Chandrashekhar Azad’s struggle in the freedom struggle started at the age of just fifteen years. He started this journey following Gandhi’s non-violent path with which he was soon to become disillusioned. The destination was the same, but like all the youth, he also believed that to liberate himself from the British, he would have to take up arms. He led the revolutionary stream of fight. Azad was his surname and identity. It was a vow to remain free till my last breath. To stay alive under any circumstances and not fall into the hands of the British Raj police. He did it. The police could not touch his body while he was alive. Read the exciting story of immortal martyr Chandrashekhar Azad on Martyrdom Day,
This was the age of play and fun. But a 15-year-old teenager from a Sanskrit school, actively participating in Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement of 1921, stood in the eyes of the police. There was so much anger in his mind regarding slavery and the desire for freedom was so strong that in response to every question of the court, the message of freedom was emanating from his tongue. There is only one answer to the question of name, Azad. Told father’s name as Swadhin.
Strict punishment of caning at the age of playing and playing
Asked for home address. He had such courage that he openly told about jail. There is no trace of fear. Said don’t look at age. No fear of jail. No question of apology. The court gave a strict punishment of 15 strokes of the cane. While bearing the pain of the harsh canes falling on Kishore’s soft body, Azad was telling that he is ready for the tough tests ahead. How painful this punishment of caning was, Azad’s revolutionary friend Vishwanath Vaishampayan has written in his book, “In my eight years of jail life, I have seen many prisoners being caned. The scavenger who used to cane used to get one seer of milk from the jail that day.
The cane kept getting wet in dirty water. The prisoner was tied to a ticket. There was a thin cloth on the prisoner’s buttocks. The scavenger used to hit the cane with full force. Jail officers would have been present. Often those who were punished with caning would take the drug of ganja and hashish to forget the pain and suffering. After the punishment, he would bleed and lie on his stomach for several days. “Instead of moaning, Azad kept challenging the British rule by raising slogans of Bharat Mata and Vande Mataram. Blood was coming out from the wounds but there was no wrinkle on his face. Instead of breaking his courage, this punishment strengthened his courage to fight.
Chandrashekhar Azad.
Those ten years of difficult challenges
The next ten years of Azad’s life were full of revolutionary action and the challenges of this difficult path. He was walking on that path due to which the people of the country had sympathy and support for the revolutionaries, but due to the fear of getting trapped in trouble, there were many ifs and buts in giving any kind of help. As a commander, Azad was responsible for everything from collecting food and weapons for his comrades to carrying out actions and finding safe escape routes.
Azad did it. He had an active role in the Kakori Action on 9 August 1925. Many of his companions were caught. In this action, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged. Despite all efforts, police and intelligence agencies could not reach Azad. They kept dodging the police by constantly changing their disguises and locations.
Not silent even in Ferrari
Azad remained equally active even during the difficult times of exile. His motive for avoiding police arrest was not the fear of jail. Rather, through every next revolutionary action, he wanted to involve the country and especially the youth in the struggle against British rule. Saunders murder on 17 December 1928 was a major action of revolutionary comrades. During the Satyagraha in protest against the Simon Commission, Lala Lajpat Rai was badly injured by the police with batons.
This was the reason for his death. The revolutionaries had vowed revenge. Azad also took part in this action along with Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Later, Azad played a big role in safely evacuating Bhagat Singh and other comrades from Lahore. They were away from the police, but the revolutionaries were not ready to remain silent just to avoid jail.
The decision of Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt to throw a bomb in the assembly on 8 April 1929 was different from the previous actions of the revolutionaries in that this time they had decided to arrest instead of fleeing. Azad did not agree that Bhagat Singh should take part in this action. He was not even in favor of arrest but due to the insistence of his friends and Bhagat Singh, he had to accept it.
Bhagat Singh.
The organization became weak due to Bhagat Singh going to jail.
The organization started weakening after Bhagat Singh and his comrades went to jail. Azad still did not lose courage. On 23 December 1929, Azad and his comrades threw a bomb on the train of Viceroy Lord Irwin. The attempt failed. Further attempts to free Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt from jail also failed. In this preparation, Bhagwati Charan Vohra was martyred during the bomb test on 28 May 1930. This was a huge loss. Azad and his remaining comrades were forced to leave Lahore. Azad was becoming lonely and the police cordon was tightening. Azad was faced with the challenge of re-establishing the organization. There was a search for new companions and resources. But the people who were once together were also increasing the crisis by giving information to the police.
The pledge to remain independent came true
On 27 February 1931, at around ten in the morning, while Azad and Sukhdev Raj were entering Alpharetta Park in Allahabad, they saw a man barking on the culvert. He looked at Azad carefully. Sukhdevraj looked at him. Got suspicious. Sukhdev came back and sat under the tree with Azad. At the same time, a person was seen passing in front of Muir on Thornhill Road. Azad said, Virbhadra is going. Just then a car stopped on the road in front. An Englishman and two Indians came out in plain clothes. The white man pointed the pistol and asked in English, who are you people? In response, Azad and Sukhdev took out their pistols. Fired immediately. But the bullet had already been fired from the Englishman’s pistol. The British bullet hit Azad in the thigh. Azad’s bullet in the shoulder of the Englishman.
Amidst the rapid firing from both sides, the British took cover under the Maulshree tree. His two companions hid in the drain. Azad and Sukhdev took cover under the jamun tree. The firing stopped for a few moments. Azad told Sukhdev that he was shot in the thigh, you run away. Sukhdev ran towards the summer house. In reality C.I.D. Azad was surrounded under the leadership of Special Superintendent JRH Not Babar and Deputy Superintendent Visheshwar Singh. Babar was shot on his shoulder. Then he could not fire his pistol.
Visheshwar Singh was seen running towards the road bleeding after being shot in the face. Meanwhile more forces reached there. Azad had already been shot on his thigh. They were in no position to run away from there. Fighting till the end, he martyred himself by firing the last bullet of his pistol. His resolution was, I am free and will remain free. Made it come true.
Why couldn’t he be captured alive?
Why could the British police not catch Azad alive till the end? His determination to remain independent, bravery, courage and strategy played a big role in this. While preparing for the action, he used to think a lot about the way to get out safely. A big reason was that the police did not have any photograph of him. The only photo of him twitching his mustache in lungi was taken by master Rudra Narayan, an associate of the revolutionaries, in Jhansi.
After the Kakori incident, Azad had sent his colleague Vishwanath Vaishampayan to Jhansi to destroy the negatives. The master said, think about it then you will yearn for Azad’s photo. The master kept the photo film safely inside the wall. Vaishampayan lied to his commander for the first and last time out of deep guilt. Azad used to change his whereabouts, appearance and profession rapidly, not only after any action, but also after the arrest of any associate.
The British administration wanted Azad to be captured alive so that the revolutionary network and its plans could be unearthed. There was also a desire to crush his revolutionary thinking through trial and hanging. But Azad did not give this opportunity. With his sacrifice he became a legend and became immortal.
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