Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association | |
---|---|
Also known as | Hindustan Republican Association Hindustan Republican Army |
Founders | |
Political position | Far-left |
Part of | Revolutionary movement for Indian independence |
Allies | Anushilan Samiti |
Opponents | British Empire |
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), previously known as the Hindustan Republican Army and Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), was a radical
Origins
Background
The
Opposition of Gandhi in Gaya Congress
In February 1922, some agitating
of Chauri Chaura was attacked by the people and 22 policemen were burnt alive.Without ascertaining the facts behind this incident,
Yellow Paper constitution
With the consent of
Sharing responsibility
This meeting decided the name of the party would be the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). Bismil was declared the District Organiser for Shahjahanpur and chief of arms division, as well as provincial organiser of United Provinces. Sachindra Nath Sanyal became National Organiser and another senior member, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, was Coordinator of the Anushilan Samiti. After attending the meeting in Cawnpore, both Sanyal and Chatterjee left the United Province and proceeded to Bengal for further extension of the organisation.[citation needed]
The HRA established branches in Agra, Allahabad, Benares, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Saharanpur and Shahjahanpur. They also manufactured bombs in Calcutta – at Dakshineswar and Shovabazar and at Deoghar in Jharkhand (then Bihar province). The Calcutta workshops were discovered by the police in 1925 and those in Deoghar were found in 1927.[4]
Publication of Revolutionary
Sanyal wrote a manifesto for the HRA entitled Revolutionary. This was distributed around large cities of North India on 1 January 1925.[6] It proposed the overthrow of British colonial rule and its replacement with what it termed a Federal Republic of the United States of India. In addition, it sought universal suffrage and the socialist-oriented aim of the abolition of "all systems which make any kind of exploitation of man by man possible"[4]
The policies of Gandhi were criticised and youths were called to join the organisation. The police were astonished to see the language used and sought its leader in Bengal. Sanyal had gone to despatch this pamphlet in bulk and was arrested in Bankura, West Bengal. Before Sanyal's arrest, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee had also been caught by police at Howrah railway station of Calcutta, Bengal Presidency.
Early activities
There were many early attempts at disruption and obtaining funds, such as the robbery of the houses of a village officials at Dwarikapur and Bichpuri in 1922–23, but the
Major activities
In 1928, the British government set up the Commission, headed by Sir John Simon, to report on the political situation in India. Some Indian activist groups protested the commission, because it did not include a single Indian in its membership, although by no means all did so. The effect was to unite various activist factions in opposition.[7]
Responding to the rise in anti-colonial sentiment in 1928,[7] the HRA became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, with the change of name probably being largely due to the influence of Bhagat Singh.[8] Around the time of the Kakori robbery and the subsequent trial, various revolutionary groups had emerged in places such as Bengal, Bihar, and Punjab. These groups and the HRA met at Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on 8–9 September 1928, and from this emerged the HSRA.[a] The socialist leanings voiced in the earlier HRA manifesto had gradually moved more towards Marxism and the HSRA spoke of a revolution involving a struggle by the masses to establish "the dictatorship of the proletariat" and the banishment of "parasites from the seat of political power". It saw itself as being at the forefront of this revolution, spreading the word and acting as the armed section of the masses. Its ideals were apparent in other movements elsewhere at that time, including incidents of communist-inspired industrial action by workers and the rural kisan movement.[4] At the request of Bhagat Singh, the newly named HSRA resolved to bomb members of the Simon Commission and also to cease robbing rich people, the latter being a realisation that the Kakori conspirators had suffered most from the evidence given by such people.[7] At that time the HRA was being transformed into the HSRA and it was decided that the new organization would work in cooperation with the Communist International.
The HSRA's manifesto titled Philosophy of the Bomb was written by Bhagwati Charan Vohra.[9]
Killing of John P. Saunders
When the
This case of mistaken identity did not stop Singh and his fellow-members of the HSRA from claiming that retribution had been exacted.
The perpetrators of the Saunders murder having eluded capture and gone into hiding, the next major action by the HSRA was the bombing of the
Singh and
Later activities
In December 1929, the HSRA bombed the special
Decline
By 1930, most of the HSRA's main leaders were either dead or in
Criticism
The association's methods were diametrically opposite to that of
Prominent members
Name | Involved in | Outcome |
---|---|---|
Chandra Shekhar Azad | Kakori conspiracy, John P. Saunders assassination (1927) | Absconded in the |
Sachindra Nath Bakshi | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to life imprisonment in Kakori case; released in 1936 and became active in Congress but left the party after independence. He was elected as the MLA on Jan Sangh Party ticket[22] |
Suresh Chandra Bhattacharya | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case[21] |
Ram Prasad Bismil | Mainpuri conspiracy (1917) and Kakori conspiracy[23] | Absconded in Mainpuri case; Sentenced to Central Jail
|
Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to life imprisonment in Kakori case; became a Member of Parliament after independence |
Pranawesh Chatterjee | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to four years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case[21] |
Vishnu Sharan Dublish | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori conspiracy which was converted later into a life sentence after Naini Jail Case.[21] Joined Indian National Congress, freedom movement activities in Western Uttar Pradesh, became a member of parliament. |
Manmath Nath Gupta | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to 14 years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case; later became a journalist/writer; died in 1999 on the day of Deepavali .
|
Govind Charan Kar | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to life in Kakori case. |
Ashfaqulla Khan | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to death in Kakori case.[24] Hanged in 1926 at Faizabad Jail. |
Prem Krishna Khanna | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case.[21] He became a Member of Parliament from Shahjahanpur[25] in 1961 and 1966. |
Ram Krishna Khatri | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case.[21] |
Rajendra Nath Lahiri
|
Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to death in Kakori case.[citation needed] Hanged in 1926 at Gonda Jail.
|
Banwari Lal | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to two years' even after being an approver in the Kakori case.[21] |
Mukundi Lal | Mainpuri conspiracy (1917) and Kakori conspiracy[26] | Sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment in Mainpuri and life in Kakori conspiracy case; died in October 1981.[27] |
Ram Nath Pandey
|
Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case.[21] |
Bhupendra Nath Sanyal | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case[21] |
Sachindra Nath Sanyal | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to life imprisonment in Andaman Cellular Jail; died of tuberculosis at Bhowali TB sanatorium in 1942. |
Thakur Roshan Singh
|
Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to death in Kakori case.[ Allahabad Jail.
|
Raj Kumar Sinha | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case.[21] |
Ram Dulare Trivedi | Kakori conspiracy | Sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Kakori case.[21] |
Ajoy Ghosh | Lahore Conspiracy Case trial | He was arrested and latter imprisoned after Lahore Conspiracy Case trial in 1928 but released due to lack of evidence. Later, he joined general secretary of CPI in 1950.
|
Final time and Dissolution
After the death of Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, another associate Udham Singh operated the HSRA from London. HSRA was dissolved in 1940 when Udham was hanged.
Legacy
A bomb factory and hideout located in Turi Bazaar, Firozpur, has been declared as a national monument by the Government of Punjab.[28]
See also
- Sushila Didi
- Ashfaqulla Khan
- Delhi Conspiracy Commission
- Naujawan Bharat Sabha
- Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
- Workers and Peasants Party
References
Notes
- ^ The revolutionary group from Bengal did not formally associate itself with the HSRA in 1928 but did provide Jatindra Nath Das to give advice on explosives. The Bengal group did not accept the socio-economic aspects of revolution proposed by the other groups and preferred to see it purely in terms of nationalism.[4]
References
- ^ "To Young Political Workers".
- ^ "The Red Pamphlet".
- ^ "Ashfaqulla Khan: An epitome of Hindu-Muslim Unity and inspiration for the Youth".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gupta (1997)
- ^ Dr. Mehrotra N.C. Swatantrata Andolan Mein Shahjahanpur Ka Yogdan Page 109 & 146
- ]
- ^ a b c d Nair (2009)
- ^ Sawhney (2012), p. 380
- ^ a b Bowden & Davis (2009), p. 29
- ^ a b Rana (2005a), p. 36
- ^ Nayar (2000), p. 39
- ^ Rana (2005b), p. 65
- ^ Grewal (2007), p. 46
- ^ a b Singh, Lala & Hooja (2007), pp. 16–18
- ^ Khan, Lal (25 March 2013). "Bhagat Singh: Discovering the legacy". In Defence of Marxism. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "How Russian Revolution Inspired Undivided India's Literary, Political Figures". me NewsClick. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ Ralhan (1998), pp. 716–720
- ^ Ralhan (1998), pp. 720–730
- ^ Gandhi (2008), p. 298
- ^ Nayar (2000), pp. 173–175
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mahaur (1978), p. 30
- ^ Mahaur (1978), p. 84
- ^ Mahaur (1978), pp. 33, 65
- ^ "NAUJAWAN BHARAT SABHA & HSRA" (PDF).
- ^ Mahaur (1978), p. 89
- ^ Mahaur (1978), p. 65
- ^ Mahaur (1978), p. 64
- ^ "Revolutionaries' hideout at Ferozepur declared protected, Punjab govt tells HC". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
Bibliography
- Amstutz, Andrew. "Review essay: Alternative histories of revolutionaries in modern South Asia: context, chronology, and archives." India Review 18.3 (2019): 324–342. online[dead link]
- Bowden, Brett; Davis, Michael. T (2009), Terror: From Tyrannicide to Terrorism, Australia: Univ. of Queensland Press, ISBN 978-0-7022-3599-3
- Gandhi, Rajmohan (2008), Gandhi: the man, his people, and the empire, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-25570-8
- Grewal, P. M. S. (2007), Bhagat Singh, liberation's blazing star, New Delhi: LeftWord Books, ISBN 978-81-7488-865-5
- Gupta, Amit Kumar (1997), "Defying Death: Nationalist Revolutionism in India, 1897–1938", Social Scientist, 25 (9/10): 3–27, JSTOR 3517678(subscription required)
- Gupta, Manmath Nath (1993), Bhartiya Krantikari Andolan Ka Itihas, Delhi: Atmaram & Sons, ISBN 81-7043-054-2
- Maclean, Kama. A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence Image, Voice and Text (London, 2015) focus on the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army.
- Mahaur, Bhagwandas (1978), Kakori Shaheed Smriti, Lucknow: Ram Krishna Khatri Kakori Shaheed Ardhshatabdi Samaroh Samiti
- Nair, Neeti (May 2009), "Bhagat Singh as 'Satyagrahi': The Limits to Non-violence in Late Colonial India", S2CID 143725577
- Nayar, Kuldip (2000), The martyr: Bhagat Singh experiments in revolution, New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications, ISBN 978-81-241-0700-3
- Ralhan, Om Prakash (1998), Encyclopaedia of political parties, Volumes 33-50, New Delhi: Anmol Publications, ]
- Sawhney, Simona (2012), "Bhagat Singh: A Politics of Death and Hope", in Malhotra, Anshu; Mir, Farina (eds.), Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice, Oxford University Press, pp. 377–402, ISBN 978-0-19807-801-2
- Rana, Bhawan Singh (2005a), Bhagat Singh, Diamond Pocket Books, ISBN 978-81-288-0827-2
- Rana, Bhawan Singh (2005b), Chandra Shekhar Azad (An Immortal Revolutionary of India), Diamond Pocket Books, ISBN 978-81-288-0816-6
- Singh, Bhagat; Lala, Chaman; Hooja, Bhupendra (2007), The jail notebook and other writings, New Delhi: Left Word Books, ISBN 978-81-87496-72-4
Further reading
- Govind, Nikhil (2014). Between Love and Freedom: The Revolutionary in the Hindi Novel. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31755-976-4.
External links
- Media related to Hindustan Socialist Republican Association at Wikimedia Commons
- An interview with GS Potdar, who was associated with the HSRA (PDF; archived 4 April 2012)