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| Sunday, 20 June 2004 |
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'Gandhian Salt March' boy hero Salt & Spice by Rohan Jayetilleke The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 with the perspectives of tearing asunder the British shackles over India. The British government imposed a tax on salt and essential commodity of the Indian masses and in 1888 the tax was raised to unbearable proportions. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, addressing the eleventh sessions of the Congress held at Pune, creating a sense of national consciousness among the Indian people over this inhuman tax. This was the first straw that was to break the back of the British camel and the last straw came when Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920. Chander Shekhar Azad, a 14-year-old student of Benares Sanskrit Pathasala, was arrested for taking part in the movement. On being produced in courts, the British magistrate asked that was his name. He replied, "My name is Azad (free), my father's name is Swatantra (independence) and my residence is 'Prison'. There was steel in his voice and (his eyes shone with pride. He was hand-cuffed and the magistrate was infuriated and ordered fifteen lashes. The boy was stripped and with a special whip, tied to a triangle and flogged with every lash the boy shouted 'Vande Mataram' and Mahatma Fandhi ki jai (worship to Mother India long live Mahatma Gandhi) The entire public who witnessed the resolute endurance of the by hailed him as 'Azad'. Since then name stayed. After the withdrawal of Non-Violent Non-Cooperation Movement, the Revolutionary movement reasserted itself, Azad was introduced to the revolutionaries by Manmath Nath Gupta and he joined the Hindustani Socialist Republican Army in 1922. He was appointed the leader of the army in, Uttar Pradesh and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1924. He thus became 'infant terrible' to the Police in Punjab and Delhi. The first armed insurrection took place on August 9, 1925, conceived by Ramprasad Bismal and ably assisted by Chander Shekhar. He was involved in the 'Kakon Train Case' in which the government treasury was seized while the train was in Lucknow, Police unearthed Azad's involvement in it. Ramprasad and Ashfaqullah were hanged. Then came the murder of British officer Saunders at Lahore on December 17, 1928. Azad master-minded the throwing of a Red Phamphlet on the floor of the Legislature on April 8, 1929. The investigators discovered a huge bomb factory of the revolutionaries in Lahore. Many members of the Army were arrested because of betrayals. Chander Shekhar was left alone. On July 6, 1930 Azad initiated an armed robbery in Delhi and collected Rs. 14,000. Police was now on the trail of Azad and a reward of Rs. 10,000 was on offer to capture him dead or alive. On February 27, 1931 at 9.30 a.m. Azad went to Alfred Park to meet his comrades-in-arms. One had tipped the Police. Azad was circled by the Police. Knowing he was at his end, he took the small pistol in his possession and a few cartridges. He fought single handed with the Police. His body was riddled with bullets. One bullet was left in Azad's pistol. He put the pistol on his temple and fired the last shot. He fell dead. He lived a free man (bachelor - Bal Brahmachari) and died a free man. His people christened him 'Azad'. He was not a man but a movement for Swaraj or Swatantra. Chander Shekhar Azad left the following message for his countrymen. "Let the representatives of the people return to their constituencies and prepare the masses for the coming revolution. We want to emphasise the lesson often repeated by history that it is easy to kill individuals, but you cannot kill ideas. Great empires crumbled while the ideas survived". |
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