Remembering Chandra Shekhar Azad: 10 interesting facts about India's freedom fighter

Today February 27, 2021, marks the 90th death anniversary of one of the iconic Indian revolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad.

Azad was killed on this day in 1931 in Alfred Park, Allahabad after an associate betrayed him. For quite some time, he held the well-armed police that circled him at bay, single-handedly with a small pistol and a few cartridges.

However, left with just one bullet, he shot himself in the head and lived up to his resolve that he would never be arrested and dragged to the gallows to be hanged.

Here are 10 facts about Chandra Skhekhar Azad

1. Chandra Shekhar Azad was born as Chandra Shekhar Tiwari on July 23, 1906, in the family of Pandit Sitaram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi in Bhavra village, in present-day Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

2. Azad inspired a generation of Indians through the sacrifices he made for the country and his enormous contribution to the freedom struggle and other social causes.

3.To make him a Sanskrit scholar, Azad’s mother asked his father to send their son to Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi. He joined the freedom struggle in 1921 when he was just a school student.

4. In December 1921, Mahatma Gandhi launched the non-cooperation movement. Azad took part in the movement and he was arrested by the British. When Azad was produced before a judge, he gave his name as "Azad", and his father's name as  "Swatantrata".

5. Azad later became more aggressive after the suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922. He later joined the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary organisation formed by Ramprasad Bismil.

6. He was most famous for the Kakori Rail Dacoity in 1925 and the assassination of assistant superintendent of police John Poyantz Saunders in 1928.

7. As a revolutionary, he adopted the last name Azad, which means "free" in Urdu. Legend has it that while he adopted the name, he vowed the police would never capture him alive.

8. Azad did not feel that violence was unacceptable in the struggle, especially in view of the Jalliawallah Bagh Massacre of 1919, where Army units killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and wounded thousands. Young Azad was deeply and emotionally influenced by the tragedy.

9. On February 23, 1931, police surrounded Azad and he was hit on his right thigh making it difficult for him to escape. With one bullet in his pistol and surrounded by police, he found himself outnumbered. He shot himself keeping his pledge of never being captured alive.

10. He used to fondly recite a Hindustani couplet, his only poetic composition: 'Dushman ki goliyon ka hum saamna karenge. Azad hi rahein hain, azad hi rahenge'