Ashfaqullah Khan | |
|---|---|
 Ashfaqulla Khan in 1919 | |
| Born | (1900-10-22)22 October 1900 |
| Died | 19 December 1927(1927-12-19) (aged 27) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation | Revolutionary |
| Organization | Hindustan Republican Association |
| Known for | Being a mastermind behind theKakori train robbery |
| Movement | Indian independence |
| Website | Official website |
Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was afreedom fighter andmartyr in theIndian independence movement againstBritish rule and the co-founder of theHindustan Republican Association, later to become theHindustan Socialist Republican Association.[1][2]
Khan was born in theShahjahanpur district of theUnited Provinces to theYusufzaiPathan landlord parents, Shafiq Ullah Khan and Mazharunissa.[3][4][5][6][7] He was the youngest among his five siblings.[8]
In 1918, while Khan was in the seventh standard, police raided his school and arrested the student Rajaram Bhartiya with regard to the Mainpuri Conspiracy, in which activists organised looting inMainpuri to fund the publication of anti-colonial literature.[5] The arrest spurred Khan's engagement in revolutionary activities in the United Provinces.
Khan metRam Prasad Bismil, a revolutionary who was closely involved in the Mainpuri Conspiracy, through a friend. He soon became closely tied to Bismil and joined him in activities related tonon-cooperation, theSwaraj Party, and theHindustan Republican Association.[5] Bismil and Khan were also both poets, with Khan writing Urdu poetry under the pseudonym Hasrat.[9][10] It is said that the Britishers had to keep Bismil and Ashfaq in cells far away from each other because they would sing“Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai, dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-katil mein hai” and hear each other’s voices and then laugh triumphantly in the face of atrocities. This irritated and broke the will of their oppressors. They chose each other and their fight for freedom and were hanged in the end, and happily so, after the trial for the Kakori rail dacoity.[11]
Like others in the Hindustan Republican Association, Khan was strongly inspired byLenin and theBolshevik Revolution in Russia. He expressed beliefs in the liberation of the poor and the rejection ofcapitalist interests. He also spoke againstreligious communalism, identifying it as a British tool to control the Indian population and prevent Indian independence.[5]
The revolutionaries of the Hindustan Republican Association organised a meeting in Shahjahanpur on 8 August 1925 to determine how to raise funds for arms and ammunition. They decided to rob a train carrying government cash throughKakori. The HRA had previously executed similartrain robberies, inspired by theRussian Bolshevik technique of using robbery to fund revolutionary operations.[12] He was originally against theKakori train robbery, but eventually agreed to participate when others in the HRA expressed approval of the plan.[13]
On 9 August 1925, Khan and other revolutionaries, namelyRam Prasad Bismil,Rajendra Lahiri,Sachindra Bakshi,Chandrashekhar Azad,Keshab Chakravarty,Banwari Lal,Murari Lal Gupta,Mukundi Lal, andManmathnath Gupta, attacked and robbed a government train in Kakori nearLucknow.[8][14][15] After the robbery, the British government launched an extensive investigative campaign to catch the perpetrators.[8] On the morning of 26 October 1925, Bismil was caught by thepolice. Khan fled toNepal to evade capture. From Nepal, he travelled toKanpur and thenDaltonganj, where he worked as a clerk at an engineering firm under a pseudonym.[8][5]
Ashfaqullah Khan was amureed (disciple) of Ram Prasad Bismil and later his closest friend in life and death. Both were captured by the British and asked to testify against each other. A Muslim soldier of the British cavalry was appointed to influence Ashfaq into speaking up against Ram Prasad Bismil by convincing him that Ram was a Hindu and sought freedom for a nation only for Hindus, and Muslims were better off with Britishers. A similar treatment was meted out to Ram Prasad Bismil as well.[16]
Eventually, Khan decided to travel toDelhi to continue his revolutionary activities. While in Delhi, he met with a Pathan friend he had known in Shahjahanpur, who secretly reported his whereabouts to the police. On the morning of 7 December 1926, Khan was captured and arrested by theDelhi Police. He was detained in the District Jail atFaizabad and a case was filed against him.[8]
The trial of the Kakori train robbers was held for over a year in Lucknow and received significant interest from the public.[17] The HRA had released an official statement in 1925 claiming that they did not consider themselvesterrorists and instead saw their revolutionary activities as a way to fight back against the violence of thecolonial government. While in prison, Khan wrote a letter that expressed a similar sentiment, confirming that he did not aim to spread violence through the HRA but only hoped to ensure India's independence.[18]
The case for the Kakoridacoity was concluded by imposing the death sentence on Bismil, Khan, Lahiri, and Roshan. The others were given life sentences.[8][19][20] Khan was sentenced todeath by hanging and executed on 19 December 1927 at the Faizabad Jail.[21]
Just before he was hanged at the Faizabad jail, he was asked about his last wish. In reply, he recited the following
"Kuchh aarzoo naheeN hai, hai aarzoo to yeh hai
Rakh de koi zara si KHaak-e-watan kafan men
bahaar aaii hai, shorish hai, junoon-e-fitnaa saamaaN kii
ilaahii Khair rakhnaa too mire jaib-o-GhariibaaN kii
bhalaa jazbaat-e-ulfat bhii kahiiN miTne se miTte haiN
abas haiN dhamkiaaN daar-o-rasan kii aur zindaaN kii
vo gulshan jo kabhii aazaad thaa guzare zamaane meN
maiN hooN shaaKh-e-shikasta yaaN usii ujaRhe gulistaaN kii
nahiiN tum se shikaayat ham_safeeraan-e-chaman mujh ko
mirii taqdeer hii meN thaa qafas aur qaid zindaaN kii #Ashfaqullah #shair
zamiiN dushman, zamaaN dushman, jo apne the paraae haiN
sunoge daastaaN kyaa tum, mire haal-e-pareeshaaN kii
ye jhagRhe aur bakheRhe meT kar aapas meN mil jaao
abas tafreeq hai tum meN yeh hindoo aur musalmaaN kii
sabhii saamaan-e-ishrat the, maze se apnii kaTtii thii
watan ke ishq ne ham ko havaa khilvaaii zindaaN kii
ba_hamd illaah chamak uTThaa sitaaraa merii qismat kaa
ki taqleed-e-haqeeqee kii ataa shaah-e-shaheedaaN kii
idhar Khauf-e-KhizaaN hai aashiyaaN ka Gham udhar dil ko
hameN yaksaaN hai tafreeh-e-chaman aur qaid zindaaN kii"[22]
The six-feet tall Ashfaqulla Khan then went up to the pole bravely like a lion and kissed the rope stating,“My hands are not soiled with the murder of man. The charge against me is false. God will give me justice.” Then he prayed“La ilahi il Allah, Mohammed Ur Rasool Allah.” (There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.) Ashfaqullah Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil were the founding stones of India as they served as the perfect examples of Hindu-Muslim unity and united fight against injustice.[16]He is considered amartyr for the cause ofIndia's independence.[8][23]
After the hangings of Khan, Bismil, Lahiri, and Roshan, the HRA changed their name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army and began officially espousing socialist and Marxist ideologies.[12]
The actions of Khan and his compatriots have been depicted in the Hindi filmRang De Basanti (2006), where his character is depicted byKunal Kapoor.Chetanya Adib portrayed Khan in theStar Bharat television seriesChandrashekhar.Mujahid-E-Azadi – Ashfaqullah Khan, an Indian television series that aired onDD Urdu in 2014, starred Gaurav Nanda in the title role.[24]
‘Oh my motherland, I live only to serve you. Whether I am sentenced for life or given a death sentence, I shall sing thy glories even with my chained hands.
Death comes but once; Why fear it?’
— Ashfaqullā