Kakori conspiracy

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The Kakori train robbery (also called the Kakori Conspiracy or Kakori Case) (Hindi: काकोड़ी कांड) was a famous train robbery that took place at Kakori, near Lucknow, in 1925 during the Indian Independence Movement.

Contents

[edit] The Conspiracy

The idea of the robbery was conceived by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan who belonged to the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association or HSRA) that was created to carry out revolutionary activities against the British Empire in India. The objective of the HRA was to conduct an armed revolution against the British government. The organization needed money for the supply of weaponry, and thus Bismil decided to loot a train on one of the Northern Railway lines. [1] The robbery plan was attended by Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, Thakur Roshan Singh, Sachindra Bakshi, Chandrasekhar Azad, Keshab Chakravarthy, Banwari Lal, Mukundi Lal, Sachindra Nath Sanyal,[2] and Manmathnath Gupta.[3]

[edit] The Robbery

On August 9, 1925, the Number 8 Down Train travelling from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was approaching the town of Kakori (now in Uttar Pradesh), when one of the revolutionaries pulled the chain to stop the train and overpowered the guard. It is believed that they looted money-bags belonging to the British Government Treasury from the guard's van and escaped to Lucknow while not a single Indian was looted. Following the incident, the police started an intense manhunt and arrested several of the revolutionaries involved. Finally, Bismil was arrested on September 26, 1925 and Ashfaqullah was arrested ten months later.[1]

[edit] Trial and Reaction

Following the arrest of Ashfaqullah, the police tried to make him provide evidence against his accomplices, but he refused. Despite protests by the defence committee, which was chaired by Motilal Nehru, four of the men involved, namely Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh were sentenced to death by the Court of Justice. The others were either given life sentences or long prison terms.

There were widespread protests against the Court's decision all over the country, and members of the Central Legislature even petitioned the Viceroy of India to commute the death sentences given to the four men to life sentences. Appeals were also sent to the Privy Council and even to Mohandas K. Gandhi himself. However, these requests were turned down and the men were finally executed.[1]

[edit] Pop Culture

  • The incident is a major plot device in the 2006 Hindi movie Rang De Basanti. Flashback scenes portray the incident, as the main protagonists draw inspiration from it.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c N.P. Shankaranarayana Rao"A shfaqulla Khan: The immortal revolutionary" pib.nic.in. Accessed 1 February 2007
  2. ^ Revolutionaries: Section 'S'
  3. ^ Kakori robbery plan
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