Ashfaqulla Khan

On 22 october 1900 was born Ashfaqulla Khan in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Growing up, Khan heard stories from his eldest brother about the “bravery and Urdu poetry of Ram Prasad Bismil”. When the 1922
ChauriChaura incident prompted Gandhi to end the Non-Cooperation Movement, Khan was one of the many youngsters left disappointed.
In the mid-1920s, Khan and Bismil went on to found the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), with the aim of winning freedom for the country through an armed revolution.  Khan had a flair for Urdu poetry and wrote under the pseudonyms Varasi (or Warsi) and
HasratShahjahanpuri. He wrote at length about the British ‘conspiracy’ in India: “Phootdaalkarshaasankarnekichaalka ham par koi asarnahihogaaur Hindustan azadhokarrahega” (Your conspiracy to divide and rule India will not work; We will make Hindustan free.) An armed struggle required finances. Thus to arrange for the finances ram Prasad Bismi, Ashfaqulla khan and nine other members of the group planned to carry out train robbery. On 9 August 1925, Kakori Express was going from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow. The train was carrying money that had been collected
at various railway stations and was to be deposited in Lucknow. Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and other revolutionaries stopped the train and fled with the cash they found in it.  They were arrested within a month of the robbery. The trial for the case went on for about 18 months and
ended in April 1927. Ashfaqulla khan, Ram Prasad Bismil, RajendraLahiri, Roshan Singh were sentenced to death, and the others given life sentences. At the age of 27 Ashfaqulla khan was hanged in Faizabad jail. When asked about his last wish, he said,
Kuchaarzoonahihai, haiaarzoo to yehhai
Rakh de koi zarasikhaak e watankafan me.