చంద్రశేఖర్ ఆజాద్ జీవిత చరిత్ర
Chandra Shekhar Azad (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as by his self-taken name Azad was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) after the death of its founder, Ram Prasad Bismil, and three other prominent party leaders, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan.
Early life and Career
Azad was born as Chandrashekhar Tiwari
on 23 July 1906 in Bhavra village, in the present-day Alirajpur district of
Madhya Pradesh. His forefathers were from Badarka village near Kanpur (in
present-day Unnao District). His mother, Jagrani Devi Tiwari, was the third
wife of Sitaram Tiwari, whose previous wives had died young. After the birth of
their first son, Sukhdev Tiwari, in Badarka, the family moved to Alirajpur
State.
His mother wanted her son to be a great Sanskrit scholar and persuaded his father to send him to Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras, to study. In December 1921, when Mohandas K. Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement, Chandra Shekhar, then a 15-year-old student, joined. As a result, he was arrested. On being produced before a magistrate, he gave his name as "Azad" (The Free), his father's name as "Swatantrata" (Independence) and his residence as "Jail". From that day he came to be known as Chandra Shekhar Azad among the people.
Revolutionary Life
After suspension of the non-cooperation
movement in 1922 by Gandhi, Azad became more aggressive. He met a young
revolutionary, Manmathnath Gupta, who introduced him to Ram Prasad Bismil who
had formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary
organisation. He then became an active member of the HRA and started to collect
funds for HRA. Most of the fund collection was through robberies of government
property. He was involved in the Kakori Train Robbery of 1925, in the attempt
to blow up the Viceroy of India's train in 1926, and at last the shooting of J.
P. Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
Despite being a member of Congress,
Motilal Nehru regularly gave money in support of Azad.
Activities in Jhansi
Azad made Jhansi his organisation's hub
for some time. He used the forest of Orchha, situated 15 kilometres (9.3 mi)
from Jhansi, as a site for shooting practice and, being an expert marksman, he
trained other members of his group. He built a hut near to a Hanuman temple on
the banks of the Satar River and lived there under the alias of Pandit
Harishankar Brahmachari for a long period. Sadashivrao Malkapurkar, Vishwanath
Vaishampayan and Bhagwan Das Mahaur came in close contact with him and became
an integral part of his revolutionary group. The then congress leaders from
Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar and Sitaram Bhaskar Bhagwat were also close to Azad.
He also stayed for some time in the house of Rudra Narayan Singh at Nai Basti,
as well as Bhagwat's house in Nagra.
With Bhagat Singh
The Hindustan Republican Association
(HRA) was formed by Bismil, Chatterji, Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Shachindra Nath
Bakshi in 1924. In the aftermath of the Kakori train robbery in 1925, the
British clamped down on revolutionary activities.
Azad and Bhagat Singh secretly
reorganised the HRA as the HSRA in September 1928.so as to achieve their
primary aim of an independent India based on socialist principle. The insight
of his revolutionary activities is described by Manmath Nath Gupt a fellow
member of HSRA in his numerous writings.
Death
Azad died at Alfred Park in Allahabad on
27 February 1931.The police surrounded him in the park after an unknown
informant told them he was there. He was wounded in the process of defending
himself and Sukhdev Raj (not to be confused with Sukhdev Thapar) and killed
three policemen and wounded some others. His actions made it possible for
Sukhdev Raj to escape. After a long shootout, holding true to his pledge to
never be captured alive, he shot himself dead with his last bullet. The Colt
pistol of Chandra Shekhar Azad is displayed at the Allahabad Museum.
Legacy
Alfred Park in Allahabad, where Azad
died, has been renamed Chandrashekhar Azad Park. Several schools, colleges,
roads and other public institutions across India are also named after him.
Jai hin
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