Some fight for fame, for money and recognition but there is one warrior who fights because it is in his blood. One such warrior is Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Varun Sanyal, who is set to represent India at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Championship 2023. The IAMMF World Championship is scheduled to be held from November 20 to November 25 in Tirana, Albania.
In a video shared on his X profile on Tuesday (November 14), MMA fighter Varun Sanyal said, “I fight because it’s in my blood. Typically you see Indians as lawyers, doctors, engineers and stereotypical jobs. What people forget is that we are actually warriors at heart. For centuries we had to fight out invaders and protect our homeland. That’s why I fight to feel like going back to my roots and doing what I was born to do,” Varun said.
“Navigating cultural and societal expectations about your life is a complex task, but I’ve chosen to stray from the common path and devote myself to the violent art of fighting. Some of us fight for fame, recognition, and money. I fight because it’s in my blood,” Varun wrote in his X post.
Navigating cultural and societal expectations about your life is a complex task, but I've chosen to stray from the common path and devote myself to the violent art of fighting.
— Varun Sanyal (@varunsanyal) November 14, 2023
Some of us fight for fame, recognition, and money.
I fight because it’s in my blood🩸🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Xvni4D7q2r
The 2023 IMMAF World Championships will be held at the Tirana Olympic Park beginning on November 20th, with ten weight classes for male fighters ranging from Strawweight to Super Heavyweight and six for female fighters ranging from Atomweight to Lightweight.
The 24-year-old MMA fighter’s mother, Smita Barooah, took to X to share a post on her son’s coming endeavour at the 2023 IMMAF World Championships. Smita Barooah expressed her complete support for her son, even though she is not quite fond of the MMA fights.
This is my son @varunsanyal . He's representing India at the #MMA World Championship next week. Seek your blessings.
— Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) November 15, 2023
MMA is something I don't enjoy or understand, & I'm always fearful. But it's what he's chosen to & I'll support him all the way pic.twitter.com/rc9SXpaVII
Indeed it is in Varun Sanyal’s blood to fight coming from a family of freedom fighters like his great granduncle Sachindranath Sanyal who devoted his life to freeing India from British colonialism and was sentenced to the infamous Port Blair Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands twice. A pioneer of armed resistance against British hegemony, Sachindranath Sanyal co-founded a branch of Anushilan Samiti in Patna in 1913.
Sachindranath Sanyal was a key figure in the Gadar party conspiracy. The conspiracy began to take mould at the commencement of World War I, between the Ghadar Party in the United States, the Berlin Committee in Germany, and the Indian revolutionaries in British India. Large quantities of weaponry and ammunition were expected to be smuggled into India to spark a pan-India anti-British revolt. However, because of organised intelligence input and a spy network, the British learned of the movement and repressed it in February 1915. Key figures were arrested, revolts in smaller units and agitated armed groups within India were also crushed.
Sanyal went underground to avoid British action and to continue the revolution. However, he was caught and sentenced to Cellular Jail, where he wrote the popular book “Bandi Jeevan” documenting his life and times as a prisoner in 1922. Following his release for a brief timeframe, Sanyal along with other revolutionaries founded the Hindustan Republican Association in October 1924. Sanyal was once again incarcerated in 1925 and sent to the Cellular prison in the Andamans for being allegedly involved in a Kakori conspiracy involving train robbery on August 9, 1925, to gain funds and support from Indians for the HRA. Following his incarceration, Sanyal’s ancestral home in Varanasi was seized by the British authorities.
Lists of Revolutionaries who were sent there. Sachindra Nath Sanyal was sent to Kala Pani twice. Once for Ghadar (released in post Jallianwala amnesty) & once for Kakori. Bengalis dominate followed by Punjabis. 7/n pic.twitter.com/uUyvFPvpQb
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) March 23, 2019
Other than Sachindranath Sanyal many of his family members continued to struggle for Bharat’s freedom and even went to jail while doing so. As mentioned on the memorial to martyred freedom fighters from Bengali Tola Inter-College in Varanasi, Sachindrnath Sanyal, Jitendra Nath Sanyal and Rabindranath Sanyal were sentenced to jail for involvement in various armed conspiracies against the British oppressors. Nalinaksha Sanyal and his elder brother Anadi Kant Sanyal had also devoted their life to the freedom struggle.
My great grandfather Dr. Nalinaksha Sanyal: freedom fighter, politician, economist, businessman, sportsman. pic.twitter.com/mp6ANZaRMS
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) July 23, 2020
Notably, MMA fighter Varun Sanyal is the son of economist and author Sanjeev Sanyal. Sanjeev Sanyal has authored many best-selling books and also served as the Principal Economic Advisor to the Indian government. Several noted works of Sanjeev Sanyal include Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom and Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History.
