Remembering heroes of Indian freedom struggle: Ashfaqullah Khan

New Delhi: ‘Khoon se khelenge holi gar vatan muskhil mein hai' was a famous quote of a great revolutionary Ashfaqullah Khan. Born on October 22, 1900 at Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, he was a great freedom fighter who made the supreme sacrifice for India's independence. His name is written in golden letters in the history of India. Ashfaqullah was a member of the revolutionary group whose leader was Ramprasad Bismil. He was the best friend of Ramprasad Bismil who also belonged to Shahjahanpur. Ramprasad Bismil was a Aryasamaji whereas Ashfaqullah Khan was a devout Muslim. They were so devoted to the cause of the nation that their religion did not come in the way of their firm resolve to make India a free country. The young revolutionaries wanted to make use of revolvers, bombs and other weapons to fight the British. Kashi (Varanasi) was the centre of their activities. They formed the Hindustan Republican Association. Their main objective was to win freedom for the country through armed revolution. The association published a manifesto called Krantikari in 1925 advocating the elimination of inequality and slavery. For the purpose of carrying out the revolution, they needed money. The famous Kakori train robbery was conceived with the sole objective of getting money for carrying out their revolutionary activities. Ashfaq opposed the idea, saying that it would be a hasty step and will expose the revolutionaries to direct attack by a strong government which will use its entire machinery to crush their revolutionary activities. However the revolutionaries decided to go ahead with the plan. Like a disciplined soldier Ashfaq vowed to join. On August 9, 1925, the train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was approaching Kakori. Someone pulled the chain and the train stopped abruptly. Ashfaq got off the second class compartment with his friends Sachindra Bakshi and Rajendra Lahiri. The group consisting of ten young revolutionaries robbed the money and fled. On 26th September 1925 Ramprasad Bismil was arrested. Ashfaq escaped from his home and hid in a sugarcane field. Later he managed to reach Varanasi and stayed for some time in Banaras University. With the help of his friends, he went to Bihar and worked their as clerk in an engineering firm at Daltonganj. Later, he went to Delhi with a plan to go abroad. In Delhi, he met a Pathan friend who also hailed from Shahjahanpur and was a classmate of Ashfaq. In his greed for cash reward, which the British Government had announced on Ashfaq's head, the Pathan sounded the police and next morning Ashfaq was also arrested. The police submitted charge sheet against him in the court. During the court proceedings the Superintendent of Police, who was a Muslim, went to Ashfaq's jail room and tried to wean him away from the revolutionaries, but he failed. The efforts of the lawyers to save the revolutionaries, however, failed in the court of justice which sentenced to death Ramaprasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh. The others were given life sentences. On 19th December 1927, Ashfaqullah Khan was hanged to death inside the district jail, Faizabad. When Ashfaq was brought to gallows he said, “My hands are not soiled with the murder of man, God will give me justice."