Kakori train action
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Contents |
The sequence of events
August 13, 2024: The Times of India
1922 | Violence in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur, on Feb 4, forces Mahatma Gandhi to call off the NonCooperation Movement. Ramprasad Bismil opposes Gandhi at Congress’s convention in Gaya (Bihar) in Dec. Bismil meets Sachindra Nath Sanyal to float Hindustan Republican Army
1923 | First meeting of HRA held in Kanpur
Oct 1924 | National convention of HRA held. Members embrace forced contribution formula to fund activities and operations 1925 | Members think about scaling up operations. Decide to undertake train holdup
Aug 7, 1925 | Group reaches Lucknow, puts up at Chhedilal Dharamshala
Aug 8, 1925 | First attempt to execute plan fails. Team returns to base
Aug 9, 1925 | Revolutionaries execute Kakori train action
Aug 10, 1925 | Kakori Action makes headlines
Aug 14, 1925 | Investigation begins
Sep 26, 1925 | First arrest made
April 6, 1927 | Judgment pronounced. Members lodged in different jails
Dec 7, 1926 | Ashfaqullah Khan arrested
April-June 1927 | Many revolutionaries proceed on hunger strike; demand they should be treated as ‘political prisoners’
Dec 17, 1927 | Rajendranath Lahiri hanged
Dec 19, 1927 | Bismil, Roshan Singh & Ashfaqullah hanged
Feb 27, 1931 | Chandrashekhar Azad shoots self Design: Annant Pal
Details
Shailvee Sharda, August 13, 2024: The Times of India
It was in the first week of Aug, exactly 99 years ago, when a group of 10 young men checked into Chhedilal Dharamshala in Aminabad, Lucknow, with a plan up their sleeves. They reached Charbagh railway station for a final recce and then returned to their base.
On Aug 8, they reached the Kakori station on foot but as soon as they reached the platform, they saw the 8 Down train zipping away.
Some of them argued in sheer disbelief that it was “not their train”, even one of them saying, “A train in India could not be so regular”.
However, a smarter one rushed to the platform reception and broke the bad news that it was their train, leaving the members sulking. They were late by 10 minutes. Team leader Ram Prasad Bismil was quick to realise that the task in their hand was too different from the regular village hold-ups they were used to and required precision and synchronization to a degree of which the group was not fully capable. They retreated to their base and improvised the plan. The next day (Aug 9), they decided to take no chances and left Lucknow to reach the previous station and boarded the train. Three of them –Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendranath Lahiri and Bakshi – took second class tickets and the remaining including Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar Azad, Mukundilal, Murarilal, Kundanlal, Banwarilal and Manmathnath Gupta, travelled third and spread over the entire train.
According to the plan, those in the second class pulled the chain. The abrupt stoppage led to some commotion. The members jumped out to execute the plan. One of them rushed towards the engine while another headed to overpower the guard and take charge of the railway treasury. Carrying Germany-made Mauser pistols, they were quick to overpower the guard who was made to lie down on his belly. Two men stood on each side of the railway line while another group pushed out the heavy iron safe carrying railway collections from the stations on the route. Two of them who carried a huge hammer and chisel got into action on the safe.
Passengers were being told in Hindustani that the men did not intend to harm them and that they were only after govt property. They were asked neither to come out of the carriages nor to protrude their necks from inside the compartments. From time to time, bullets were sent flying to ensure cooperation from passengers.
Everything was progressing as planned. After some time, the men trying to break open the safe felt the need for a bigger hammer. Fearing that the plan would be foiled if the safe did not open, the well-built Ashfaq handed over the Mauser to his young fellow Manmathnath. He took up the hammer and began to work with full force. Just at this time, when they imagined success was round the corner, the rumbling of an approaching train was heard. The headlight of the other train left them with questions… Could they have got the news of a train hold-up? Has there been foul play or betrayal? What if it was a military train?
The possibilities left them chilled to the marrow. A few minutes later, commitment to the cause took over and all decided to face what may come. Ram Prasad came close to the point of action and said it could be the usual Punjab Mail passing by. He told Ashfaq and others to drop the hammer for a while and told others to conceal their weapons and lie low. With the terrific speed of the train and its deafening clickety clack, the group’s bad dream had passed by. The rumbling of the train grew fainter while Ashfaq’s patient clang captured the air.
Soon, a big hole had been made in the armour of the safe. They took the bags and collected them on a bed sheet. The operation was over and orders for retreat were given. To mislead the passengers, including some British Military officers, the group dispersed in a manner to give the impression of running away from Lucknow, but they detoured and entered the city from the overcrowded Chowk market. On the way to Lucknow, they had taken cash and thrown the bags in ditches filled with rainwater. In Lucknow, the booty was kept at a safe place known only to Ram Prasad. The weapons also went to prearranged concealing places.
Thereafter, the group disintegrated. Some went to hideouts and others lay low in common places like parks. At dawn, newspaper hawkers were heard announcing on the top of their voices – ‘Sensational Train Hold-Up at Kakori’ – confirming the success of their nationalist effort.
Note: Stories are based on descriptions of the event given in: They Lived Dangerously – Reminiscences of a revolutionary by Manmathnath Gupta Kakori Case Diary references (courtesy: UP State Archives) Ram Prasad Bismil’s autobiography
The leaders
August 13, 2024: The Times of India
THE PATRON | Sachindranath Sanyal
Born | April 3, 1890 Native | Varanasi, UP
A follower of Anushilan Samiti, he founded its Patna chapter in 1913. He was an associate of Rash Behari Bose – a key participant of the Ghadar Party. In 1912, the names of Bose and Sanyal figured in the case of attack on Viceroy Hardinge. He was sent to Port Blair Cellular Jail for anti-British activities. Upon his return in 1922, Sanyal and Bismil came together to form HRA. In Kakori Action, he was sent to Naini jail. In 1937, he came out and resumed revolutionary work. Later, was sent to Gorakhpur jail where he died
THE MASTERMIND | Ram Prasad Bismil
Born | June 11, 1897 Native | Shahjahanpur, UP
A student of Genda Lal Dixit – the ‘Drona’ of freedom fighters – Ram Prasad Bismil was named in the Mainpuri Case of 1918 which is believed to have served as the base for Kakori Train Action. In 1923, Bismil was named dist organiser of HRA. In this way, he was the mastermind of the case. He was also an author and poet who wrote with pen names ‘Ram’, ‘Agyat’ and ‘Bismil’. He was arrested on Sep 26, 1925, and was executed on Dec 19, 1927, in Gorakhpur Jail when he was just 30
THE HERO | Ashfaqullah Khan
Born | Oct 22, 1900 Native | Shahjahanpur, UP
Joined freedom movement in 1918. Later, he came in touch with Ram Prasad Bismil. He was a poet who wrote with pseudonym ‘Hasrat’. During Kakori Action, when Lahiri halted the train, Ashfaq, Bismil, and Azad entered the train and overpowered the guard to loot British treasury bags (containing approximately Rs 4,600) and escaped to Lucknow. He remained at large for over a year and fled to Nepal only to return to Kanpur. Arrested in Dec 1926, he was lodged in Faizabad Jail and sentenced to death when he was 27
THE FACILITATOR | Rajendranath Lahiri
Born | June 29, 1901 Native | Lahiri Mohanpur, Pabna district, Bengal
Lahiri pulled the chain of the passenger train to execute the act. His father and elder brother were also associated with Anushilan Samiti of Bengal. He studied history at BHU where he came in touch with Sachindranath Sanyal, co-founder of HRA. He was an expert bombmaker. Jailer of Gonda jail asked Lahiri as to why he exercised when his death was a few days away. Lahiri, then 26, said he could not change his routine for fear of death. Annoyed by the ‘audacity’, the jailer hanged him two days before the assigned date
THE FLAGBEARER | Chandrashekhar Azad
Born | July 23, 1906 Native | Unnao, UP
He was just 15 when he joined NonCooperation Movement. He also went to jail for it but after the movement was called off, he joined HRA. After Kakori Action, Azad remained elusive. After the death of main functionaries of the HRA, he kept his organisation’s flag high and also reorganized it as HSRA and joined the plan to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, undertaken by Bhagat Singh and others. He shot himself during an encounter with a British officer in Allahabad
INCIDENTAL ACCOMPLICE | Thakur Roshan Singh
Born | Jan 22, 1892 Native | Shahjahanpur, UP
Born in a Thakur family, Roshan Singh actively participated in Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921-22 and went to jail. After his release from Bareilly central jail, he joined HRA in 1924. Though it is said that he did not take part in the Kakori Action, he helped in the execution of the case. According to records, he was involved in the Bamrauli dacoity in Dec 1924 and the British officials used the Kakori case to nab him. The fact that he made the supreme sacrifice for the nation remains unchallenged. He was hanged in Allahabad Jail at 35
OTHERS ON BOARD
➤ Three revolutionaries were awarded life imprisonment. One of them was Sachindranath Bakshi, a founding member of HRA. He got associated with Varanasi chapter of Anushilan Samiti in 1922
➤ Born in Varanasi, Manmathnath Gupta was 13 when he joined HRA. He was just 14 when convicted in Kakori case and was jailed for 14 years. After his release, he started writing against the British
➤ Five revolutionaries – Ram Krishna Khatri of Lucknow, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Raj Kumar Sinha, Suresh Chandra Bhattacharya, and Vishnu Sharan Dubalish – were sent to jail for 10 years
➤ Four persons, Prem Krishna Khanna, Ram Dulare Trivedi, Bhupendra Nath Sanyal and Banwari Lal, were awarded five years’ imprisonment
➤ Govind Charan Kar had come especially to execute the conspiracy. A member of HRA, he was arrested on Sep 26, 1925
➤ Mukundi Lal, a native of Etawah, was in the team which conducted the loot. He was arrested in Varanasi on Jan 17, 1926 and was lodged in Bareilly jail
➤ Har Govind, Sachindranath Biswas and Damodar Swarup were arrested and later released ➤ Ramnath Pandey and Pranvesh Kumar Chatterjee were jailed for four and three years, respectively
The backdrop
August 13, 2024: The Times of India
In the first decade of the 20th century, nationalist movement in India developed two factions — moderates and extremists. While the moderates followed the method of persuasion, extremists believed in reclaiming the nation even by force. Preferred to be known as revolutionaries, the extremists pushed their cause under the banner of Anushilan Samiti (established in 1902 by Satish Chandra Bose and Barrister Pramathanath Mitra in Kolkata). On the face of it, the Samiti was an organization of youth, but in reality it nurtured radical thoughts in utmost secrecy. In 1915, Mahatama Gandhi returned to India and five years later launched the non-cooperation movement which drew people from diverse walks of life. But then the course changed. Shailvee Sharda traces the journey of the historic event.
CHAURI CHAURA TRAMPLES CAUSE
This mass movement, launched by Mahatma Gandhi on Aug 1,1920, for right to selfgovernance evoked massive response from people. However, Gandhi decided to call it off following an attack on a police station in Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur (Feb 1922) in which 22 policemen were burnt alive.
Many revolutionaries involved in the Kakori Train Action, who were also a part of Gandhi’s movement, started losing faith in non-violent methods. Ram Prasad Bismil and his associates had even opposed Gandhi during the Gaya Congress meeting of 1922.
CHARTING REVOLUTIONARY PATH
Bismil decided to form a revolutionary organisation which later came to be known as Hindustan Republican Association (also Hindustan Republican Army) which sought to overthrow the British rule through armed struggle. Bismil met Sachindranath Sanyal (veteran of Anushilan Samiti) in Allahabad and decided to form HRA. Soon, a pamphlet titled ‘Revolutionary’, drafted by Bismil was published which laid out the goals and the philosophy of the association.
THE CHALLENGES
Manmathnath Gupta, a revolutionary who later wrote a first-hand account of the times in HRA in a book, ‘They Lived Dangerously – Reminiscences of a revolutionary’ touched upon the organisation’s need for funds to fuel its work. “Within a few months, the party had grown into a huge organisation and it required money to feed various lifelines. Whole-time workers – professional revolutionaries – had to be supported by the party,” he wrote opening the chapter (number 12) ‘Forced Contributions’.
“Besides the funds required for the up- keep of the whole-time revolutionaries, the party had other important items of expenditure. The travel of emissaries entailed a good deal of money. The party often used messengers for important communication because it was known that the letters were being censored. Books and pamphlets bought or published by the party cost a lot. The greatest item was of course buying arms through national and international smugglers. As there was no war going on, now we could not expect donations of arms from foreign powers (such as German friends),” he wrote.
FORCED CONTRIBUTIONS
For funds, revolutionaries resorted to ‘forced contributions’ which was a sophisticated term for ‘dacoities for funds and absconding for avoidance of arrests’ to fuel the movement. In Gupta’s words: “It was proposed to bring into use the method known as forced contributions in the jargon of Irish and Indian revolutionaries. Forced contribution as a method had been practiced by revolutionaries of Bengal long ago. Force contribution implies that a moneyed man, unwilling to contribute to party funds is made to contribute by force. In plain English, it means robbing but with a purpose such as in wars killing is done with a purpose. I did not like the word forced. Anyway the constitution of the party said that the method would be used to finance the party.”
GOING BIG
Over time, the group felt the need to conduct bigger hold-ups involving banks or trains. Barring Ashfaqullah, all others were in unison. Thus, the seeds of Train-8 hold up were sown. Ultimately, the project fructified.
WHAT BRITISH RECORDS SAY
According to the chargesheet lodged by the British police, the then station master at Charbagh railway station informed the Charbagh police station about the robbery in the 8 down train. “The train known as 8 down train from Hardoi to Lucknow had been stopped between Alamnagar and Kakori by the pulling of the communication cord and that dacoits had removed the cash safe from the train, broken it open and abstracted the cash and that they had fired guns during the dacoity,” the chargesheet read. “The 8 down train was due to arrive at Charbagh at 7.45pm but arrived on Aug 9, 1925, at 8.37 pm. The state master met the train and found that the safe which had contained all the cash receipts from all railway stations from Jatghar to Kakori excluding those at which there is a government treasury amounting all together to Rs 4,679 1/6 was missing,” the charge sheet read.
A special train was sent to the scene of dacoity. Two sub-inspectors, Sajjad Ali and Khurshed Ali Khan, with constables, and one Syed Jan, the brother-in-law of a man Ahmad Ali who was missing when the train arrived at Lucknow, returned by this train to Kakori. They found the empty safe and the dead body of Ahmad Ali lying beside the line about a mile from Kakori station in the direction of Alamnagar.
In his book, Manmathnath – who par- ticipated in the action – recalled that he was taken aback by newspaper reports claiming that three passengers, including one European, were killed in Kakori Action. “Later, the report was proved to be false. No Englishman was killed. An Indian passenger was killed. Despite the warnings, one passenger Ahmed Ali had come out of his compartment to see if his newly wed bride was safe and was killed by flying bullets,” wrote Gupta.
THE INVESTIGATION
The incident challenged the British might and its handling had to be exemplary. On Aug 14, an investigation into the case was launched. One RA Horton – who at that time was assistant to the deputy inspector general, investigation branch, criminal investigation department – was made in charge of the investigation. Horton stated in evidence that he formed the idea that the dacoity was the work of revolutionaries from the manner of its commission, the speech, appearance and clothing, and the kind of weapons used by them.
ARRESTS, TRIAL & PUNISHMENT
According to records, at least 40 people were arrested from different parts of UP between Sep 1925 and Jan 1926. While Manmathnath Gupta, Ram Dulare Trivedi and Govind Charan Kar were the first ones to be nabbed on Sep 26, 1925, Mukundilal was the last one to be picked on Jan 19, 1926. The police had declared Ashfaqullah and Chandrashekhar Azad as absconders. While Ashfaq was arrested on Dec 7, 1926, Azad ended his life in an encounter with the British police officer in Allahabad.
Legal defence for the arrested revolutionaries was provided by Govind Ballabh Pant, Mohan Lal Saxena, Chandra Bhanu Gupta, Ajit Prasad Jain, Gopi Nath Srivastava, RM Bahadurji, BK Chaudhury and Kripa Shankar Hajela. The cause of Kakori revolutionaries was upheld and supported by the likes of Motilal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Shiv Prasad Gupta, Shri Prakash and Acharya Narendra Dev. After the trial, the judge pronounced death sentence to Ram Prasad Bismil, Rajendra Nath Lahiri, Roshan Singh and Ashfaqullah besides sending Sachindra Nath Sanyal to life imprisonment (later sent to Port Blair Cellular Jail) and giving jail terms ranging from 14 years to five years. On Dec 17, 1927, Lahiri was hanged while the others were hanged on Dec 19, 1927.
