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.
Subhas Chandra Bose Biography
Born: January 23, 1897
Died: August 18, 1945
Achievements: Passed Indian Civil
Services Exam; elected Congress
President in 1938 and 1939; formed a
new party All India Forward block;
organized Azad Hind Fauj to overthrow
British Empire from India.

Subhas Chandra Bose, affectionately

called as Netaji, was one of the most
prominent leaders of Indian freedom
struggle. Though Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru have garnered much of the credit for successful culmination of Indian freedom
struggle, the contribution of Subash Chandra Bose is no less. He has been denied his rightful
place in the annals of Indian history. He founded Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) to
overthrow British Empire from India and came to acquire legendary status among Indian
masses.

Subhas Chandra Bose was born on January 23, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. His father Janaki Nath
Bose was a famous lawyer and his mother Prabhavati Devi was a pious and religious lady.
Subhas Chandra Bose was the ninth child among fourteen siblings. Subhas Chandra Bose was
a brilliant student right from the childhood. He topped the matriculation examination of Calcutta
province and graduated with a First Class in Philosophy from the Scottish Churches College in
Calcutta. He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's teachings and was known for his
patriotic zeal as a student. To fulfill his parents wishes he went to England in 1919 to compete
for Indian Civil Services. In England he appeared for the Indian Civil Service competitive
examination in 1920, and came out fourth in order of merit. However, Subhas Chandra Bose
was deeply disturbed by the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, and left his Civil Services
apprenticeship midway to return to India in 1921

After returning to India Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose came under the influence of Mahatma
Gandhi and joined the Indian National Congress. On Gandhiji's instructions, he started working
under Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, whom he later acknowledged his political guru. Soon he
showed his leadership mettle and gained his way up in the Congress' hierarchy. In 1928 the
Motilal Nehru Committee appointed by the Congress declared in favour of Domination Status,
but Subhas Chandra Bose along with Jawaharlal Nehru opposed it, and both asserted that they
would be satisfied with nothing short of complete independence for India. Subhas also
announced the formation of the Independence League. Subhas Chandra Bose was jailed during
Civil Disobedience movement in 1930. He was released in 1931 after Gandhi-Irwin pact was
signed. He protested against the Gandhi-Irwin pact and opposed the suspension of Civil
Disobedience movement specially when Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged.

Subash Chandra Bose was soon arrested again under the infamous Bengal Regulation. After
an year he was released on medical grounds and was banished from India to Europe. He took
steps to establish centres in different European capitals with a view to promoting politico-cultural
contacts between India and Europe. Defying the ban on his entry to India, Subash Chandra
Bose returned to India and was again arrested and jailed for a year. After the General Elections
of 1937, Congress came to power in seven states and Subash Chandra Bose was released.
Shortly afterwards he was elected President of the Haripura Congress Session in 1938. During
his term as Congress President, he talked of planning in concrete terms, and set up a National
planning Committee in October that year. At the end of his first term, the presidential election to
the Tripuri Congress session took place early 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose was re-elected,
defeating Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya who had been backed by Mahatma Gandhi and the
Congress Working Committee. Clouds of World War II were on the horizon and he brought a
resolution to give the British six months to hand India over to the Indians, failing which there
would be a revolt. There was much opposition to his rigid stand, and he resigned from the post
of president and formed a progressive group known as the Forward Block.

Subhas Chandra Bose now started a mass movement against utilizing Indian resources and
men for the great war. There was a tremendous response to his call and he was put under
house arrest in Calcutta. In January 1941, Subhas Chandra Bose disappeared from his home in
Calcutta and reached Germany via Afghanistan. Working on the maxim that "an enemy's enemy
is a friend", he sought cooperation of Germany and Japan against British Empire. In January
1942, he began his regular broadcasts from Radio Berlin, which aroused tremendous
enthusiasm in India. In July 1943, he arrived in Singapore from Germany. In Singapore he took
over the reins of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia from Rash Behari Bose and
organised the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) comprising mainly of Indian prisoners of
war. He was hailed as Netaji by the Army as well as by the Indian civilian population in East
Asia. Azad Hind Fauj proceeded towards India to liberate it from British rule. Enroute it lliberated
Andeman and Nicobar Islands. The I.N.A. Head quarters was shifted to Rangoon in January
1944. Azad Hind Fauj crossed the Burma Border, and stood on Indian soil on March 18 ,1944.

However, defeat of Japan and Germany in the Second World War forced INA to retreat and it
could not achieve its objective. Subhas Chandra Bose was reportedly killed in an air crash over
Taipeh, Taiwan (Formosa) on August 18, 1945. Though it is widely believed that he was still
alive after the air crash not much information could be found about him.