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Vishwanath Vaishampayan

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Vishwanath Vaishampayan(Hindi: विश्वनाथ वैशम्पायन, Marathi: विश्वनाथ वैशंपायन)(November 28, 1910 - October 20, 1967) was an Indian revolutionary and member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

Vishwanath Vaishampayan
Born28 November 1910
Died20 October, 1967(aged 57)

Early Life

Vishwanath was born on November 28, 1910[1], at Banda in Uttar Pradesh(then, United Provinces). When his father was transferred, he came to Jhansi and began studying in Saraswati school.

Revolutionary Activities

While studying in the Intermediate College, an arts teacher , Master Rudra Narayan[2], introduced Vishwanath to Shachindranath Bakshi when the latter had come to Jhansi to recruit for the revolutionary party, HRA. Two other youths enrolled were Sadashiv Malkapurkar and Bhagwan Das Mahaur. They were later introduced to Chandrashekhar Azad when he came to reside in seclusion after the Kakori incident. He became a sort of bodyguard-cum-secretary to Azad[3]. Vishwanath was trained in marksmanship by Azad. Vishwanath was one of the HRA members who learned to make bombs.

Vishwanath was assigned the task of evaluating the possibility of freeing Bhagat Singh from Lahore jail. Bhagat Singh & Batukeshwar Dutt had surrendered themselves to the police immediately after the assembly bombing. Now, the British government wanted to link him to the Saunders murder case/Lahore Conspiracy Case, which meant a certain death by hanging for the accused. Vishwanath visited the Lahore jail, disguised as a Punjabi gentleman. He managed to contact Bhagat Singh but the latter didn’t have any intention of escaping from the jail.

Azad and others still decided to attack the police convoy and free Bhagat Singh. They rented a half section of a bungalow near Lahore. The team consisted of Azad, Bhagwati Charan Vohra, Vishwanath, Dhanvantari, Sukhdev Raj, Yashpal, Durga devi(Vohra’s wife). Chail Bihari, Madan Gopal and Tahal Ram were the working under the guise of house servant, cook and driver, respectively.

On May 28, 1930, at about 1100 hours, Vohra, Vishwanath and Sukhdev Raj proceeded towards the river Ravi on bicycles. They took a boat and proceeded towards the dense forests by the river bank, their objective was to test bombs which could be used during Bhagat Singh’s rescue attempt. Vohra unpinned a bomb but before before he could hurl it, it exploded. Vohra was fatally wounded, his hand blew off and he was almost disemboweled. Sukhdev Raj’s foot was hit by a splinter, yet, he rushed to the bungalow to inform others while Vishwanath stayed with Vohra. Vishwanath peeled some oranges for Vohra to sip but the latter died soon, wishing before death that Bhagat Singh should be rescued ASAP.

Azad and some associates positioned themselves in a lorry outside the jail. Vishwanath played some flute notes as a predetermined signal for Bhagat Singh but the latter didn’t pay any heed and the team had to return. The bungalow had to be deserted to avoid the police and Azad immediately sent Vishwanath to Jaipur to procure more arms. In spite of the dangers of being caught or killed by the police, Vishwanath managed to procure the arms.

Azad and Vishawanath started to operate from Allahabad and Kanpur. To battle the winter frost, both of them used Ludhiana shawls.  Once, they wanted to travel from Allahabad to Kanpur but before the journey commenced, Azad and Vishwanath doned woolen coats, instead of shawls. The police was patrolling Kanpur station because someone had tipped them off that Azad and Vaishampayan were wearing Ludhiana shawls and will alight at the Kanpur station. The police started searching the people wearing shawls. Azad gave orders to Vishwanath to escape but if there is a fight, both of them should fight till the last bullet. Azad hired a porter and all three simply walked out of the station, unidentified. Soon, Vishwanath and Azad parted ways for different missions. On February 11. 1931, police arrested Vishwanath who fell prey to scheme devised by Veerbhadra Tiwari and Shivcharan Lal. Azad shot himself after an encounter with police on February 27.

Vishwanath was tried in multiple cases like the Gwalior conspiracy, Delhi Conspiracy Commission. He served imprisonment of varying terms in the jails of Kanpur, Nainital and Delhi before getting released on March 19, 1939.

Later life

He devoted himself to writing and translations of works of Indian authors like Prabhavati Saraswati and Hari Narayan Apte [4]. He worked with the daily 'Mahakoshal' in Raipur for 8 years. He wrote a book on Azad[5] but his desire to write a book on Bhagwati Charan Vohra remained unfulfilled.

Death

Vishwanath died on October 20, 1967. He was survived by his wife, Lalila Vaishampayan and two daughters.

Bibliography

Amar Shahid Chandrashekhar Azad(Original Hindi title: अमर शहीद चंद्रशेखर आज़ाद) (1965), 3 volumes, University of Michigan.

References

Saral, Srikrishan (1999). Indian Revolutionaries 1757-1961 (Vol-3). Ocean books, New Delhi. pp. 203–206. ISBN 9788187100188.

Gupta, Vijay Kumar (2015-12-01). Bharat ki Mahan Krantikari Mahilayen. New Delhi: Suruchi Prakashan. pp. 10, 58. ISBN 9789381500835.

  1. ^ "details-of-major-events-happening-in-the-world". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ "चंद्रशेखर आज़ाद की पहली तस्वीर कैद करने वाले मास्टर रूद्र नारायण की कहानी". www.patrika.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  3. ^ राय, सुनील (2018-02-27). "तो क्या चंद्रशेखर आज़ाद पुलिस की गोली से मरे थे?". BBC News हिंदी. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  4. ^ (publication house), Rajkamal Prakashan. "Our authors". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  5. ^ Vidyarthi, Sudhir (2007). Amar Shahid Chandrashekhar Azad (in Hindi). Naī Dillī: Rajkamal Prakashan. ISBN 9788126714353.

Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence

Category:Indian revolutionaries Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence