A great revolutionary – Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil

“Mit gaya jab mitne wala,
Fir salaam aaya to jya,
Dil ki barbaadi ke baad unka,
Payaam aaya to kya!”

 Paying tributes to the immortal revolutionary Pandit Shri Ram Prasad Bismil on his 124th birth anniversary.

 The immortal revolutionary laid down his life to the sacred tricolor of the most pious land. The young freedom fighter with a revolutionary spirit fought against British colonialism and made India breathe free.

 The young freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil was born on June 11, 1897, to Murlidhar and Moolmati in the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

 Pandit Prasad was also a prominent part of the Arya Samaj from an early age. He was a great order poet, translator, and literary. Many Urdu and Hindi poems under the pen name of ‘Bismil’, ‘Ram’, and ‘Agyat’. From numerous quotes to poems, he wrote, each one portrayed the same thrive for freedom of the land from the British colony.

 The feeling of sheer nationalism and ideals of freedom first ingrained in him at the age of 18 after he came across the news of the death sentence been given to an Indian nationalist and Arya Samaj missionary Bhai Parmanand.

 Many poems that he wrote, the first was named as ‘Mera Janm’ at the young age of 18 only.

The numerous poems and quotes that Bismil wrote are even today uttered by the nationalists to portray the love for the nation. His poem “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna” has touched the hearts of people across and beyond the boundaries.

 The love for the nation is overflown in his works. Few of his lines justify the lines wrote.

 “He Matrubhoomi, Tere charno me sir nawaaun,
Main bhakti bhet apni, tere sharan me laaun…”

(Which means Oh Motherland! I bow my head at your feet. I bring my devotional offering to your shelter).

 “Arrooze kaamyabi par Kabhi to Hindustan Hoga,
Riha saiyaad ke haatho se apna aashiyan hoga,
Chakhayenge mazaa barbaadi-e-gulshan ka gulachi ko,
Bahar aayegi us din jab ki apna baagwan hoga..”

(This means at some point in time, there will be India’s success. Our motherland (home) will be free from the hands of Sayyad and we will collectively repay all the tortures someday when we will attain freedom).

 “Bharat Janani Teri jay ho Vijay ho,
Tu shuddh buddh gyan ki aagaar,
Teri Vijay Surya Mata Uday ho…”

 (Which means Victory to Bharat Mata. You are pure and the abode of Buddha’s knowledge. May your victory rises like the sun).

 In the year 1918, Pandit Prasad’s name was etched as a prominent freedom fighter in the Mainpuri conspiracy. A school teacher namely Genda Lal Dixit from Auraiya arranged the youth force by gathering the power from Etawah, Mainpuri, Agra, and Shahjahanpur districts of UP. These youth forces made the organizations namely ‘Matrivedi’ and ‘Shivaji Samiti’.

 A pamphlet titled ‘Deshwasiyon Ke Naam along with his poem ‘Mainpuri ki Pratigya’ was published and was distributed among the common public on January 28, 1918.

 They looted government coffers to gather money for the parties formed.

 This was the same time when freedom struggles were at their peak to kick off the Britishers from the country and gift freedom to the nation and each living in. Where Mahatma Gandhi imposed ideologies of non-violence and made his supporters adopt the same, Ram Prasad Bismil had his own ideologies of attaining freedom for the nation. He believed “independence cannot be achieved by the means of non-violence.”

 The views between the two visionaries conflicted as Bismil did not resent the views of Congress and thus formed ‘Hindustan Republic Association”. Fearless leaders like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad joined it and handled the thread.

 The Kakori incident that took place on August 9, 1925, had names of Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ulla Khan, and others who companioned them and executed the Train-loot plan at Kakori near Lucknow. The 8-down Saharanpur Lucknow passenger train was stopped by the revolutionaries at Kakori and Rajendra Lahiri, Sachindra Bakshi, Ashfaq Ulla Khan, and Ram Prasad Bismil subdued the guard and looted the train full of cash meant for the treasury.

After the incident within a month, all the revolutionaries and more than a dozen HRA members were arrested by the British authorities.

 The trial on the Kakori incident penalized the four prime revolutionaries with the death penalty as they were sentenced to be hanged.

 Barrack number 11 of Lucknow Central Jail had the courageous revolutionary, and he wrote his autobiography from within. His life that he put in words by himself is still considered being one of the finest works of literature in Hindi. The song of him “Mera rang de Basanti Chola…” sends shivers down the spine even today as it describes the love this mother nation gives to her children and each child that have it for her.

With his lips uttering “Jay Hind”, the hot blood of the nation at a very young age of 30 years was hanged to death in the Gorakhpur jail on December 19, 1927, and was cremated on the banks of river Rapti. The cremation site later came to be known as ‘RajGhat’.

Those bravest hearts must have laid down themselves for the sanctity of our mother but they remain immortal in the hearts of each individual that loves the nation. His tribute to the motherland through his words gives sheer pride as he says,

“Desh hit paida hue hai,
Desh par mar jaayenge,
Marte marte desh ko,
Zinda magar kar jaayenge…”

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