The Government of Uttar Pradesh inaugurated year-long celebrations on August 9 to mark centenary of the ‘Kakori train action of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA).
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The ‘Kakori Train Action’ centenary festival will be celebrated to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Kakori Train Action.
As part of the celebrations, the ‘Kakori Shaurya Gatha Express’ train will travel through various cities in the state to educate youths and school children about the Kakori saga.
About Kakori Train Action
Execution: On August 9, 1925, revolutionaries from the HRA looted a British treasury train near Kakori, Uttar Pradesh. No innocent passenger was harmed.
Objective: To rob the train carrying the British Indian Government treasury to fund revolutionary activities.
Key Figures: Ram Prasand Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, and Thakur Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri and Sachindra Bakshi, among others.
Kakori Conspiracy Case
Death sentences for Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Nath Lahiri, and Thakur Roshan Singh.
Others received long-term imprisonment including deportation to the Cellular Jail.
About Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)
Genesis: HRA was formed in 1924, as a radical revolutionary organization.
Objective: To establish a Federated Republic of the United States of India by an organised and armed revolution.
Founding members: Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Sachindra Nath Bakshi, Sachindranath Sanyal, and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee.
Ideologies of HRA:
Socialism: The association envisaged that the “basic principle of the republic shall be universal suffrage and the abolition of all systems which make any kind of exploitation of man by man possible.”
In 1928, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Shiv Verma, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Vijay Kumar Sinha took on the task of reorganizing the HRA and included socialism as a key goal.
Thus,the HRA was renamed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
Armed overthrow of the imperialist government: The manifesto categorically declared that the foreigners “have no justification to rule over India except the justification of the sword, and therefore the revolutionary party has taken to the sword”.
Key Publications:
The Revolutionary, written by Ram Prasad Bismil under the pen name of Vijay Kumar, with the assistance of Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
Philosophy of the Bomb:It was composed by Bhagwati Charan Vohra. It argued that the revolutionaries didn’t use force for injustice, but to fight for national rights, even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice.
It is seen as response to the condescension shown by the Indian National Congress to the revolutionary party’s attempt at blowing off the Viceregal Special train in December 1929 and the article Cult of the Bomb by Gandhi ji.
Key Revolutionary Activities of HRA or HSRA
Avenging death of Lala Lajpat Rai (1928): Lala Lajpat Rai succumbed to injuries of Lathi charge carried out by police during anti-Simon Commission demonstration in Lahore.
The Chief police executive, J.P. Saunders, was killed by Rajguru, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Assembly Bomb Explosion (1929): Bhagat Singh along with B.K. Dutt, threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly. The court convicted them of waging war against the state, sentencing them to life imprisonment.
However, Bhagat Singh was taken to Lahore to stand trial in the Lahore Conspiracy Case for the killing of J P Saunders.
Lahore Conspiracy Case Utilised for National Cause by revolutionaries
Revolutionaries used the courtroom to effectively counter the government's false portrayal of their actions.
They also organized hunger strikes to demand better conditions and rights for political prisoners, who were being treated like ordinary criminals by the British.
Jatin Dasdied on September 13, 1929, after 63 days of hunger strike, sparking outrage across India.
Ultimately, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were executed on March 23, 1931.
