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Colonel Lotika Ghose

(West Bengal)

Colonel Lotika Ghose, popularly known as Lotika Ghose, was the first secretary of the Mahila Rashtriya Sangha or the National Association of Women. She established this association in 1928 with the encouragement of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The objective of the association was to propagate Netaji’s revolutionary ideas about the role of women. Colonel Lotika Ghose was the Officer Commanding in charge of the first group of uniformed women formed under the leadership of Netaji (considered the precursors of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment), the Bengal Volunteers. Lotika Ghose, the niece of Aurobindo Ghosh, had expertise in mobilizing people and inspiring them to fight for the cause of the nation. She had impressed Netaji by organizing a women’s protest against the Simon Commission.