Who truly set India free from British rule? While historians often credit Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party, it’s important to remember that until 1930, their demand was limited to Home Rule or Dominion Status. It was revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, whose sacrifice compelled Congress to finally declare complete independence as India’s goal. Their martyrdom, along with the fierce resistance of the Indian National Army (INA), shook the very foundations of British rule. Even British Prime Minister Clement Attlee later admitted that Gandhi’s influence was ‘minimal’—it was the INA’s uprising, the naval mutinies, and the rebellion within the armed forces that ultimately forced Britain to withdraw from India.