India's freedom struggle was a long and difficult one that took the lives of several brave hearts in their efforts to free India from the shackles of colonial dominion. In the journey of reviving the soul of the nation, among the illustrious group of freedom fighters, the name of Chandrashekhar shines through. He was only in his early twenties when through his efforts he brought down the powerful colonial power to its knees. His valor and passion for freedom continue to be a source of inspiration for many youth around the world.
Early Life Of Chandra Shekhar Azad
Chandra Shekhar Azad was born on 23 July 1906 as Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari in the princely state of Bhabhra village, Alirajpur, British India. His mother Jagrani Devi was the third wife of his father, whose earlier wives had died young. Chandra Shekhar's forefathers belonged to Badarka village of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh and moved to Alirajpur state after the birth of his elder brother, Sukhdev.
After finishing his primary education at Bhabhra, he was sent to Kashi Vidyapeeth at Benaras for his further education. His mother, Jagrani wanted him to become a great Sanskrit scholar and persuaded his father to send him there as it was a well known institution that taught in Sanskrit and had produced several Sanskrit scholars. Surrounded by the Bhil community where he lived for along time, he mastered his skills in wrestling, swimming, and archery.
Chandra Shekhar Azad's First Arrest
Chandra Shekhar was drawn towards the Indian national movement from an early age and became passionate about it under the influence of his friends in college. While he was studying at the Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1921, the Non-Cooperation Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi was at its peak. The institution had become a breeding ground for the budding nationalists.
The young Chandra Shekhar, who was only 15 years old at that time participated in the movement and led a peaceful, non-cooperation protest with others. During the protest, elderly leaders were beaten by the British police which angered the young Chandra Shekhar and he threw a stone at one of the police officers, injuring him. As a consequence, he was chased and arrested by them on 20th December.
He was taken into custody and summoned after a week before the Parsi District Magistrate by Justice M. P. Kharegha. On being interrogated, he declared his title as "Azad'' meaning "The Free", and his father's name as "Swatantrata" meaning "Independence", and described his place of residence as the "Jail." This infuriated the magistrate and he punished him with fifteen lashes. Since then, he became popular as Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Chandra Shekhar's Dissatisfaction With The Non Cooperation Movement
The non-cooperation movement persuaded every Indian to withdraw their contribution from anything that sustained the British government and economy. By employing non-violent means or Ahimsa, the movement was well received by the Indians across the country and saw huge participation among them, especially youths.
However, the incident at Chauri Chaura took a violent turn in which the agitated crowd killed 22 policemen who had beaten up the leader of a group of volunteers campaigning against high food prices and liquor sales.
Gandhi was prompt to withdraw from the movement as he felt that people did not understand the method of non-violence. His sudden withdrawal from the movement disappointed several leaders and revolutionary youths including Chandra Shekhar Azad who had full faith in Gandhi's ideology.
It was a blow to his nationalist sentiments and he gradually realized that non-violence methodology could not alone stand the atrocities of the British and drive them away. During this time, the said movement had also stopped striking chords with people's nationalistic views and also the British had stopped taking it seriously.
Moreover, individuals with an extremist approach were treated very badly and mercilessly by the British. Azad could not stand the atrocities inflicted on them anymore and started having doubts about attaining independence through peaceful means. He was offered to be a member of the Indian National Congress (INC), but he preferred not to join it as he felt it was not serious for the independence of the country.
Chandra Shekhar Azad's Revolutionary Activities
1] Involvement With the Hindustan Republic Association
After Gandhi's unexpected withdrawal from the movement, Azad started losing his ideology and during that time, he came in touch with Manmath Nath Gupta who introduced him to Ram Prasad Bismil, the co-founder of Hindustan Republic Association (HRA). It was created by a group of nationalists who felt that the suspension of the movement was unwarranted and thus formed a revolutionary organization of radical individuals who sought to overthrow the British government.
Azad became an active member of the revolutionary group and started collecting funds for it to sustain itself. Most of their funds used to come from looting the government property. The members of the group decided to rob the train at Kakori which was scheduled to travel from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow, on 9th August,1925.
While it was passing through Kakori, Rajendra Lahiri pulled the emergency chain to halt the train and other members robbed about Rs.8000, in which one passenger was also killed, unintentionally. The plan was executed by Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Mukundi Lal, Banwari Lal, Asfaqullah Khan, Sachindra Bakshi, Murari Lal Gupta, Keshab Chakravarty, Manmathnath Gupta, and Rajendra Lahiri.
These were the objectives why the train robbery was executed-
It was believed that the train had bags of money which were the taxes collected from the Indians by unjust means and were being transferred to the British treasury.
To fund their revolutionary group, HRA.
To make the rest of the Indians know about their presence.
The incident became popular as the Kakori Train Robbery Incident and was considered a manslaughter case as a lawyer, Ahmad Ali was killed unemotionally by Bismal's firing. Later, two of the members were arrested in the case and were imprisoned in Andaman's cellular jail. A bounty of Rs.2000 was kept on Chandrashekhar Azad and several lookout notices floated in search of him.
He kept himself in disguise as a chauffeur, sage, and laborer, among others to protect his identity. After the death of Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar Azad took the leadership of the group in his hands and consulting with other members, re-organized the group under its new name, Hindustan Socialist Republic Association (HSRA).
Azad was also made to function as the commander-in-chief of the HSRA. He had also planned to blow up the Viceroy's train in 1926 but the plan could not be carried out due to the group's members' internal disagreement.
While being in the HRA, he had developed a close bond with Bhagat Singh, and his patriotic spirit had a deep impact on Azad. It is said that when he planned for the bombing incident at the Central Assembly Hall, he had wanted some other member to accomplish the task other than Bhagat Singh as the police were already in search of him and Sukhdev due to J.P. Saunders case. But Bhagat Singh was adamant on his decision and carried on the operation.
2] Chandra Shekhar Azad's Activities At Jhansi
While he was in escape from the British police, he mostly used to be in disguises and moved from one place to another including Delhi, Lucknow, Benaras, and Jhansi. It was around this time that he had made Jhansi the hub for the revolutionary group's meetings and assemblies. He had good contacts with Master Rudra Narayan Singh and lived with him along the banks of Satar, near the Hanuman Mandir.
Being a proficient archer, he taught archery to other members and children who lived in that area. He had disguised himself as Pandit Harishankar Brahmacharya and lived under this alias for a very long time to save himself from the British police.
While in Jhansi, he came in touch with Bhagwan Das Mahaur, Sadashivrao Malkapurkar and Vishwanath Vaishampayan who introduced him to their revolutionary group. He learned to drive a car in Sadar Bazar at the Bundelkhand Motor Garage and acquired the driver's license from a police superintendent while being disguised.
Owing to his driving skills, he was often called by the police "superintendent" to drive his car. Azad also used to teach other members how to make bombs and gave them the book "The Indian War of Independence 1857" by Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to motivate them about the nationalist spirit.
3] Azad's Role In Chittagong Armory Raid
Chandra Shekhar Azad's contribution in the raid of the Chittagong Army was a significant one, even though he was not present in the scene. The raid was led by Surya Sen in 1930 which was an attempt to seize the weapons from the British force at Chittagong, and was loosely inspired by Russian communalism and the Easter Rising in Ireland. Azad was one of the mentors of the raid who sent his comrades including Kalpana Dutta and Ananta Singh along with ammunition, funds, and arms for the raid.
Even though the raid could not be successful as it faced betrayal from informers and a lack of enough ammunition, it was one such incident that expressed the revolutionaries' strength and strong intent in showing their disagreements and disappointment with the colonial power. Azad and Surya Sen kept in contact to rescue the comrades from captivity who had been caught in the incident.
Death Of Chandra Shekhar Azad
While Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were in jail for the bombing at Central Assembly Hall and assassination of J.P. Saunders, Chandra Shekhar continued his activities, in disguise. He was at the top of the search list of the British police who were on constant lookout for him as he had been successful in chalking out activities against them.
On 27th February 1931, someone had informed J.R.H. Nott Bower, the CID head of police at Allahabad about the whereabouts of Azad. Though unsure, he did not want to take the risk of losing an opportunity to get hold of Azad, so he followed the tip. It was informed that Azad was in Alfred Park to meet Sukhdev Raj and accordingly they Bower and Allahabad went to the park to capture him.
Upon reaching the park, they surrounded all sides leaving any scope for Azad to flee. Bower and DSP Thakur Visheswar Singh entered Alfred Park armed with rifles and began the shootout. Azad, sensing that he has been captured, hid behind a tree and shot three policemen injuring them badly. However, while giving shelter to Sukhdev Raj and fighting off other police officers, he himself was injured and instructed Raj to move out to continue the freedom struggle.
After a long shootout, when Azad realized that it was not possible for him to make it through the park, he shot himself on the head with the gun and died on the spot. He chose to take his own life rather than surrender himself to the British to hold true to his pledge of being 'Azad', in life or death.
His own martyrdom robbed him of the opportunity to see the nation free with his eyes but he was successful in igniting the fire in the youths and revolutionaries whose strength has been crushed by the continuous atrocities inflicted by the British. His body was cremated in Rasulabad Ghat in secrecy without letting anyone know about it, but the news spread like a wildfire after some time and people surrounded the park in great numbers to honor and appreciate his bravery.
Chandra Shekhar Azad's Legacy And Contemporary Relevance
His idea of nationalism was very different from others and holds ample relevance in present day India. He did not believe in the communal riots and tried to reconcile democracy with Islam. His vision of democracy, courage, organizational skills, and commitment guides people to stand up against oppression and freedom. His martyrdom has undoubtedly left an immortal trace in history.
To honor his efforts and courage, Alfred Park has been re-named as Chandra Shekhar Azad Park, Allahabad, and several colleges, roads, lanes, schools are named after him. Nehru in his book mentions about Azad he was doubtful of his methods as well peaceful methods envisaged by Gandhi. He wanted to free India but not at the cost of the lives of numerous innocent people.
His mother, Jagrani Devi had to pay a huge price for her son's martyrdom who was reduced to penury. For years, she was of the belief that his son would return, but he did not, he chose to be 'Azad' and refused to act according to the unjust and torturous rules set by the British. Undoubtedly, he is the ultimate epitome of freedom who paved the way for other rebellious freedom fighters.
Note for UPSC Aspirants: For UPSC aspirants interested in exploring further, here are some keywords to guide your research:Chandrashekhar Azad, freedom fighter, revolutionary, India, nationalist, martyr, inspiration, struggle, bravery, resistance, leader, legacy, sacrifice, hero, colonial oppression.
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