Ram Prasad Bismil

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Execution by hanging
NationalityBritish Indian
Other names
  • Ram
  • Agyat
  • Bismil
Occupations
OrganizationHindustan Republican Association
MovementIndia's independence
Criminal chargeRobbery
Criminal penaltyCapital punishment
Criminal statusExecuted

Ram Prasad Bismil (pronunciation

Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, and fought against British Raj. He also had a good command over Urdu and the Hindi
languages and was an accomplished poet, composing in these languages using the pen names Ram, Agyat and Bismil, the latter through which he became famously known by.

He was also a multilingual translator and his Hindi poem "Manipuri ki Pratigya" became very famous.

Hindustan Republican Association. Bhagat Singh praised him[2] as a great poet-writer of Urdu and Hindi, who had also translated the books Catherine from English and Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot from Bengali
.

Early life

Ram Prasad Bismil was born on 11 June 1897 to Muralidhar and Moolmati devi in

moulvi. He was admitted to an English-language school, despite his father's disapproval, and also joined the Arya Samaj in Shahjahanpur. Bismil showed a talent for writing patriotic poetry.[3]

Contact with Somdev

As an 18-year-old student, Bismil read of the death sentence passed on Bhai Parmanand, a scholar and companion of Har Dayal. At that time he was regularly attending the Arya Samaj Temple at Shahjahanpur daily, where Swami Somdev, a friend of Paramanand, was staying.[8] Angered by the sentence, Bismil composed a poem in Hindi titled Mera Janm (en: My Birth), which he showed to Somdev. This poem demonstrated a commitment to remove the British control over India.[9]

Lucknow Congress

Bismil left school in the following year and travelled to

Garam Dal to stage a grand welcome of Tilak in the city. They organised a group of youths and decided to publish a book in Hindi on the history of American independence, America Ki Swatantrata Ka Itihas, with the consent of Somdev. This book was published under the authorship of the fictitious Babu Harivans Sahai and its publisher's name was given as Somdev Siddhgopal Shukla. As soon as the book was published, the government of Uttar Pradesh proscribed its circulation within the state.[10]

Mainpuri conspiracy

Bismil formed a revolutionary organisation called Matrivedi (Altar of Motherland) and contacted

United Province (now Uttar Pradesh) to strengthen their organisations.[11]

On 28 January 1918, Bismil published a pamphlet titled Deshvasiyon Ke Nam Sandesh (A Message to Countrymen), which he distributed along with his poem Mainpuri Ki Pratigya (Vow of Mainpuri). To collect funds for the party looting was undertaken on three occasions in 1918. Police searched for them in and around Mainpuri while they were selling books proscribed by the U.P. Government in the Delhi Congress of 1918. When police found them, Bismil absconded with the books unsold. When he was planning another looting between Delhi and Agra, a police team arrived and firing started from both the sides. Bismil jumped into the

Agra fort. From here, he fled to Delhi and lived in hiding. A criminal case was filed against them. The incident is known as the "Mainpuri Conspiracy". On 1 November 1919 the Judiciary Magistrate of Mainpuri B. S. Chris announced the judgement against all accused and declared Dixit and Bismil as absconders.[12]

Underground activities by Bismil

From 1919 to 1920 Bismil remained inconspicuous, moving around various villages in Uttar Pradesh and producing several books. Among these was a collection of poems written by him and others, entitled Man Ki Lahar, while he also translated two works from Bengali (Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot and Yogik Sadhan) and fabricated Catherine or Swadhinta Ki Devi from an English text. He got all these books published through his own resources under Sushilmala – a series of publications except one Yogik Sadhan which was given to a publisher who absconded and could not be traced. These books have since been found. Another of Bismil's books, Kranti Geetanjali, was published in 1929 after his death and was proscribed by British Raj in 1931.[13]

Formation of Hindustan Republican Association

In February 1920, when all the prisoners in the Manipuri conspiracy case were freed, Bismil returned home to Shahjahanpur, where he agreed with the official authorities that he would not participate in revolutionary activities. This statement of Ram Prasad was also recorded in vernacular before the court.[14]

In 1921, Bismil was among the many people from Shahjahanpur who attended the

Mohandas K. Gandhi, who was not in the favour of this proposal became quite helpless before the overwhelming demand of youths. He returned to Shahjahanpur and mobilised the youths of United Province for non-co-operation with the Government. The people of U.P. were so much influenced by the furious speeches and verses of Bismil that they became hostile against British Raj. As per statement of Banarsi Lal (approver)[15] made in the court – "Ram Prasad used to say that independence would not be achieved by means of non-violence."[16][failed verification
]

In February 1922 some agitating farmers were killed in

Moti Lal Nehru and Chittranjan Das, and the youth group formed a revolutionary party under the leadership of Bismil.[17][18]

Yellow Paper constitution

With the consent of

Lala Har Dayal, Bismil went to Allahabad where he drafted the constitution of the party in 1923 with the help of Sachindra Nath Sanyal and another revolutionary of Bengal, Dr. Jadugopal Mukherjee. The basic name and aims of the organisation were typed on a Yellow Paper[19] and later on a subsequent Constitutional Committee Meeting was conducted on 3 October 1924 at Cawnpore in U.P. under the Chairmanship of Sachindra Nath Sanyal.[20]

This meeting decided the name of the party would be the

Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). After a long discussion from others Bismil was declared there the District Organiser of Shahjahanpur and Chief of Arms Division. An additional responsibility of Provincial Organiser of United Province (Agra and Oudh) was also entrusted to him. Sachindra Nath Sanyal, was unanimously nominated as National Organiser and another senior member Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, was given the responsibility of Coordinator, Anushilan Samiti. After attending the meeting in Kanpur, both Sanyal and Chatterjee left the U.P. and proceeded to Bengal for further extension of the organisation.[21]

Manifesto of H.R.A.

A pamphlet entitled as The Revolutionary was distributed throughout the United Province in India in the beginning of January 1925. Copies of this leaflet, referred to in the evidence as the "White Leaflet", were also found with some other alleged conspirators of Kakori Conspiracy as per judgement of the Chief Court of Oudh. A typed copy of this manifesto was found with

Manifesto of H.R.A.
in the form of a four paged printed pamphlet on white paper which was circulated secretly by post and by hands in most of the districts of United Province and other parts of India.

This pamphlet bore no name of the printing press. The heading of the pamphlet was: "The Revolutionary" (An Organ of the Revolutionary Party of India). It was given first number and first issue of the publication. The date of its publication was given as 1 January 1925.[22]

Kakori train robbery

External videos
video icon Kakori train action.

Bismil executed a meticulous plan for looting the government treasury carried in a train at

Kakori train robbery. Ten revolutionaries stopped the 8 Down Saharanpur-Lucknow passenger train at Kakori – a station just before the Lucknow Railway Junction. German-made Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols were used in this action. Ashfaqulla Khan, the lieutenant of the HRA Chief Ram Prasad Bismil gave away his Mauser to Manmath Nath Gupta
and engaged himself to break open the cash chest. Eagerly watching a new weapon in his hand, Manmath Nath Gupta fired the pistol and accidentally shot and killed passenger Ahmed Ali, who had gotten down from the train to see his wife in the ladies compartment.

More than 40 revolutionaries were arrested whereas only 10 persons had taken part in the decoity. Persons completely unrelated to the incident were also captured. However some of them were let off. The government appointed

Privy Council in London but that also failed.[24]

Following 18 months of legal process, Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh and

Rajendra Nath Lahiri were sentenced to death. Bismil was hanged on 19 December 1927 at Gorakhpur Jail, Ashfaqulla Khan at the Faizabad Jail and Thakur Roshan Singh at Naini Allahabad Jail. Lahiri had been hanged two days earlier at Gonda
Jail.

Bismil's body was taken to the Rapti river for a Hindu cremation, and the site became known as Rajghat.[25]

Literary works

Bismil published a pamphlet titled Deshvasiyon ke nam sandesh (en: A message to my countrymen). While living underground, he translated some of Bengali books viz. Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot (en: The Bolshevik's programme) and Yogik Sadhan (of Arvind Ghosh). Beside these a collection of poems Man Ki Lahar (en: A sally of mind) and Swadeshi Rang was also written by him. Another Swadhinta ki devi: Catherine was fabricated from an English book

condemned prisoner in Gorakhpur jail.[27][28]

The autobiography of Ram Prasad Bismil was published under the cover title of Kakori ke shaheed by Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi in 1928 from Pratap Press, Cawnpore. A rough translation of this book was prepared by the Criminal Investigation Department of United Province in British India. Translated book was circulated as confidential document for official and police use throughout the country.[29]

He immortalised the poem Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna, Man Ki Lahar and Swadeshi Rang as a war cry during the British Raj period in India.[30] It was first published in journal "Sabah", published from Delhi.[31]

Memorials

Ram Prasad Bismil Udyan (Park) in Greater Noida

Shaheed Smarak Samiti of

Governor of Uttar Pradesh Motilal Vora on 18 December 1994 on the eve of the martyr's 69th death anniversary.[32]

The Northern railway zone of Indian Railways built the Pt Ram Prasad Bismil railway station, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Shahajahanpur.[33]

There is a memorial to the Kakori conspiracists at Kakori itself. It was inaugurated by the prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, on 19 December 1983.[34]

The

postal stamp on 19 December 1997 in Bismil's birth centenary year.[35]

The government of Uttar Pradesh had named a park after him: Amar Shaheed Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil Udyan is near Rampur Jagir village, where Bismil lived underground after the Mainpuri conspiracy case in 1919.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ram Prasad Bismil Birth Anniversary 2021: All you need to know". India Today. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  2. ^ Waraich 2007, p. 101.
  3. ^ a b "Ramprasad. Bismil's Idea of Revolution Is Impervious to Saffronisation". thewire.in. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ "About Ramprasad Bismil". m.jagran.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  7. ^ Punwani, Jyoti (10 August 2013). "Post Freedom Struggles". The Hindu.
  8. ^ Waraich 2007, p. 32.
  9. ^ "Who is Ram Prasad Bismil, the young freedom fighter who inspired a generation". The Indian Express. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Lucknow Congress". Britannica.
  11. ^ Bismil 1927, p. 27.
  12. ^ "Revolutionary actions in Mainpuri". Sankalp Foundation.
  13. ^ "Ramprasad Bismil's Idea of Revolution Is Impervious to Saffronisation". The Wire. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Hindustan Republic Association". IAS toppers.
  15. .
  16. ^ Singh, Bhagat (2007). "Review Article" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  17. ^ Arya 1984.
  18. ^ Waraich 2007, p. 56.
  19. ^ .
  20. ^ Bhishma 1929, p. 71.
  21. ^ Simha 2009, p. v. 11.
  22. OCLC 219562122
    .
  23. .
  24. ^ Waraich 2007, p. 97.
  25. ^ "VIDEO: देश में बना पहला अशफाक उल्ला खां और राम प्रसाद बिस्मिल स्मारक, हिंदू-मुस्लिम भाईचारे की मिसाल कर रहा पेश". Patrika News (in Hindi). 23 January 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  26. ^ Breshko-Breshkovskaia, Ekaterina Konstantinovna; Blackwell, Alice Stone (1 January 1918). "The little grandmother of the Russian revolution;". Boston, Little, Brown – via Internet Archive.
  27. ^ Rajesh Tanti (24 June 2016). Hindi Ramprasad Bismil Ki Atmakatha.
  28. ^ Arya 1984, p. 93.
  29. ^ Bhishma 1929, p. 125.
  30. . Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  31. ^ Ulhaque, T. M. Zeya (November 2013). "Bismil Azimabadi : Life Sketch". Spritualworld.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  32. ^ "जयंती विशेष:रामप्रसाद बिस्मिल ने फांसी से तीन दिन पहले इस जेल में पूरी की थी आत्मकथा". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  33. ^ "PRPM/Pt Ram Prasad Bismil (1 PFs) Railway Station Map/Atlas - India Rail Info".
  34. ^ Sinha, Arunav (9 August 2011). "Tourist spot tag may uplift Kakori". The Times of India. Lucknow. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  35. ^ "RAM PRASAD BISMIL - ASHFAQUALLAH KHAN".
  36. ^ "वतन की ख्वाहिशों पे जिंदगानी कुर्बान(en:Sacrifice of life for homeland)". Dainik Jagran (Hindi Jagran City-Greater Noida) New Delhi. 12 August 2012. p. 24.

Further reading

External links