RAM PRASAD BISMIL

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Details

• He is considered a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, due to his close friendship with fellow revolutionary poet Ashfaqullah Khan, and patriotism.
• Apart from Kakori Train robbery of 1925, he was involved in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918.
• He had written many patriotic verses in Hindi and Urdu under pen names like ‘Agyat’, ‘Ram’ and ‘Bismil’ – (restless).
• In 1922, he founded a party named Hindustan Republican Association with an aim to establish a federal Republic of United States of India by an organized and armed revolution.

Mainpuri conspiracy

• Bismil got involved in politics after his graduation but soon disillusioned by the works of moderate wing of the Congress Party.
• He wanted freedom not by requesting but by using force, as pointed in one of his poem named Ghulami Mita Do.
• Subsequently he joined revolutionary Genda Lal Dixit and also started a revolutionary organisation called Matrivedi (The Altar of the Motherland).
• In 1918, another of Bismil’s poem, namely Mainpuri ki Pratigya, earned him praise of various nationalist locals and also led to his notoriety with the British.
• In 1918, he looted government offices three times in Mainpuri district. The aim was to collect funds to fulfil the aim of the organisation he established.
• He became a wanted figure by British and was encountered by the british police when he was planning another looting between Delhi and Agra.
• A dramatic shootout followed by jumping of Bismil into the Yamuna river. Hence he managed to escape and then remained underground for few years as he was declared an absconder.
• Later in 1922 he formed the Hindustan Republican Association.
• He had a vision of Indian republic which would be based on universal suffrage and socialist principles.
• He emphasized on the abolition of all systems which enable exploitation of human.
• After an eighteen month long trial in in the Kakori Train Action, Bismil along with Ashfaqullah and Rajendranath Lahiri, was sentenced to death in 1927 at an early age of 30 years.

Must read article:

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/ram-prasad-bismil

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-history/a-ram-prasad-bismil-revolutionary-poet-8656213/