"We sigh and think we have done our duty. We do not have that fire, we do not suffer, for we have become corpses."

This was written by Bhagat Singh in 'Kakori ke veeron se parichay.' Today, on 95th anniversary of Kakori Kaand, let me take you on a small journey.

On 1st Jan 1925, a four page pamphlet was published. Title was “The Revolutionary”. It was written by one “Vijay Kumar”. In this, he espoused his group’s revolutionary thinking, ideology and goals. He openly condemned M.K.Gandhi for not asking the tough questions to British.

Looking at the explosive contents of the pamphlet, Police actively started looking for the author. Vijay Kumar was one of the many nom de plumes of Ram Prasad Bismil. And this group was Hindustan Republican Association (H.R.A).

Sachindranath Sanyal and Yogesh Chandra Chatterjee were arrested while they were trying to distribute the pamphlets. This left Ram Prasad Bismil in-charge of the U. P. division as well as Bengal division of the H.R.A., which was facing a severe cash crunch.

H.R.A. took a leaf out of Irish revolutionaries and conducted political loots at Bichpuri on 7th March 1925 and Dwarkapur on 24th May 1925. Both the loots had left one person dead and in turn gave a bad name to the revolution. This affected Bismil a lot.

Ram Prasad Bismil was once travelling from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow in Number 8 down train when he observed that at every station, guards would bring a few moneybags and deposit it in a heavily guarded coach of the train. This is how the idea behind the enterprise germinated.

Soon a plan was formed. Ten people were shortlisted for the mission.
1. Ram Prasad Bismil
2. Chandrashekhar Azad
3. Ashfaqullah Khan
4. Rajendra Lahiri
5. Thakur Roshan Singh
6. Sachindra Bakshi
7. Keshab Chakravarty
8. Banwari Lal
9. Mukundi Lal
10. Manmath Nath Gupta

On 9th August 1925, as soon as the train approached Kakori, in the 2nd class compartment, somebody pulled the chain and stopped the train. When the guard got down to find out, Ashfaq, Sachindra and Rajendra Lahiri pounced on him and made him lie on ground face down.

Meanwhile, two of them jumped in the engine room and captured the driver. One revolutionary each stood guard at both ends of the train and started firing in air, while the rest started shouting – “We are freedom fighters. We will not harm any Indian. Please do not peep out.”

British officers and guards did not say anything fearing a large-scale dacoity. They thought they were outnumbered and trying to fight would be foolish. Bismil and Ashfaq being the strongest, broke the boxes and soon they took off in different directions.

This well planned strike shook the mighty British establishment. CID soon confirmed that this was a planned strike. It was a blot which they wanted to remove as soon as possible. A bed sheet full of cash had fallen behind while the young guns were taking off from the site.

That sheet had a mark made by a local dhobi (washer-man). Dhobis leave an indelible mark on the corner or inside of the clothes which they wash so that their clients never lose their clothes. That led the police to Shahjahanpur where they identified who had washed that bedsheet.

This lead the police to one Banarasi Lal’s doorsteps who used to have feud with him and later became Bismil’s business partner. He knew about the plan and became a police approver. He identified all 40 members of the party.

A wide net was cast and the biggest manhunt in the Raj begun. Ram Prasad Bismil was caught on 26th September. So were the others, with only exceptions of Ashfaqullah Khan and Sachindranath Bakhshi.

A mock trial in a makeshift court in Lucknow near Hazratgunj was organised.

It was a beautiful building called ‘Ring Theatre’ where the British officials used to enjoy movies and plays. A board was put at the entrance which read “Dogs and Indians not allowed”.

This was the place where all accused were kept together and for next 18 months a Drama called ‘King Emperor vs. Ram Prasad Bismil and others’ was played. Public prosecutor was an eminent lawyer named Jagat Narayan while Bismil was assigned Lakshmishankar Mishra.

Bismil decided to fight his case himself. Looking at his intelligence, Chief Justice Louis Shirts had to ask him, “Mr. Ram Prasad! From which University have you taken a degree in law?” Bismil laughed and replied, “Excuse me Sir. A kingmaker doesn’t require any degree.”

Miffed by his reply, court rejected the petition filed by Bismil on on 18th July 1927 to fight his own case and Lakshishankar Mishra took over.

On the other hand, Ashfaq ran away and hid in a sugarcane field just before British raided his hideout.

He managed to reach Kaashi after a difficult journey, where with the help of a few friends from Banaras Hindu University, he was kept safe. They advised him to lay low for the time being and helped him go to Bihar. He got a job as a clerk in an engineering firm in Daltongunj.

He worked there for a good 10 months before getting tired of his exile. He planned to go abroad and strengthen the movement there. This lead him to Delhi to make preparations. Here he met an old Pathan friend from Shahjahanpur who invited him for dinner.

They kept talking till 11 P.M before Ashfaq fell asleep. Next morning he was woken up by the police. This is how last hero of Kakori fell in to Police’s hands due to the greed of a friend.

The British Court did not do anything unexpected. Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh were awarded death sentence; others were given life sentences. The entire nation was shocked to see these young boys being sent to the gallows.

Members of the Central Legislature petitioned the Viceroy to reduce their death sentences into life sentences. Appeals were sent to the Privy council, the highest court in those days but English wanted to set an example.

And an example is what they set. For revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and countless others who sacrificed themselves for their nation.

Let us not squander this independence.

-VANDE MATARAM