Making Of A Revolutionary Bhagat Singh

Making Of A Revolutionary Over half a century ago, a bomb was thrown in the central Legislative Assembly, Delhi, “to make the deaf hear”. Bhagat Singh, the leader of the group, which committed this heroic act, has today become an ‘official mar- tyr’ of the capitalist-landlord government. In his memory, ministers give speeches, garland statues and inaugurate exhibitions. This is not surprising. When leaders of the oppressed masses die, the ruling class uses these meth- ods to divert the people from their revolutionary ideas by glorifying their name. Therefore, while exploiters make a mockery of Bhagat Singh’s mar- tyrdom, the working class and the people of India must once again remem- ber the revolutionary ideas of one of its bravest sons and pledge itself to the cause for which he and his comrades made the ultimate sacrifice. Born in 1917, Bhagat Singh belonged to a family well known for its anti-imperialist views. Ajit Singh, his uncle, was a nationalist leader who was imprisoned for his opposition to British imperialism. As Bhagat Singh grew up, India and the world underwent great changes. First, the needs of the First Imperialist War (1914-1918) led to a growth in industry and with that the numbers of the working class. Secondly, the revolution in Russia (1917) led by the working class gave inspiration to the liberation struggles in the colonial countries. In these circumstances, the Congress, led by Gandhi, started the Non- co-operation Movement. Thousands flooded the streets in response to Gandhi’s call. The days of British rule seemed num- bered. During the agitation, the peasants of Chauri Chaura attacked the police sta- tion to protest against the police brutality. Describing this militancy as “violence”, Gandhi called off the movement. The with- drawal of the struggle when it had just begun to gain strength was clearly a be- trayal. Most people, especially the youth,

1 Making Of A Revolutionary became frustrated. Bhagat Singh, along with Chandrashekar Azad, Sukhdev, Jatin Das and Yashpal, has actively participated in the non-cooperation movement. When the movement was withdrawn, they realized that there was some- thing wrong with the theory of “Ahimsa” that would destroy a mass-move- ment just because the peasants showed some militancy. Soon under the leadership of Sachindranath Sanyal, Jogeshchandra Chaterjee and Ram Prasad Bismil, the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) was formed in 1924, to meet the armed might of imperialists with armed resistance. Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Sukhdev became active members of the HRA. What did the HRA stand for? It wanted to overthrow British imperialism by a “social revolution”. In that period voting rights existed only for the propertied class and for the educated. Women of all classes were alltogether excluded from this right. The HRA’s proclamation issued in 1925, said it stood for “the abolition of all systems that made possible the exploitation of man by man”. By “abolishing the exploitative system”, the HRA meant “establishing a federal republic of united states, whose basic right would be the right to vote for all”. From the very beginning, the HRA paid lot of importance to reading and study. Its constitution stated that one of the qualifications of a HRA

2 Making Of A Revolutionary district organizer was “a capacity to grasp political, social and economic programmes of the present day, with special reference to his mother- land”. Even Chadrashekhar Azad, mainly a military leader, made others read out books in English to him and explain them until he grasped their main ideas. Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev who were then at Lahore, helped Lala Lajapath Rai to establish a library called “Dwaraka Das library”. They collected several books on revolution, particularly those of Russia, Ireland, Italy and popularised their reading. An avid reader, Bhagat Singh studied most of these books and with Sukhdev’s help, started study circles. Intensive discussions on political, economic and social problems took place at these study circles. Meanwhile, the British imperialists began to attack the newly formed organisation. After the Kakori conspiracy case in 1925, Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan, two leaders of HRA were killed by the imperialists. This incident, along with the other experiences, made Bhagat Singh and his comrades come to the conclusion that HRA had to make fundamental changes in its politics. To discuss these changes, they held a meeting near Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi on September 12th 1928. Bhagat Singh argued with the older members of the HRA that demanding voting rights for all was not enough and the goal of the HRA should be socialism. After a two-day debate, he convinced most of them of the correctness of his views. At his insistence a fundamentally different manifesto was drafted and the organisation’s name was changed to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. What differences did Bhagat Singh bring about in the HSRA’s ap- proach to revolution? Unlike the HRA, the HSRA stressed that Indian soci- ety was divided into classes and that British imperialist rule over India was part of class rule. The manifesto declared: “The position of the Indian proletariat today is extremely critical. It has double danger to face. It has to bear the onslaught of foreign capitalism on the one hand and the treacherous attack of Indian capital on the other. The latter is showing a progressive tendency to compromise with the former”. Thus, Bhagat Singh had realised that the oppression of the proletariat was because of capitalist rule, not merely foreign rule. This rule according to HSRA’s manifesto, could be ended only through

3 Making Of A Revolutionary a revolution. “Upheavals have always been a terror to holders of power and privilege, but, revolution is a phenomenon which nature loves and without which, there can be no progress either in nature or in human af- fairs. Revolution is not a philosophy of despair, or a creed of despera- does .. it is a vital, living force which is indicative of external conflict between the old and the new, between life and death, between darkness and light”. The manifesto stated that the goal of this revolution should be social- ism, “which alone can lead to the establishment of complete indepen- dence and the removal of all social distinctions and privileges”. Who is to lead the struggle for socialism? According to Bhagat Singh, “the nation can wage a successful struggle on the strength of organised workers, kisans and the common people”. The main appeal of the HSRA was directed towards the militant youth. This is clearly seen in December 1928 when the British police officer Saunders was assassinated by the HSRA for his role in the murder of Lala Lajapat Rai. In response to the assassination of Saunders, but mainly to attack the growing trade union movement in the large cities, the British introduced two laws. One was the Public Safety (Amendment) Bill, which restricted civil liber- ties, and invested in the Governor General the powers to drive out British or foreign communists from India. The other was the Trade Disputes Bill aimed against the working class movement, by curtailing all its trade union rights.

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The HSRA carefully prepared to answer this offensive of the imperialist. This was the “bomb plan”. April 8, 1929. It still remains one of the most memorable days in the history of people’s movement for freedom. The Central Legislative As- sembly waited for the finance minister to rise to introduce the Trade Dis- putes Bill. As the minister rose, a bomb was hurled from the visitor’s gallery exploding with a deafening blast. The ministers and members rose in fear, as copies of the “Red Leaflet” floated down from the gallery. Amidst the confusion and panic, a passionate cry filled the hall. It was the slogan of the proletariat “Inquilab Zindabad!” The police froze but Bhagat Singh and Dutt who had thrown the bomb made no move to escape. Calm and confident, they permitted the guards to lead them away. As they went, “Inquilab Zindabad” still rang in the air. The trial of Bhagat Singh and his comrades known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case, is extremely important for the working class. It gave Bhagat Singh and his comrades an opportunity to publicly declare what he and militant opponents of “Ahimsa” stood for. By declaring his views in court, Bhagat Singh was able to spread them throughout the country. In a joint statement made on June 6th, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Dutt stated that the revolution was the only way “to change the social order, based on manifest injustice”. The “manifest injustice” consisted in the fact that “producers and labourers in spite of being the most necessary ele- ment of society, are robbed by the exploiters of the fruits of their labour and deprived of their elementary rights. On the one hand, the peasant who grows grain for all starves with his family, the weaver who clothes the world, cannot find enough to cover himself, his wife and children’s bod- ies. Masons, smiths and carpenters who rear magnificent palaces, live and perish in filthy slums. On the other hand, capitalist exploiters, para- sites of society, squander millions on their whims. Those who celebrate life at the cost of the miseries of the labouring and starving people, are sitting on a volcano which is waiting to explode”. Explaining that only revolution could “ring the death knell of capital- ism”, Bhagat Singh continued: “By revolution we meant the ultimate es- tablishment of an order of society which may not be threatened by such

5 Making Of A Revolutionary social breakdowns and in which the sovereignty of the proletariat shall be recognised, as a result of which a world federation should redeem humanity from the bondage of capitalism and the misery of imperial wars”. In this way, Bhagat Singh exposed the bias of the state in favour of the propertied classes and defended his belief that “revolution is the in- alienable right of mankind”. The determination with which Bhagat Singh and his comrades de- fended their revolutionary views inspired lakhs of people. Frightened by this, the British decided to break the spirit of the masses. On October 7th 1929, the heroes of the Indian people were condemned to death. How- ever, the imperialist plan to terrorise the masses failed. Bhagat Singh and Dutt met the judgement with the twin cries of “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Long Live the Proletariat”. Awaiting execution, Bhagat Singh and his comrades continued the fight against the imperialists in prison. They organised a hunger strike to protest against the inhuman treatment of political prisoners. This struggle which led to the martyrdom of Jatin Das inspired the nation. Besides fighting imperialism, the revolutionaries spent lot of time on studies. Bhagat Singh took the opportunity to study and teach well known works of social- ism, including Karl Marx’s Capital. A fellow prisoner later said, “Bhagat Singh was an extremely well read man. His special sphere of study was socialism. It is generally believed that very few in India could be com- pared to him in the knowledge of his special subject. The economic ex- periments under the Bolsheviks greatly interested him”. He wrote 4 books in prison: Autobiography, The Door to Death, The Ideal of Socialism and The Revolutionary Movement of India. Unfortunately the manu- scripts of all the books have been lost. As he continued his studies and struggle in prison, Bhagat Singh’s views about revolution and socialism became more and more scientific. Earlier, the HRA and the HSRA had stood for socialism and revolu- tion. They believed that acts of self sacrifice by heroic individuals could arouse the masses to action. Certainly, heroism and self sacrifice are absolutely essential because without them no revolutionary movement can possibly succeed. The greatness of Bhagat Singh lay in the fact that

6 Making Of A Revolutionary he recognised that such actions of self sacrifice alone, on the part of individuals cannot prepare the exploited masses to overthrow the ex- ploiters. Only when heroism is linked with a revolutionary organisation, can the masses of working people participate and gain the strength to defeat the exploiters. In short, Bhagat Singh recognised that revolution was impossible without political education and militant organisation. This led him to the conclusion that the “main task should be the organisation of peasants and workers”. This task would not end merely by driving out the British imperialists. In a message from prison dated March 3rd 1931, Bhagat Singh said that the struggle in India would continue as long as “a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of the common people for their own ends. It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British capitalists or British and Indians in alliance or purely Indians”. Bhagat Singh’s views on the revolution also became sharper and clearer. In another message from prison, he declared: “We mean by revolution the uprooting of the present social order, for this, capture of state power is necessary. The state apparatus is now in the hands of the privileged class. The protection of the interest of the masses and the trans- lation of our ideals into reality, that is, the laying of the foundation of society in accordance with the principles of Karl Marx, demand the sei- zure of the state apparatus”. In February 1931, Gandhi had begun talks with the viceroy, Lord Irvin. The people expected Gandhi to use the negotiations to save the lives of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. But, did the “apostle of non- violence” save Bhagat Singh from the violence of imperialist gallows? On March 5th, 1931, he signed the agreement with Irvin without pressing for the withdrawal of the death sentence. Gandhi, himself admitted that he dismissed the idea to make the revocation of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh a precondition to the agreement he entered into with Irvin, and rather he stressed that the death sentence should be executed before the Karachi session of his party, and that is exactly what followed. On March 23rd, 1931, Bhagat Singh and two of his comrades, Rajguru and Sukhdev, were hanged by the British imperialists. Fifty years have passed since then. The government of the exploiters

7 Making Of A Revolutionary has taken the lead to name roads after these heroes, open schools and hospitals in their memories and film producers have made martyrdom into a commodity to be sold through the cinema. Each of these steps has been part of a great conspiracy to reduce these fighters for socialism and freedom, the heroic sons the proletariat into “misguided young people” whose death was dramatic and therefore an event for speech making, but whose life and teaching are too dangerous to be men- tioned by the exploiters . But, Bhagat Singh and his comrades still live! Every time the militant workers of India raise their war cry “Inquilab Zindabad!” they salute these deathless heroes. They remember that Bhagat Singh’s task of “uprooting the present social order” still remains to be done. Each time, they raise the slogan “Inquilab Zindabad!” they pledge to fulfil this historic task.

8 Making Of A Revolutionary Chandrashekar Azad Chandrashekar Azad (July 23, 1906 - February 27, 1927) was a great freedom fighter and revolution- ary thinker. Revered for his audacious deeds and fierce patriotism, he was the mentor of Bhagat Singh. Azad, was young when the non co operation movement was with- drawn by Gandhi, following the mili- tancy of the peasants at Chauri Chaura, where they killed policemen in retaliation for a peasant killed.Azad did not feel that violence was unacceptable in the struggle, es- pecially following the brutal killing of hundreds of innocents in the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. Young Azad and contemporaries like Bhagat Singh were deeply emotionally influenced by that tragedy. Strong and well built,he wanted to do something to shake the foun- dations of the British Empire.He did not beleive that just marches or hun- ger strikes would make any difference to the British. As a revolutionary he adopted the name Azad, and it is said, that while doing so, he took a pledge, that the police will never capture him alive. He is most famous for the Kakori rail dacoity in the year 1925, and the assassination of Assistant Superintendent of Police J.P.Saunders, in retaliation for the killing of Lala Lajpatrai.He was also involved in the bomb explosion in the Central Legislative Assembly. Azad and his compatriots would target British officials, known for their oppressive actions against ordinary people, or for beating and torturing arrested freedom fighters.Azad was a believer in Socialism, as the basis

9 Making Of A Revolutionary for a future India, free of social and economic oppression and exploita- tion. Azad trained Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and others in covert activities, and together they formed the Hindusthan Socialist Revolution- ary Army. On the 27th of February 1931, Chanddrasekhar Azad met two of those who worked with him. They have been named as Veer Bhadra and Prithviraj. Prithvi raj claims that he was there together with Veer Bhadra on that day, for a briefing on a mission to Russia.The revolutionaries of the HSRA were planning a revolution in india, with the help of the Com- munists in Russia.He said that during the meeting Veer Bhadra excused himself saying he has an appointment and left. He had been behaving suspiciously for a few days.A few minutes later a brigade of policemen fired a shot and the park had been surrounded.Azad asked Prithviraj to escape and he continued the fight alone.He had been shot in the leg, and the next moment one ripped through his arm. Azad shot down three policemen, before putting the pistol to his head and shooting himself. Till the last breath, the soldiers were terrified of his shooting skills. A dare devil to the last, Chandrashekar Azad is consided one of the greatest freedom fighters of India, together with Bhagat Singh, Sukdev Rajguru,Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan.

10 Making Of A Revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan

Revolutionaries Come Together. Ashfaqulla was born in the early part of th 20th century, in Shahjahanpur in UP.Dejected by Gandhi’s with- drawal of the non co operation movment, follow- ing the militancy shown by the peasants in Chauri Chaura, Ashffaqulla joined the revolutionaries. After the withdrawal of the non co operation movement, revolutionary ideas grew strong among the youth of the country.The British empire was large and strong and had a big army and powerful weapons. The young revolutionaries believed in violence. They wanted to make war on the British to strike terror in their hearts and force them to leave their motherland. The scattered revolutionaries became united and strong. Kashi (Varanasi) was the centre of their activities. They formed the Hindustan Republican Army. The main aim of the HRA was to win free- dom for the country through armed struggle. The HRA published a manifesto called ‘Krantikari’ in 1925, spelling out its aims and objectives.It was brought out on the same day in all towns from Calcutta to Lahore. The Government was scared. The mani- festo, explained the goals of the HRA. It said it was wrong for one man to become rich, by making another man work.It was wrong for one man to be the master of another. The HRA wanted to put an end to such thngs. Ramprasad Bismil was its chief organiser. Bismil was a man with rich experiences of conducting struggles. Ram Prasad Bismil, was a famous revolutionary at that time.Ashfaqula decided to win his friendship.As Bismil was an Arya Samaji and Ashfaqulla a devout Muslim, it took some time to win Bismil’s confidence.But because of Ashfaqulla’s untiring efforts they later not only became brothers, equals and comrades in the struggle, but ultimately the were martyred on the same day, but in different jails.

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Bismil in his autobiograpy, which he wrote in jail, and had secretly sent out, wrote a moving account on his friendship with Ashfaqulla: “I remember my first meeting with you at Shahjahanpur School ; we met after the British declared its policy towards India.You were sincerely trying to meet me.You wanted to talk to me about the Mainpuri plot.I suspected your intentions because you were a muslim, and i talked to you in an insulting way.You were greatly pained. You tried to convince me through your friends, that you were honest and earnest and that there was no pretence in you.You were determined to work hard for the good of the country.By your efforts you won a place for yourself in my heart. Ramprasad describes with great warmth how his friendship with Ashfaq grew after he pulled down the walls of suspicion. “You became my brother in a few days of friendship. But you wanted equality; you wanted to be my friend.You suceeded in your efforts; You became my honoured and loved friend. Everyone was surprised. i was a devote member of the Arya Samaj, you were a devote muslim.They wondered how we could be friendly.I used to invite Muslims to become Hindu’s. I lived in the hostels belonging to the Arya Samaj.You never troubled yourself about it.Though my friends suspected you, you always walked the straight path. You used to visit the Arya Samaj hostel. When there was a clash between hindus and muslims, some of your people scolded you and called you a ‘kaafir’ (non-believer). But you never joined them.You always supported hindu muslim unity. You were a true muslim and a true patriot. If you worried about anything it was about hindu-muslim unity.You wanted them to work for the betterment of the country. when i wrote an article or a book in hindi, you used to ask me why i did not write in urdu.You wanted that the muslims should also read it.You learnt hindi and became a scholar in it.You used hindi words when speaking at home. This surprised all. “Though some friends warned me that I should not trust a muslim and get cheated, nothing could stand between us now. We ate from the same plate, almost always.I began to get over the feeling that there was a difference between hindus and muslims. You had great love and faith in me, you stopped calling me by my full name. Always i was ‘Ram’ to

12 Making Of A Revolutionary you.Once you lost consciousness and you called out ‘Ram, Ram’. the muslims were shocked that you were calling to a hindu god in your last days, they told you to call on Allah. But you went on saying, ‘Ram, Ram’. By chance a friend who understood what was happening, sent for me, and when you saw me you rested, and became calm. “What was the result of our friendship finally ? You became a revolu- tionary. You had then one goal, you wanted to spread these ideas among muslim youth. You tried to kindle their interest. You wanted to persuade them to take part in revolutionary activities. You wanted to influence your friends and relatives. You never disobeyed, you were always ready to carry out instructions like an obedient soldier.”. We Need Money, But Where Is it ? The revolutionaries lacked one thing, that was money. to get arms, to maintain its members and to canvas support for the party, money was needed. They raised money through subscripions from their members, some got money from their homes by begging or stealing, others from their friends. But thousands was required to reach their goal. Money was required for the nations work. But where could they get it from ? Some- times they even committed dacoities, but they were unhappy to loot from their own people. Then one day, Ramprasad was walking from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow. He got off the train when the train had stopped and stood there watch- ing. At one station, he noticed a station master bring out a bag of money and get into the gaurd’s van. Bismil then took his seat next to the gaurd. He saw that at every station, money was being taken into the gaurd’s van. The bags were dropped into an iron safe. At Lucknow he observed that there was no special security arrangements. He ran up and noted the time and the train number from the timetable. He calulated that the money would amount to at least Rs.10,000 This was the beginning of the fa- mous Kakori action. After a few days the revolutionaries met. Members from Kasi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Agra attended the meeting. Ramprasad explained his plan. The members liked the idea. They were eager to use their cour- age and their strength.

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Ashfaq listened quietly. From the day he had heard about it , he had thought about it throughly. Ashfaq felt it was a hasty step, he told his comrades “it is a good plan in some ways, but let us think about our strength and the strength of the Government. In an ordinary dacoity, much money is not involved. Besides the Government will treat it as one of the many occurances. So we face only what the police normally do, in these cases. It will be a different case when we meddle with the money belong- ing to the Government. The entire Government machinary will be used to trace and crush us. In my opinion we cannot escape detection and pun- ishment. Our party is not strong enough let us drop this plan.” But all the others were caught up in a flood of enthusiasm and were not ready to listen to reason. After a long debate, they have decided to go ahead with the plan, and Bismil was entrusted with the task. He said,” friends we should not fire at anyone unless they fire at us. As far as possible, let us do the deed without bloodshed.” The Train is Stopped The sun was setting in the west. On 9th august 1925, the No 8, down train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was approaching Kakori.Someone pulled the chain and the train stopped abruptly. Ashfaqulla, together with his friends Sachindra Bakshi and Rajendra Lahiri got off a second class compartment.The gaurd had also got off to check who had pulled the chain.The two revolutionaries fell on him and made him lie face down.They warned him that he wouldd be shot dead if he lifted his head.Two others pushed the driver from the train and both fired shots from their pistols.They shouted to the passengers, “Travellers ! do not be afraid. We are revolu- tionaries, fighting for the freedom of our country. Your lives, your money and your honour are safe. But take care you do not peep out of the train.” Four young men entered the gaurds van. They pushed the box to the ground. It had a strong lock. Neither the drirver nor the gaurd had the key. The revolutionaries started dealing blow after blow to break it open. Ashfaq who was the strongest of them,all handed his pistol to a comrade and ran to the box. With his strong arms he hammered away at the box.

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Suddenly another train was heard in the distance. Bismil gave a call to stop striking the box and to lie low. The train passed.and they got busy again. Though there were Britishers with pistols in the train they dared not do anything. One curious man who put out his head, was fired upon and he died on the spot. The revolutionaries bundled the moneybags into rugs and some of them walked towards Lucknow with the bundles on their heads. Just ten men had carried out this task. Because of their courage, dis- cipline, patience, leadership and most of all, because of their love for their country, they were able to do this difficult job. The revolutionaries are : Ramprasad Bismil, Rajendra Lahiri. Thakur Roshan Singh, Sachindra Bakshi, Chandrashekar Azad, Keshab Chakravarthy, Banwari Lal, Mukundi Lal, Manmathnath Gupta, and Ashfaqulla Khan. The Lion Escapes A month passed after the Kakori action, and no one was arrested. But the Government had spread a big net. On the morning of 26th of September 1925, Ramprasad was ar- rested. Before the poice could arrest Ashfaq, he escaped from his home and hid in a sugarcane field half a mile away. At night his friends used to carry food to him. The police grew tired of searching for Ashfaq. They withdrew his brother’s gun license and took away his gun. All except Ashfaq were taken into custody. No longer able to hide at Shahjahanpur, he got some money from his home and left. He decided to go to Kasi, where some of the comrades had escaped. He wanted to consult them about the next course of action. He reached Kasi after a difficult journey. He met a few friends in the Banares University. They adviced him to live quietly for some time. With the help of some friends, he went to Bihar. He got a job, in an engineering firm at Daltongunj in Palamu district.No one knew who he was, he said, he was from a farmer’s family in Mathura.He worked in that firm for ten months.

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A Friend Betrays Ashfaq was a poet and wrote verses in Urdu. He wrote ‘shers’ and at a mushaira presented some of the shers composed by him. The people were delighted and exclaimed and clapped their hands. The proprietor of the firm in which Ashfaq worked was a lover of poetry, he became so proud of him, that he gave him a raise in salary ! In such an encouraging atmosphere Ashfaq improved his Hindi. He also learnt Bengali.Besides singing Hindi and Urdu songs Ashfaq also sang now in Bengali. If Ashfaq wanted only to escape death, he could have lived happily forever in Daltongunj. But this long and forced rest became tiresome. He felt he could become useful to his country by going abroad to study engineering. So Ashfaq went to Delhi, to make preparations . At Shahjahanpur, he met an old school friend, who was a pathan. The pathan took Ashfaq to his room, gave him dinner, and spent the evening talking with him. At 11 o’clock, Ashfaq returned to his room. The next morning as Ashfaq was still sleeping the police came to his door. The greedy pathan had betrayed Ashfaq for money. The British Court Of Justice. An army officer in the police department called Tasadruk Khan, who had served the British well, and risen to the post of Superintendent of Police, tried to reason with Ashfaq and to make him give evidence against his comrades. The policeman tried to persuade him against them, saying that being a muslim Ashfaq’s interests did not lie with the hindus, who were fighting to get back their kingdoms. But Ashfaq would hear none of it. He shamed the policeman for his treachery. Finally his case was added to the other Kakori cases. A committee was formed to defend the accused in the main case. Pandit Motilal Nehru was its Chairman. The other eminent men on the committee included, Jawaharlal, Sriprakasha, Acharya Narendra Deva, Govind Vallabh Patil, and Chandra Bhanu Gupta. The Court of Justice under the British rule gave its judgement, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and Roshan Singh

16 Making Of A Revolutionary were to be put to death, the others were given life imprisonment. The whole country protested against the verdict. Members of the Cen- tral Legislature represented to the Vicroy that the death sentences should be reduced to life sentences, appeals were sent to the Privy Councils the highest courts those days, but British imperialism was thirsting for the blood of the revolutionaries. “Death Comes But Once, Why Fear It ?” Thus sang one of Ashfaq’s poems. This is the faith of all revolutionaries. Ashfaqulla was an ideal revolutionary.He is among the formost, who gave their lives to win freedom of our country. He fully understood the danger to the revolutionary movement, by actions like the one at Kakori, but when his comrades made a decision to carry it out, Ashfaq did not keep away. He knew the danger, but he was not a coward. He was not afraid to speak out and forewarn others, of the danger he forsaw, so clearly. But he followed the decision and fully participated in the action, though he knew it would cost his life. Love for the motherland, clear thinking, courage, firmness and loyalty were embodied in Ashfaqulla. The importance of his role, is today many times multiplied,as the world and our country are deeply in need of such peoples heros, who will lead the struggles against imperialism and the dalal states.

17 Making Of A Revolutionary Tread the path of Bhagatsingh ! Tread the path of Revolution ! It is now 75 long years since Bhagatsingh, Rajguru and Sukhdev have been martyred. The British have gone but in their place as predicted by Bhagatsingh, they left behind their agents in the form of the Indian ruling classes. The working and toiling people are still in the clutches of imperi- alism. 70% of our people are still peasants, occupied in backward modes of agricultural production. The national capitalist class (the section of small industrial producers) are disallowed by foreign capital to develop industry that will be in the interests of our country. The Government of India works on the directions of the World-Bank, IMF & WTO, serving the MNCs, and their States. Globalisation is destroying our forests and fields and looting our natural resources. Tribals and peasants are fighting back valiantly. Privatisation and factory closures are taking away whatever secure jobs existed for workers. Crores are working and living in dehumanising con- ditions as contract labour. Unemployment increases everyday. As luxury goods flood the markets, the prices of essential items are kissing the skies. Privatisation of education and rising cost of living, is making it harder for the poor to educate their children. Those resisting these policies of globalisation are being brutally supressed. Firings, lathi charges, sending to jail and torturing, struggling people, has become regular feature. It is the path blazed by Bhagatsingh, Chandrashekher Azad, Ashfaqulla, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Dutt and so many other death defying youth, which inspired the masses of Indian people to rise against British Imperialism. It was the defiant masses who drove them out. Come Comrades, We are the proud inheritors of this glorious legacy. Let us understand the path of these millitant and patriotic youth. Let us tread their path and liberate our country and people from the stranglehold of imperialism and their Indian agents. Inquilab Zindabad ! 18 Making Of A Revolutionary

The roots of British Imperialism have been shaken, in fifteen years they will leave. A compromise will be reached, but it will not benefit the people. Many years will pass in anarchy. Then once more, the people will remember me... - Bhagatsingh in the year1931

Published by N. Vasudevan for Trade Union Solidarity Commitee, c/o Blue Star Employee Union Office, 3, Neelkant Apt. Gokuldas Pasta Lane. Dadar (E) Mumbai. Tel: 24150750.

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