Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was a revolutionary organisation, also known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Army [1][2] established in 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla New Delhi by Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and others.[3] Previously it was known as Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) whose written constitution[4] and published manifesto titled The Revolutionary[5] was produced as a witness in the Kakori conspiracy case of 1925. Likewise the Hindustan Republican Association, HSRA. was also a revolutionary organisation which worked more dangerously from 1928 to 1931 in the Indian subcontinent to uproot the British Raj from the country through armed struggle.
The Non-cooperation movement of 1920 led to large scale mobilisation of Indian population against the British rule. Though intended as a Nonviolent resistance movement, it soon turned violent. After the Chauri Chaura incident, Mohandas K. Gandhi suspended the movement to prevent escalation of violence. This disillusioned a section of nationalists who felt the suspension was premature and unwarranted. The political vacuum created by the suspension led to the formation of revolutionary movements by the more radical amongst those who sought to overthrow British rule.
In February 1922 some agitating farmers were killed in Chauri Chaura by the police. The police station of Chauri Chaura was attacked by the people and 22 policemen were burnt alive. Gandhi, without ascertaining the facts behind this incident,[6] declared an immediate stop the non-cooperation movement without consulting any executive committee member of the Congress. Bismil and his group of youths strongly opposed Gandhi in the Gaya Congress of 1922. When Gandhi refused to rescind his decision, the Indian National Congress was divided into two groups - one liberal and the other for rebellion. In January 1923, the rich[7] group of party formed a new Swaraj Party under the joint leadership of Pt. Moti Lal Nehru and Chittranjan Das, and the youth group formed a revolutionary party under the leadership of Bismil.[8]
With the consent of Lala Har Dayal, Bismil went to Allahabad where he drafted the constitution of the party in 1923 with the help of Sachindra Nath Sanyal and another revolutionary of Bengal, Dr. Jadugopal Mukherjee.[9] The basic name and aims of the organisation were typed on a Yellow Paper and later on a subsequent Constitutional Committee Meeting was conducted on 3 October 1924 at Kanpur in U.P. under the Chairmanship of Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
This meeting decided the name of the party would be the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). After a long discussion from others Bismil was declared there the District Organiser of Shahjahanpur and Chief of Arms Division. An additional responsibility of Provincial Organiser of United Province (Agra and Oudh) was also entrusted to him. Sachindra Nath Sanyal, was anonymously nominated as National Organiser and another senior member Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, was given the responsibility of Coordinator, Anushilan Samiti. After attending the meeting in Kanpur, both Sanyal and Chatterjee left the U.P. and proceeded to Bengal[10] for further extension of the organisation.
A pamphlet titled "The Revolutionary" was published in January 1925 under a fictitious name, Vijay Kumar[11] and was circulated all over India. It was a pamphlet of four pages wherein the programme or manifesto of the revolutionaries was declared with a promise to Indian public for equal opportunity to every man irrespective of social status high or low, rich or poor. Policies of Mohandas Gandhi were openly criticised and youths were called to join the organisation. The police were astonished to see the language of pamphlet and sought its leader in Bengal. Sachindra Nath Sanyal had gone to despatch this pamphlet in a bulk and was arrested in Bankura, West Bengal. Before Sanyal's arrest Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee had also gone in the hands of police at Howrah railway station of Calcutta in Bengal.
The stated objective of the HRA was establishment of a "Federated Republic of the United States of India by an organised and armed revolution".[12] Armed struggle, terrorism and retaliatory strikes were the favored tactics in the attempt to defeat the British empire. This manifesto had very clearly declared their objectives and idiology:
| “ | The Official terrorism is surely to be met by counter terrorism. A spirit of utter helplessness pervades every strata of our society and terrorism is an effective means of restoring the proper spirits in the society... this revolutionary party has deliberately abstained itself from entering into this terrorist campaign at the present moment... because the party is waiting to deliver the final blow. But when expediency will demand it the Party will unhesitatingly enter into a desperate campaign of terrorism, when the life of every officer and individual helping the foreign government will be made intolerable....[13] | ” |
and
| “ | The Indian revolutionaries are neither terrorists nor anarchists.... They do not believe terrorism alone can bring independence and do not want terrorism for terrorism's sake.[14] | ” |
The HRA was also socialist in its attitude and was inspired by Bolshevik Russia. The manifesto stated,
| “ | ... the railways and other means of transportation and communication,the mines and other kinds of very great industries... shall be nationalised.... Instead of private and unorganised business enterprise, the Party prefers co-operative unions.[12] | ” |
Amongst other goals stated by the manifesto are Universal Suffrage, supremacy of the legislature and religious freedom.
From 1924 to 1925, the HRA grew in numbers with the influx of new members like Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad, Sukhdev and Ram Prasad Bismil. The Kakori train robbery was the first well known action by the HRA. On 9 August 1925 the members of the group looted government money that was being transferred in a train. The Kakori conspiracy case led to the hanging of Ashfaqullah Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri. Sanyal and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee were sentenced to life imprisonment.[15] The Kakori arrests decimated the leadership of the HRA and dealt a major blow to its activities. Of the original conspirators, only Azad and Kundan Lal Gupta escaped. During this period the HRA splintered into various factions based in Kanpur, Lahore and Bengal. In 1927 a new group of revolutionaries like Jatindra nath Sanyal (brother of Sachindra), Phanindra Nath Ghosh and Bhirendra Nath Bhattacharjee emerged as active members. Ghosh was behind the attempted assassination of Rao Bahadur JN Banerjee in Benares in 1928. BN Bhattacharjee was the prime accused in the Deogarh Conspiracy Case.[16]
| Name | Involved in | What happened to him |
|---|---|---|
| Ram Prasad Bismil | Mainpuri Conspiracy (1918)[17] & Kakori conspiracy (1925)[18] | Absconded in Mainpuri Case; Sentenced to death in Kakori Case.[19]Hanged in 1927 at Gorakhpur Jail. |
| Ashfaqullah Khan | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Death in Kakori Case.[19] Hanged in 1927 at Faizabad Jail. |
| Rajendra Nath Lahiri | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Death in Kakori Case.[19] Hanged in 1927 at Gonda Jail. |
| Thakur Roshan Singh | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Death in Kakori Case.[19] Hanged in 1927 at Naini Allahabad Jail. |
| Sachindra Nath Sanyal | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to life in Andaman Cellular Jail; died of Tuberculosis at Bhowali T.B. Sanitorium in 1943[20] |
| Shachindra Nath Bakshi | Kakori Conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Life in Kakori Case; Released in 1937 and became active in Congress but left the party after independence. He was elected M.L.A. on Jansangh party ticket[21] |
| Yogesh Chandra Chatterjee | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Life in Kakori Case; Became a Member of Parliament after independence |
| Govind Charan Kar | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to Life in Kakori Case |
| Mukundi Lal | Mainpuri Conspiracy (1918)[18] and Kakori conspiracy (1925)[22] | Sentenced to 7 years rigorous imprisonment in Mainpuri and Life in Kakori conspiracy Case, Died in October 1972[23] |
| Manmath Nath Gupta | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 14 year rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case; Later on became a journalist/writer; died in 2000 on the day of Deepavali |
| Vishnu Sharan Dublish | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori conspiracy which was converted later into a life sentence after Naini jail case.[24] Joined Indian National Congress, Freedom movement activities in Western U.P., become a Member of Parliament. |
| Suresh Chandra Bhattacharya | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Ram Krishna Khatri | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Raj Kumar Sinha | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Prem Krishna Khanna | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case.[24] He became an M.P. from Shahjahanpur[25] |
| Ram Dulare Trivedi | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Bhupendra Nath Sanyal | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Pranvesh Chatterjee | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 4 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Ram Nath Pandey | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 3 years rigorous imprisonment in Kakori Case[24] |
| Banwari Lal | Kakori conspiracy (1925) | Sentenced to 2 years even after being an aprover in the Kakori Case[24] |
| Chandrashekar Azad | Kakori conspiracy (1925), J.P. Saunders Assassination (1928) | Absconded in the Kakori case, living underground he reorganised the HRA and was killed while choosing not to surrender his handgun in a shootout with police at Allahabad 0n 27 Feb 1931.[24] |
In September 1928, the Lahore faction (Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev) and Kanpur faction (Azad, Kundan Lal Gugta) of the HRA merged with the Bengali revolutionary faction led by Phanindra Nath Ghosh to form the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association(HSRA).[16] This amalgamation came into existence at a meeting of the various factions at Feroz Shah Kotla grounds in Delhi. Bhagat Singh declared socialism as their ultimate goal and that their party's new name should reflect that. Azad was appointed as the Commander-in-chief and Bhagat Singh placed in charge of ideology.[26] The HSRA's manifesto titled Philosophy of the Bomb was written by Bhagawathi Charan Vohra.[27]
The HSRA decided to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai in a police lathi charge (a form of crowd control in which the police use heavy staves or `lathis' in Hindi) in November 1928 by assassinating J A Scott, the Superintendent of Police, Lahore who had ordered the lathi-charge. The plan was to be executed by Bhagat Singh, Shivram Hari Rajguru, Azad and Jai Gopal. The assassination attempt was carried out on 17 December 1928 in Lahore. It was planned that Jai Gopal would give a signal to Bhagat Singh and Rajguru as soon as Scott came of his office. However, Jai Gopal misidentified J. P. Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police as Scott and gave the signal. Saunders was shot dead by Bhagat Singh and Raj Guru. A head constable was also killed while trying to chase the shooters.[28] The next day the HSRA acknowledged the assassination by putting up posters in Lahore that read
| “ | JP Saunders is dead; Lala Lajpat Rai is avenged.... In this man has died an agent of the British authority in India.... Sorry for the bloodshed of the human being, but the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of revolution...is inevitable[29] | ” |
The next major action HSRA carried out was the bombing of the Central Assembly in Delhi. This was done to protest the introduction of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill. The HSRA decided to bomb the Assembly while the bills were being introduced to arouse public opinion against them. On April 8, 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs at the empty treasury benches. They made no attempt to escape and courted arrest while shouting Inquilab Zindabad (Long Live the Revolution) and Samrajyavad ko nash ho (Down with Imperialism). Their rationale for the bombing was explained in a leaflet titled "To Make the Deaf Hear" (paraphrasing the words of Édouard Vaillant). This leaflet was also thrown in the assembly and was reproduced the next day in the Hindustan Times. No one was killed in the bombing as it was designed as a propaganda operation. On April 15, 1929 police raided the HSRA's bomb factory in Lahore and arrested Kishori Lal, Sukhdev and Jai Gopal. The Assembly Bomb Case trial followed and Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on 23 March 1931 for their actions.[30]
In December 1929, the HSRA bombed the special train of Viceroy, Lord Irwin. The viceroy escaped unhurt. Later the Lahore faction of HSRA broke away and formed the Athisi Chakar (Fire Ring) party under the leadership of Hansraj 'Wireless'. They carried out a series of bombings across Punjab in June 1930. On 1 September 1930, the Rawalpindi faction made a failed attempt to burgle the Office of the Controller of Military Accounts. During this period the leading members of the HSRA were Azad, Yashpal, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Kailash Pati. In July 1930 the HSRA robbed the Gadodia stores in New Delhi and carried away 14,000 Rupees. This money was later used to fund a bomb factory. In December 1930, an attempt was made to assassinate the Governor of Punjab, which wounded him in his arm.[31]
By 1931, most of the HSRA's main leaders were either dead or in jail. Kailash Pati was arrested in October 1930 and turned approver (witness for the prosecution). On 27 February 1931, Chandrasekar Azad shot himself during a gunfight with the police in a famous incident of Alfred Park. Bhagat Singh, Sukdhev and Rajguru were hanged in March 1931. After Azad's death there was no central leader to unite the revolutionaries and regional differences increased. The organisation split into various regional groups and they carried out bombings and attacks on Indian officials without any central coordination. In December 1931 another attempt was made to revive the HSRA at a meeting in Meerut. However this attempt failed with the arrests of Yashpal and Daryao Singh in 1932.[32] This effectively ended the HSRA as a united organization though the various regional factions kept up their armed struggle till 1936.
The association's methods were diametrically opposite to that of Gandhi's Nonviolent resistance movement. The revolutionaries and their methods were severely criticized by Gandhi. Responding to the attack on Lord Irwin's train, Gandhi wrote a harsh critique of the HSRA titled "The Cult of the Bomb" (Young India,2 January 1930). In it he declared that bomb throwing was nothing but froth coming to the surface in an agitated liquid. He condemned the HSRA and it's actions as "cowards" and "dastardly". According to Gandhi, the HSRA's violent struggle had its hazards. Violence led to more reprisals and suffering. Also, it would turn inward as "it was an easy natural step" from "violence done to the foreign ruler" "to violence to our own people".[33] The HSRA responded to this criticism with its own manifesto 'The Philosophy of the Bomb',[27] in which they defended their violent methods as being complementary to Gandhi's non violent methods.[34]
| Chandrashekar Azad | Kakori conspiracy (1925), J.P. Saunders Assassination (1928) | Absconded in the Kakori case, reorganised HRA by living underground later he was martyred without surrendering in a shootout with police at Allahabad 0n 27 Feb 1931.[24] |
| Bhagat Singh | J.P. Saunders Assassination (1928), Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929) | Sentenced to Life in Assembly bomb case; Sentenced to death in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; hanged in 1931 |
| Shivaram Hari Rajguru | J.P. Saunders Assassination (1928) | Sentenced to death in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; hanged in 1931 |
| Sukhdev Thapar | J.P. Saunders Assassination (1928) | Sentenced to death in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; hanged in 1931 |
| Batukeshwar Dutt | Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929) | Sentenced to Life in Central Assembly bomb case; released in 1937 |
| Bhagavati Charan Vohra | Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929) | Killed in a bomb blast (1930) |
| Kailash Pati | Gadodia Store Robbery (1929) | Arrested in 1930. Turned approver |
| Phanindra Nath Ghosh | Leader of Bengali faction | Arrested in 1930. Turned approver; killed in retaliation (1931) |
| Yashpal | Viceroy train bombing (1929) | Arrested in 1932. Sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment; became an award-winning novelist |
| Jaidev Kapur | Central Assembly bombing (1929) | Sentenced to life in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; |
| Sheo Varma | Central Assembly bombing (1929) | Sentenced to life in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; |
| Bejoy Kumar Sinha | Central Assembly bombing (1929) | Sentenced to life in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; |
| Gaya Prasad | Central Assembly bombing (1929) | Sentenced to life in Second Lahore Conspiracy Case; |