Why is it in the news?

• The film “Ae Watan Mere Watan” focusing on the life of Indian freedom fighter Usha Mehta has recently been released.

About Usha Mehta

• Usha Mehta was born in 1920 in the village of Saras, near Surat in Gujarat.
• She followed Mahatma Gandhi’s principles and was often referred to as Ushaben.
• At the age of eight in 1928, she participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission.
• During the Quit India Movement on August 14, 1942, she and her associates established the Secret Congress Radio, which commenced broadcasting on August 27.
• Congress Radio was one of India’s earliest radio networks, utilized by Gandhi to advocate for Independence.
• Usha Mehta, along with Babubhai Khakar, Vithalbhai Jhaveri, and Chandrakant Jhaveri, played crucial roles in organizing Congress Radio.
• To avoid detection by the British, they frequently changed transmission locations.
• The operation was compromised when Nariman Printer, one of the associates, was captured and revealed the location of Congress Radio in exchange for immunity.
• Usha Mehta, along with Babubhai Khakar and Chandrakant Jhaveri, faced harsh sentences, while Vithalbhai Jhaveri and Nanak Gainchand Motwane were cleared of charges.
• Usha Mehta was released from Pune’s Yerawada Jail in March 1946 and is celebrated in nationalist media as “Radio-ben”.