#memory
Ram Prasad Bismil.
11 June is the birth anniversary of martyr and revolutionary freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil
(1897- 1929).
Born in a nondescript village in Shahjahanpur district of present day Uttar Pradesh, he was associated with the Arya Samaj from an early age.
His ideals of freedom struggle stood in stark contrast to that of Mahatma Gandhi and he would reportedly say “independence would not be achieved by means of non-violence”. After conflicting views and growing resentment with the Congress party, he formed the Hindustan Republic Association, which soon had leaders like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad.
On August 9, 1925, Ram Prasad Bismil, led a team of revolutionaries and looted a train at Kakori, near Lucknow in order to obtain funds for the organisation. They stopped the 8-Down Saharanpur Lucknow passenger train at Kakori, and Ashfaqullah Khan, Sachindra Bakshi, Rajendra Lahiri and Ram Prasad Bismil subdued the guard and looted cash meant for the treasury. They were apprehended by the British within a month.
In the Kakori conspiracy case, the four revolutionaries were sentenced to be hanged. Bismil wrote his autobiography, considered as one of the finest works in Hindi literature, in the barrack number 11 of Lucknow Central Jail during the trial. He also penned the cult song “Mera rang de Basanti chola”.
Bismil was hanged in the Gorakhpur jail on December 19, 1927 and cremated on the banks of Rapti river. The site is today known as Raj Ghat.
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– Joy Kallivayalil.
“Sarfaroshi ki tammanna ab humare dil mein hain, dekhna hai zor kitna baazu e katil mein hai!”
Ram Prasad Bismil
(11 June 1897 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, and the Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, both against the British Empire.
A freedom fighter, he was also a patriotic poet. Ram, Agyat and Bismil were his pen names which he used in Urdu and Hindi poetry. However he became popular with the last name “Bismil” .
He was associated with the Arya Samaj, where he got inspiration from Satyarth Prakash, a book written by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He was also associated with Lala Har Dayal through his guru Swami Somdev, a renowned preacher of Arya Samaj.
Bismil was one of the founder members of the revolutionary organisation Hindustan Republican Association. Bhagat Singh praised him as a great poet-writer of Urdu and Hindi, who had also translated the books Catherine from English and Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot from Bengali. Several inspiring patriotic verses are attributed to him. The famous poem “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna” is also popularly attributed to him, although some progressive writers have remarked that ‘Bismil’ Azimabadi actually wrote the poem and Ram Prasad Bismil immortalised it.
– Mohan Guruswamy.
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