A soldier, a surgeon, and a symbol of women's defiance against colonial rule — Captain Lakshmi Sahgal is remembered on her birth anniversary this Saturday, 24 October 2026, with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav leading tributes on social media.

Posting on X, CM Dr. Mohan Yadav wrote: 'महान स्वतंत्रता सेनानी एवं आज़ाद हिंद फ़ौज की वीरांगना कैप्टन लक्ष्मी सहगल जी की जयंती पर सादर नमन करता हूं।' — 'I bow in respectful tribute to the great freedom fighter and brave woman of the Azad Hind Fauj, Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, on her birth anniversary.' He described her courage, sacrifice, and dedication to the nation as a symbol of both national service and the resolve of women's power.

The woman who commanded the Rani of Jhansi Regiment

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal was a physician and independence activist who rose to command the Rani of Jhansi Regiment of the Azad Hind Fauj — the Indian National Army formed during World War II to confront British colonial rule from outside India's borders. The regiment she led was an all-women armed unit, a remarkable formation for its era, drawing recruits from the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia.

The Azad Hind Fauj, built under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose, represented a distinct strand of the independence movement — one that sought liberation through armed struggle beyond Indian shores. Sahgal's role was not ceremonial. She served as a military officer and field doctor simultaneously, embodying both the martial and humanitarian spirit of the force.

Why her legacy endures in official memory

Tributes to freedom fighters of the Azad Hind Fauj have become a steady fixture in India's official calendar. State governments and political leaders across the spectrum regularly mark birth and death anniversaries of figures from the 1940s independence movement, reinforcing a nationalist narrative that reaches beyond the more familiar chapters of the struggle. Sahgal's story carries particular resonance because it bridges two conversations India continues to have — the role of armed resistance in winning freedom, and the place of women at the forefront of the nation's defining moments.

After independence, Captain Lakshmi Sahgal returned to medicine and remained active in public life for decades, practicing in Kanpur and engaging with social causes — a postscript that gave her legacy even more texture than a purely historical tribute can capture.

Legacies like hers don't fade — they sharpen with time, and each anniversary is a reminder that the Azad Hind Fauj's women soldiers are still waiting for the full measure of national recognition they were promised.