In the first decade of the 20th century, two factions of the nationalist movement developed in India – the liberals and the extremists. While the liberals adopted the method of persuasion, the extremists also adopted the method of persuasion. Extremists He also believed in regaining the nation through force. RevolutionariesThe extremists pushed their issue under the banner of Anushilan Samiti (Founded in 1902 in Kolkata by Satish Chandra Bose and barrister Pramathanath Mitra).
At first glance the Samiti was an organisation of youth, but in reality it nurtured radical ideas in utmost secrecy. Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and five years later he launched a revolutionary movement. Non-cooperation movement In which people from different sections of the society participated. But then the path changed. Shailvi Sharda traces the journey of this historic event.
Chauri Chaura Reasons for trampling
This mass movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 1 August 1920 for the right to self-rule received massive support from the people. However, Gandhi decided to withdraw it after the attack (February 1922) on a police station at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur in which 22 policemen were burnt alive.
Many revolutionaries involved in the Kakori train action, who were also part of Gandhi’s movement, began to lose faith in non-violent methods. Ram Prasad Bismil and his comrades even opposed Gandhi at the Gaya Congress session of 1922.
Building a revolutionary path
Bismil decided to form a revolutionary organisation which later came to be known as the Hindustan Republican Association (also Hindustan Republican Army) which sought to overthrow British rule through armed struggle. Bismil met Sachindranath Sanyal (an Anushilan Samiti veteran) in Allahabad and decided to form the HRA. Soon, a pamphlet titled ‘Revolutionary’ prepared by Bismil was published, stating the aims and philosophy of the association.
Challenges
Manmath Nath Gupta, a revolutionary who later wrote a first-hand account of the time spent in the HRA in a book, ‘They Lived Dangerously – Memoirs of a Revolutionary’, highlighted the need for funds to carry forward the organisation’s work. “In a few months, the party became a huge organisation and needed funds to run various lifelines. Full-time workers – professional revolutionaries – had to be supported by the party,” he wrote, beginning the chapter (number 12) ‘Forced Contributions’.
“Apart from the money needed for the maintenance of full-time revolutionaries, the party had other important items of expenditure. The travel of messengers cost a lot of money. The party often used messengers for important communications because it was known that letters were being censored. Books and pamphlets purchased or published by the party cost a lot. The biggest item was of course the purchase of arms through national and international smugglers. Since there was no war going on, we could no longer expect donations of arms from foreign powers (such as German friends),” he wrote.
Forced contributions
For funds the revolutionaries resorted to ‘forced subscription’ which was a sophisticated term for ‘robbery for money and absconding to avoid arrest’ to promote the movement. In the words of Gupta: “It was proposed to use the method known as forced subscription in the language of the Irish and Indian revolutionaries.
The method of forced donations has been adopted by the revolutionaries of Bengal since a very long time. Forced donations mean that a rich person who is not willing to contribute to the party funds is forced to give a donation. In simple language, it means looting but with a purpose, like killing in wars is done with a purpose. I did not like the word forced. Anyway, it is stated in the party constitution that this method will be used to finance the party.”
Becoming Big
Over time, the group felt the need for a bigger robbery involving banks or trains. Everyone was in agreement except Ashfaqullah. Thus, the seeds of the Train-8 robbery were sown. Eventually, the project succeeded.
What do the British records say?
According to the charge sheet filed by the British police, the then station master of Charbagh railway station reported the robbery in the 8 down train to the Charbagh police station. “The 8 down train from Hardoi to Lucknow was stopped by pulling the communication wire between Alamnagar and Kakori and the dacoits took away the cash safe from the train, broke it and took out the cash and they also fired bullets during the robbery,” the charge sheet reads. “The 8 down train was supposed to reach Charbagh at 7.45 pm but it reached at 8.37 pm on August 9, 1925.
The chargesheet said, “The State Master met the train and found that the safe was missing, which contained all the cash receipts received from all the railway stations from Jatghar to Kakori, except those stations where there are Government treasuries, amounting to Rs 4,679 1/6.”
A special train was sent to the place of the robbery. Two sub-inspectors, Sajjad Ali and Khurshid Ali Khan, accompanied by constables, and one Syed Jan, who was the brother-in-law of a man named Ahmed Ali, who had gone missing when the train reached Lucknow, returned to Kakori by this train. They found the empty safe and the body of Ahmed Ali lying beside the railway line about a mile from Kakori station in the direction of Alamnagar.
In his book, Manmath Nath – who took part in the action – recalled that he was shocked by newspaper reports that claimed three passengers, including a European, were killed in the Kakori action. “Later, this report proved to be false. No Englishman was killed. One Indian passenger was killed. Despite warnings, a passenger, Ahmed Ali, came out of his compartment to see if his newly-wed bride was safe and was killed by flying bullets,” Gupta wrote.
Test
The incident challenged British power and should have been handled in the best possible manner. An inquiry into the case was launched on 14 August. RA Horton – who was then the assistant to the Deputy Inspector General of the Investigation Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department – was put in charge of the investigation. Horton testified that the manner, speech, appearance and clothing of the robbery and the weapons used by them made him believe it was the work of revolutionaries.
Arrest, trial and conviction
According to records, at least 40 people were arrested from different areas of UP between September 1925 and January 1926. Manmathnath Gupta, Ram Dulare Trivedi and Govind Charan Kar were the first to be arrested on 26 September 1925, while Mukundilal was the last to be arrested on 19 January 1926. The police declared Ashfaqullah and Chandrashekhar Azad as fugitives. While Ashfaq was arrested on 7 December 1926, Azad lost his life in an encounter with a British police officer in Allahabad.
Legal defence to the arrested revolutionaries was provided by Govind Ballabh Pant, Mohan Lal Saxena, Chandra Bhanu Gupta, Ajit Prasad Jain, Gopi Nath Srivastava, RM Bahadurji, BK Choudhary and Kripa Shankar Hajela.
The cause of the Kakori revolutionaries was supported by people like Motilal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Shiv Prasad Gupta, Sri Prakash and Acharya Narendra Dev. After the trial, the judge sentenced Ram Prasad Bismil, Rajendra Nath Lahiri, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqullah to death, besides Sachindra Nath Sanyal to life imprisonment (later sent to Port Blair Cellular Jail) and five years imprisonment to Sachindra Nath Sanyal. Lahiri was hanged on December 17, 1927, while the others were hanged on December 19, 1927.
