrepid fighters. It is our duty to arrange conferences, seminars and meetings to commemorate brave freedom fighters.