Chandra Shekhar Azad - An Indian freedom fighter | Birth and Early Life

 

Chandrashekhar Azad was a freedom fighter of the Indian independence movement. He was a close associate of revolutionaries like Shaheed-e-Azam Ram Prasad Bismil and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

In 1922, after Mahatma Gandhi's sudden decision to suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement, his ideology shifted, and he became an active member of the Hindustan Republican Association, participating in its revolutionary activities. Through this organization, under the leadership of Ram Prasad Bismil, he carried out the Kakori Conspiracy on 9 August 1925 and escaped. Later, in 1927, after the martyrdom of Bismil and his four comrades, he united all the revolutionary groups of North India to form the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. With Bhagat Singh, he avenged Lala Lajpat Rai's death by assassinating Saunders in Lahore and then carried out the bomb blast in the Delhi Assembly. It is also said that the British government deployed 700 people to capture Azad. Veer Bhadra Tiwari, a member of the Central Committee of Azad's organization, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), became a British spy and betrayed Azad. A revolutionary of the organization, Ramesh Chandra Gupta, even fired at Tiwari in Unnao, but missed, and Gupta was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Birth and Early Life

Chandrashekhar Azad was born on July 23, 1906, in the village of Bhabra (now Chandrashekhar Azad Nagar) in the present-day Alirajpur district, to a Brahmin family. His ancestors were from the village of Badarka in the Unnao district (Baiswada). During a famine, his father, Pandit Sitaram Tiwari, left his ancestral home in Badarka and went to work in the Alirajpur princely state in Madhya Pradesh. Later, they settled in the village of Bhabra. Chandrashekhar spent his childhood there. His mother's name was Jagrani Devi. Azad's childhood was spent in Bhabra, a village with a predominantly tribal population. As a child, he often practiced archery with the Bheel children, thus learning the art of marksmanship at a young age. Young Chandrashekhar Azad gravitated towards armed revolution rather than achieving independence through non-violent means. Varanasi was a center of revolutionary activity at that time. He came into contact with Manmathnath Gupta and Pranabesh Chatterjee and became a member of their revolutionary group. 

The First Incident

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919 deeply affected the youth of the country. Chandrashekhar was studying at that time. When Gandhiji launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920, the flames of protest were ignited, and like many other students, Chandrashekhar also took to the streets. For participating in this movement along with some of his schoolmates, he was arrested for the first time and sentenced to 15 lashes with a cane. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned this incident in his writings, describing it as the story of a young boy who defied authority:

"For breaking the same law, a boy of about 14 or 15 years, who called himself a freedom fighter, was sentenced to be flogged. The cane was repeatedly struck against his body, tearing his skin, but with every blow he shouted 'Jai Hind!' (Victory to Mother India!). He continued shouting this slogan until he fainted. Later, that same boy became a leading figure in the revolutionary movement in North India."

Revolutionary Activities in Jhansi

Chandrashekhar Azad made Jhansi his base for a period of time. Fifteen kilometers from Jhansi, in the forests near Orchha, he practiced his marksmanship with his comrades. Besides being an expert marksman, Azad trained other revolutionaries and also taught village children under the name of Pandit Harishankar Brahmachari. He became very popular with the people of Dhimarpur village by that name. While in Jhansi, Chandrashekhar Azad also learned to drive a car.

Lala Lajpat Rai's Revenge

On the evening of December 17, 1928, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, and Rajguru gathered near the office of the Superintendent of Police in Lahore. When J.P. Saunders, along with his bodyguard, left the office on his motorcycle, Rajguru fired the first shot, hitting Saunders in the head, causing him to fall off the motorcycle. Bhagat Singh then fired four or five more shots to ensure he was dead. When Chanan Singh, Saunders' bodyguard, pursued them, Chandrashekhar Azad shot and killed him with his revolver. Posters were put up all over Lahore declaring that Lala Lajpat Rai's death had been avenged. This act of the revolutionaries was praised throughout India.

Bombing at the Central Assembly

Under the successful leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt carried out a bomb explosion in the Central Assembly in Delhi on April 8, 1929. The purpose of this explosion was not to harm anyone; it was a protest against the repressive laws imposed by the British government. This incident greatly increased the popularity of the revolutionaries. After the bombing at the Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt surrendered to the authorities. They wanted to use the court as a platform to spread their message.