Revolutionaries

The reactionary policy of the British developed a deep hatred towards them among a section of the younger generation of India. They believed that India could achieve independence only by an organised revolutionary movement. As a result, they organised secret groups to launch revolutionary activities against the British.

Youths were trained in aggressive methods of violence as a means of strength against the British. They attempted killing of unpopular British officials, committed dacoities to finance their activities and looted arms. Many of them chose the path of violence to gain independence for India. They were called the revolutionaries.

The centres of their activities were Punjab, Maharashtra, Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. Prominent among these revolutionaries were Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki, Bhupendra Nath Dutt, V. D. Savarkar, Sardar Ajit Singh, Lala Hardayal and his Gadar Party, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru, Sukh Deo, Chandra Shekhar Azad, etc. These revolutionaries organised secret societies, murdered many British officers, disrupted railway traffic, engaged in organised attack on British wealth.

In order to overturn the British Rule through arms, Kakori Conspiracy was planned by Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan and other team members of the Hindustan Republican Association in 1925. In 1928, Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was formed by Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt and others.

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the Central Legislative Assembly on 8th April, 1929 protesting against the passage of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill while raising slogans of Inquilab Zindabad (long live the revolution), though no one was killed or injured in the bomb incident. Following the trial in court of this and other cases, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in 1931. Their sacrifice provided an incentive to the people.  They were regarded martyrs and became the symbol of national unity and aspirations.