Page 58 - NIS English, December 16-31,2022

Nation Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

RAJENDRA NATH LAHIRI

BRITISH HANGED HIM BEFORE

THE SCHEDULED TIME

Born: 29 June 1901, Died: 17 December 1927

am not dying, but I am going to be born again in Dakshineswar to learn bomb making. A loud
"I in free India" were the last words of Rajendra explosion is said to have alerted the police, and they
Nath Lahiri, a freedom fighter, who was on the were all arrested while learning the work. Lahiri was
gallows. Born on June 29, 1901, in Pabna, modern- considered the main accused in the Dakshineswar
day Bangladesh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri was one of bombing conspiracy and was sentenced to ten years
the 16 revolutionaries arrested in connection with in the Andaman Cellular Jail. When the Kakori case
the Kakori incident. While studying at Banaras emerged, Lahiri was found to be a conspirator and
Hindu University, he was introduced to the famous was transferred from the cellular jail to the Lucknow
revolutionary Shachindranath Sanyal. Seeing the Central Jail for trial. He was tried and sentenced to
spark and yearning for freedom in Lahiri, Sanyal death here, alongside other revolutionaries.
made him the editor of Bangwani magazine The British authorities hanged Lahiri on December
and the coordinator and arms-in-charge of the 17, 1927, two days before the scheduled date, in
Varanasi branch of Anushilan Samiti. Lahiri joined the Gonda District Jail of Uttar Pradesh, due to
the Hindustan Republican Association after being public outrage over the death sentence and fear of
inspired by Sanyal. revolutionaries breaking out of jail. Lahiri's hanging
The Kakori conspiracy was executed in the is not only indelible in history, but it is also significant
country on August 9, 1925. Rajendra Nath Lahiri, in the history of capital punishment because it was
Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, and Thakur the first time a hanging was carried out before
Roshan Singh looted government treasury from the scheduled date. In the Indian revolutionary
a train near Lucknow. By pulling the chain in the movement, Lahiri is regarded as a symbol of change.
second-class compartment, Lahiri brought the train Lahiri was constantly challenging social and
to a halt. After the work was completed, Lahiri and traditional customs, even invalidating the sacred
the other revolutionaries dispersed. thread that was considered integral to Brahmins. He
Following the Kakori incident, Lahiri and eight believed that social prejudices were impediments to
other revolutionaries were sent out to a bomb factory progress that needed to be overcome.

Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Gupta, and Shaligram Singh. As a result, he was
Movement, Salt Satyagraha, and Quit India sentenced to rigorous imprisonment and sent
Movement. Between 1930 and 1934, he was to Bhagalpur Jail.
imprisoned four times for his involvement in After independence, when the interim
the Civil Disobedience Movement. He met government was formed in Bihar, Krishna
his Guru, Sri Krishna Sinha, in jail. Krishna Ballabh Sahai was given the charge of the
Ballabh Sahai led the 'Quit India Movement' Revenue Ministry. He is credited with writing
in Hazaribagh. He used to be a driving force the first pioneering law in the country to abolish
behind every movement in Hazaribagh. The the Zamindari system in 1952 and playing a
British government ordered the arrest of all major role in land reforms. He also served as a
leaders immediately, and Krishna Ballabh was member of the Constituent Assembly of India.
imprisoned at Hazaribagh Jail. In jail, he helped He was also the Chief Minister of Bihar. He died
Jayaprakash Narayan escape on November 9, in a road accident on May 5, 1974, while going
1942, alongwith Ram Nandan Mishra, Yogendra from Patna to Hazaribagh. He devoted his entire
Shukla, Suraj Narayan Singh, Gulab Chand life to the work of social harmony.

56 New India Samachar December 16-31, 2022