Chandrasekhar Azad

Chandrasekhar Azad was born on July 23,1906 in Badarka(Unnao).Earlier he was Chandrasekhar Tiwari,but after a court incident he became famous as Azad.Chandrasekhar Azad's parents were Pandit Sita Ram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi. He received his early schooling in Bhavra District Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh). For higher studies he went to the Sanskrit Pathashala at Varanasi. He was an ardent follower of Hanuman and disguised himself as a priest in a hanuman temple to escape the dragnet of British in pre-independence India. Young Azad was one of the young generation of Indians when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement. But many were disillusioned with the suspension of the struggle in 1922 owing to the Chauri Chaura massacre of 22 policemen. Although Gandhi was appalled by the brutal violence, Azad did not feel that violence was unacceptable in the struggle, especially in view of the Amritsar Massacre of 1919, where Army units killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and wounded thousands in Amritsar. Young Azad and contemporaries like Bhagat Singh were deeply and emotionally influenced by that tragedy.
As a revolutionary, he adopted the lastname Azad, which means "Free" in Urdu.There is an interesting story that while he adopted the name "Azad" he made a pledge that the Police will never capture him alive. Azad and others had committed themselves to absolute independence by any means. He was most famous for The Kakori Rail Dacoity in 1925 and the assassination of the assistant superintendent of Police John Poyantz Saunders in 1928. Azad and his compatriots would target British officials known for their oppressive actions against ordinary people, or for beating and torturing arrested freedom fighters.
Azad was also a believer in socialism as the basis for a future India, free of social and economic oppression and adversity.
Bhagat Singh joined Azad following the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, an Indian leader who was beaten to death by police officials. Azad trained Singh and others in covert activities, and the latter grew close to him after witnessing his resolve, patriotism and courage. Along with fellow patriots like Rajguru and Sukhdev, Azad and Singh formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, committed to complete Indian independence and socialist principles of for India's future progress.
Betrayed by an informer on 27 February 1931 Azad was encircled by British troops in the Alfred park, Allahabad. He kept on fighting till the last bullet. Finding no other alternative, except surrender, Azad shot himself in the temple On the 27th of February, 1931 Chandrashekhar Azad met two of his comrades, the names of whom are highly disputed. However, most people belive that they were a Veer Bhadra and a Prithvi Raj Azad. Prithvi Raj claims that he was there along with Veer Bhadra for a briefing on his mission to Russia. The Revolutionaries of the HSRA or the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association were planning a revolution in India with the help of the Communists of Russia. He further states that Veer Bhadra excused himself saying he had an appointment and left. He had been behaving highly suspiciously for a few days. A few minutes later a brigade of policemen suddenly fired a shot and had the park surrounded. Azad asked Prithvi Raj to flee and said that he would continue the fight. He was injured in his leg. The superintendent asked him to raise his hands and come out. Next moment he fell to the ground in agony as a bullet ripped through his arm. The brigade opened merciless fire in the course of which Azad was badly injured. He himself had already shot at least three policemen dead and many more were injured. At Alfred Park, behind an ancient tree, Azad made his last stand, one which would characterise the Indian independence movement. Till his last breath the soldiers were terrified of his sharp shooting skills. And this was to be the final stage of a this movement, the final scene in his life as well as the end of the revolutionaries of the HSRA. Seeing no way out Azad loaded his last bullet into his Mauser pistol, it would be the last bullet he ever fired; he would be the last man he ever killed in the struggle for Indian Independence. Chandrashekhar Azad put the gun to his temple and shot himself. He had vowed to remain Azad, meaning free in Urdu, all his life. He said that as long as he had his bumtulbukara or his pistol no one would ever catch him alive. He said that he would never be taken to the gallows tied up the way monkeys are, and made to dance by the British. His favourite couplet and only known composition is as follows: "Dushman ki goliyon ka hum samna karenge Azad hee rahein hain, azad hee raheinge!" Years of man hunt, terror, raids, assassinations and demonstrations had at last ended for the British Raj. With him all the revolutionaries were finished. The next time the British would face so grave a problem and so fierce an enemy would be 10 years later in 1941. There would be a much more developed and well organised army then lead by none other than the Netaji - Subhash Chandra Bose, an ardent supporter and sympathizer of Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.

Bagha Jatin Mukherjee

Bagha Jatin Mukherjee(1879-1915) revolutionary activist. Bagha Jatin's real name was Jatindra Nath Banerjee. He hailed from Jhenaidha district. It is said that he came to be called 'Bagha Jatin' after killing a tiger single-handed and without any arms. He learnt short hand and type writing after passing the Entrance Examination and was appointed a stenographer to the government of Bengal. Jatin, a strong and stout young man, proved his efficiency as a sincere, honest, obedient and diligent employee.

Jatin, a man with a strong sense of self-respect and national pride, came in contact with aurobindo ghosh, and took part in climbing, swimming and shooting in the body building Akhda. While working for the Yugantar, he met Naren (manabendra nath roy) and the two soon gained the confidence of one another. In 1908 Jatin, with some revolutionaries, was implicated in the Alipore Conspiracy Case. In the judgement Barin Ghosh was deported for life, many others were sentenced to various terms and the anushilan samiti was declared illegal and banned. Jatin and Naren, acquitted for want of evidence, went in hiding to Hawra-Shibpur area and continued underground works with other revolutionaries.
Jatin was once again arrested in the Hawra-Shibpur Conspiracy Case, and those who were arrested with him were given the common name 'Jatin's gang'. They were so ruthlessly tortured that some of them died and some went insane. Jatin, though acquitted in this case also for want of evidence, was dismissed from service. When in jail, Jatin and Naren made a long term programme to capture power through armed insurrection. They planned to unite different groups of patriots and with this intention Naren travelled extensively all over India as a Sanyasi and organised the revolutionaries in Bengal and elsewhere. The leaders of various groups gathered together on the occasion of relief works during the floods in Hughli and Midnapore. They chose Jatin Mukherjee and Rashbehari Bose as leaders for Bengal and northern India respectively.
Attempts were made to organise the Indian revolutionaries outside India also. A Yugantar Ashram was formed at San Francisco and the Shikh community took active part in the struggle for freedom. With the outbreak of the First World War, the Indian revolutionaries of Europe gathered together in Berlin to form the Indian Independence Party and sought German assistance, to which the German government agreed. The Indian Independence Party sent an emissary to Jatin Mukherjee to negotiate with the German Consul General in Calcutta. In the meantime Jatin was made the Commander-in-Chief of the entire revolutionary forces. Naren, leaving Jatin in hiding in Baleswar (Orissa), went to Batavia to negotiate a deal with German authorities there for the shipment of arms and financial help.
Police, however, discovered the hideout of Jatin in a paddy field. On 9 September 1915, after heavy exchange of fire, two revolutionaries surrendered. Police found Jatin dead with two others injured. Of the two injured one died later and was identified as Chitta Priya Roy Choudhury of Madaripur.

Jatin was born in Kayagram, a village in the Kushtia subdivision of Nadia district in what is now Bangladesh. His parents were Umeshchandra Mukherjee and Sharatshashi; he grew up in his ancestral home at Jhenaidah till his father's death when Jatin was five years old. His mother settled in her parents' home in Kayagram with him and his elder sister Benodebala. As he grew older, Jatin gained a reputation for physical bravery and great strength; charitable and cheerful by temperament, he was fond of enacting mythological plays and playing the roles of god-loving characters like Prahlad, Dhruva, Hanuman, Râja Harish Chandra.[1] The name by which he came to be known ("Bagha Jatin" [variously spelt "Jotin", "Jyotin", and "Jatin" — Tiger Jatin) derived from an incident in which he killed a tiger with nothing but a Darjeeling dagger. The then leading surgeon of Kolkata, Dr Suresh Prasad Sarbadhikari who operated upon Jatin, "took upon himself the responsibility for curing that fatally wounded patient coming twice to his house daily to dress his wounds personally..."