CHANDER SHEKHAR AZAD
Introduction
1. Chander Shekhar Azad was a revolutionary freedom fighter. Azad was born at aplace called Jhalra in Madhya Pradesh. He ran away from home when young, reached
Kashi (Benaras) and joined the freedom struggle when still young. In 1921, he received
his first punishment for revolutionary activities. He was sentenced to fifteen lashes. With
each stroke of the whip the young patriot shouted "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". He was
undaunted and scared the British with his courage and rebellion against the oppression of
the Indians.
3. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, addressed the eleventh session of the Congress held at
Pune, creating a sense of national consciousness among the Indian people over this
inhuman tax. Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement
in 1920. Chander Shekhar, a 14-year-old student of Banaras Sanskrit Pathasala, was
arrested for taking part in the movement.
Azad
4. On being produced in court, the British magistrate asked what his name was. He
replied, "My name is Azad (free), my father's name is Swatantra (independent) 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. Flogged with
every lash the boy shouted ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai’ (Worship of
Mother India and Long Live Mahatma Gandhi). The entire public who witnessed the
resolute endurance of the boy hailed him as 'Azad'. Since then he came to be referred by
the name.
Azad as a Revolutionary
movement reasserted itself. Azad was introduced to the revolutionaries by Manmath
Nath Gupta and he joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army in 1922.
6. He was appointed the leader of the army in Uttar Pradesh and the Commander-in-
Chief of the Army in 1924. He thus became ‘instant terrible' to the Police in Punjab and
Delhi. The first armed insurrection took place on 09 August 1925, conceived by
Ramprasad Bismal and ably assisted by Chander Shekhar. He was involved in the 'Kakori
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 Pamphlet on the floor of the Legislature on 08
April 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.
7. On 06 July 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 27 February 1931 at 09.30 AM Azad went to Alfred Park
to meet his comrades-in-arms. Someone had tipped the Police and Azad was encircled by
them. Knowing he was cornered, he took the small pistol in his possession and a few
cartridges. He fought single handed with the police.
8. 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.
9. 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 emphasize 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". He will always remain immortal in the annals of
history as a man who sacrificed his life for the freedom of his country.
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