Ram Prasad Bismil (11th June 1897—19th Dec. 1927) was born at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh in 1897. His ancestors belonged to the Thomarghar area of Gwalior State. His village was situated adjacent to the British administered provinces on the banks of the river Chambal.
Ram Prasad Bismil was a brave revolutionary who gave up his life smilingly for the sake of the Motherland. He was persecuted by an enraged foreign government, hunted by the police and betrayed by follow workers. And yet he lit the fire of revolution to bum down the slavery. He was the brave leader of the Kakori Rail Dacoity episode. His poetry is also a lamp lighted at the altar of the Motherland. Kakori is a village near Lucknow. It became famous because the attack on the train took place nearby.
It was the evening of the 9th of August 1925; the number eight down train was passing near Kakori. Ram Prasad and his nine revolutionary followers pulled the chain and stopped it. They looted the money belonging to the government, kept in the Guard’s carriage. Leaving that one passenger was killed by an accidental shot, there was no bloodshed. This extremely well planned dacoity shook the British government. After a month of detailed preliminary inquiries and elaborate preparations, the government cast its net wide for the revolutionaries. Arrest warrants were issued not only against the ten participants but also against other leaders of the Hindustan Republican Association. With the lone exception of Chandra Shekhar Azad, all participants were caught.
The case went on for over a year and a half. Ram Prasad, Ashfaq Ullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri all four were sentenced to death. A strong campaign was organized throughout India to save the lives of these revolutionary heroes. All the leaders of public life appealed to the British Government to show mercy to the condemned men. But the Government was unyielding.
The freedom fighter was brought there in chains. They were looking like ornaments on him. His parents were also there. This was the last time that he could see his mother, the last time he could address her as ‘Mother’. At this thought, grief welled up in him. He stood speechless and tears rolled down his cheeks. In a firm voice the mother said, “I had thought of my son as a great hero. I was thinking that the British Government would shiver at the very mention of his name. I never taught that my son would be afraid of death. lf you would die weeping, why did you take up such activities?”
Vocabulary
Gave up—surrendered
Caught—seized
