Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
Revolutionary movement for Indian independence is often a less-highlighted aspect of Indian independence movement - the underground revolutionary factions.The groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into this category.The revolutionary groups were concentrated in Bengal,Punjab and Maharastra.More groups were scattered around India.
The underlying philosophy of the revolutionary groups was largely against the civil disobidience of Gandhi.However,the revolutionaries more often than not considered Gandhi a hero , despite their ways being poles apart.
Beginning
Apart from a few stray incidents,the armed rebellion against the British rulers were not organized before the beginning of the 20th century.The revolutionary philosphies and movement made its presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal.Arguably,the initial steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta and Raja Subodh Mallik when they formed the Jugantar party in April 1906 [1].Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti which was already present in Bengal mainly as a fitness club.
Anushilan Samiti
Established by Pramath Math Mitra in Kolkata in 1902, Anushilan Samity became one of the most organized revolutionary associations , especially in the Eastern Bengal where the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti had several branches and carried out major terrorist activities [2].Jugantar was initially formed by an inner circle of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti ' like the Palmach of Haganah. In the 1920s,Kolkata faction supported Gandhi in Non-Cooperation Movement and many of the leaders held high posts in Congress.
Jugantar
Barin Ghosh was the main extremist leader.Alongwith 21 revolutionaries including Bagha Jatin, he started to collect arms and explosives and manufactured bombs.The head quarters of Jugantar was located at 93/a Baubazar Street,Kolkata.
Some senior members of the group were sent abroad for political and military training. One of them, Hemchandra Qanungo obtained the training in Paris. After returning to Kolkata, he set up a combined religious school and bomb factory at a garden house in Maniktala suburb of Calcutta.However, the attempted murder Kingsford, the-then district Judge of Muzaffarpur by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki (30 April 1908) initiated police investigation that led to the arrest of many of the revolutioaries.
Bagha Jatin was one of the top leaders in Jugantar.He, alongwith several other leaders were arrested in connection with the Howrah conspiracy case and were tried for treason , the charge being to instigate various regiments of the army against the ruler [3].
Jugantar,along with other revolutionary groups, and aided by Indian abroad,planned an armed revolt against the British rulers during the First World War.This plan largely depended on the clandenstine landing of German arms and ammunitions in the Indian coast[4].This plan came to be known as the Indo-German Plot .However, the plan did not materialize.
Post-First World War Jugantar supported Gandhi in the Non-Cooperation Movement and many of their leaders were in Congress.Still,the group continued revolutionary activities , a notable event being the Chittagong armoury raid.
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was established in October 1924 in Kanpur by revolutionaries like Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjee, Chandrashekhar Azad and Sachindranath Sanyal.[5]The aim of the party was to organize armed revolution to end the colonial rule and establish in a Federal Republic of the United States of India. The Kakori Train Action was a notable act of terrorism by this group.The Kakori case led to the hanging of Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri.The Kakori case was a major setback for the group.However, the group was soon reorganized under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Azad and with members like Bhagat Singh, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Sukhdev on 9 and 10 September 1928- and the group was now christened Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
In Lahore on 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru assassinated Saunders, a police official involved in deadly lathi-charge on Lala Lajpat Rai.Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt thew a bomb inside the central legislative assembly.The Assembly Bomb Case trial followed.Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in March 1931.
Ghadar Party
Ghadar party was a predominantly Sikh organization that started operating abroad in 1913 " with the view to do-away with the British rule in India" .[6].The party collaborated with revolutionaries inside India and helped them get arms and ammunitions.Lala Hardayal was a prominent leader of the party.The Komagata Maru incident in 1914 inspired several thousand Indian residing in the USA to sell their business and rush home in order to participate in the anti-British activities in India.The party had active members in India,Mexico, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaya, Indo-China and Eastern and Southern Africa.
Bengal Volunteers
Bengal Volunteers was a group formed by Subhash Chandra Bose during the Kolkata session of Indian National Congress in 1928 to help the organisation of the session.However, afterwards the group turned into a revolutionary group with notable revolutionaries like Benoy-Badal-Dinesh being its members.
Events and Trials
Alipore bomb conspiracy case
Several leaders of the Jugantar party including Aurobindo Ghosh were were arrested in connection with a bomb-making activities in Kolkata.Several of the activists were deported to Andaman Cellular Jail.
Chittagong armory raid
Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929)
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed in the assembly and threw leaflets stating their revolutionary philosophy.Bhagat Singh,Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged and several other faced the verdict of imprisonment.
Bathua Action and Conspiracy Case
Kamalpur Action case
Zilla School Action Case
Rangpur Conspiracy Case
Khulna Conspiracy Case
Faridpur Conspiracy Case
Dacca Station road Action
Dalhousie Square Bomb Case
A bomb was thrown on the Calcutta Police Commissioner, Charles Tegart on 25th August,1930.
Mechua Bazar Bomb Case
Ramchandrapur Mail Action
Birbhum Conspiracy Case
Watson shooting Case
Shibpur- Nadia Action
Thangel Action Case
Seinga Action Case
Bakargunj Explosive Case
Rangpur Action Case
Lahore Conspiracy case (1915)
Lahore Conspiracy Case (1929- 1930)
Ooty Bank Action
Anti British Students Movement (1921)
Interprovincial Conspiracy Case
Naldanga Action case
Gaya Conspiracy Case
Charmuguria Post Office Action
Dacca Imperial bank Action
Assam Railway Action
Jhansi Commissioner Bomb Case
Jaipur Commissioner Shooting Case
Kakori Train Action
Chandrasekhar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chatterjee and their accomplices participated in this daring act of looting railway treasury money that was being transported in train.The looting took place between Kakori station and Alamnagar,within 40 miles of Lucknow on 9th August,1925.Police started intense man-hunt and arrested a large number of rebels and tried them in the Kakori case. Ashfaqullah Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri were hanged, four others were sent to the Cellular Jail in Andaman for life and seventeen others were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
Benaras Conspiracy Case
Notable revolutionaries
- Aurobindo Ghosh
- Barindra Kumar Ghosh
- Khudiram Bose
- Prafulla Chaki
- Pulin Behari Das
- Trailokya Nath Chakraborty
- Bagha Jatin
- Ullaskar Dutta
- Upendranath Banerjee
- Hem Chandra Das
- Benoy Basu
- Dinesh Gupta
- Badal Gupta
- Bhagat Singh
- Chandrasekhar Azad
- Rajguru
- Sukhdev
- Batukeshwar Dutt
- Jatindra Nath Das
- Rasbihari Bose
- Surya Sen
- Pritilata Waddedar
- Ganesh Ghosh
- Bina Das
- Hemchandra Qanungo
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
- Bipin Behari Ganguli
Notes
- ^ Banglapedia article by Mohammad Shah
- ^ Banglapedia article by Chitta Ranjan Misra and Mohammad Shah
- ^ The major charge... during the trial (1910–1911) was "conspiracy to wage war against the King-Emperor" and "tampering with the loyalty of the Indian soldiers" (mainly with the 10th Jats Regiment) (cf: Sedition Committee Report, 1918)
- ^ Rowlatt Report (§109-110}; First Spark of Revolution by A.C. Guha, pp424-434 .
- ^ Gateway of India article
- ^ Study of Sikhism and Punjabi migration by Bruce La Brack ,University of Pacifica, Stockton, California