8 Badass Things Chandra Shekhar Azad Did That Made Him A Real Hero Of India

Freedom fighters took two routes to fight the British rule in India during the freedom movement.

One was that of diplomacy, nonviolence, negotiations, deliberations and countless meetings between the Indian leaders and their British counterparts.

Then there was the revolutionary one where a group of young and highly motivated Indian youth wanted the British out, diplomacy and non-violence be damned.

They wanted to answer all the atrocities the British committed with equal gusto. Fire for fire. Blood for blood.

Chandra Shekhar Azad was one of them. Here are some of his famous escapades.

1. He gave himself the name Azad when he was just 15 and was given 15 lashings for it

By the time Chandra Shekhar was 15, he was a freedom revolutionary veteran. During one of these movements, he was arrested and was presented before the district magistrate.

When the district magistrate asked for his name, Chandra Shekhar proudly proclaimed his name as Azad. When asked for his father’s name he said proudly, “Swatantra”. He was sentenced to 15 lashings, which he took very enthusiastically.

 

2. He masterminded the famous Kakori train robbery

You cannot wage a revolutionary war without money, and after Azad joined Revolutionary Party in India, he was tasked with the looting of a train that at Kakori.

Under his leadership, 10 revolutionaries looted the train successfully, taking all the money bags that were kept in the iron safe. They held the British soldiers at gunpoint and made off with the money.

 

3. He crossed the Vindhya mountains and jungles on foot after escaping British clutches

The money that was looted was not a small amount, and also, it belonged to the British treasury. The British fiercely hunted down the revolutionary members and even caught 5 of them, sentencing them to death on the spot.

But Azad escaped famously. He trekked through the treacherous mountain jungles of Vindhya on foot and made it to Kanpur where he started mentoring new revolutionaries.

Bhagat Singh was one of them.

 

4. He also almost successfully blew up the Viceroy’s train in Delhi

He had also planned to blow up the special train in which the Viceroy was travelling.

They went ahead and planted many bombs under the tracks in Delhi. Azad personally did reconnaissance in the disguise of a sadhu.

But when the Viceroy’s train passed over the bombs, the detonation was delayed by a second and the Viceroy was saved.

 

5. And he escaped yet again

Imagine the surprise the police got, because they had intensified all their activities against the revolutionary freedom fighters.

This incident should not have happened.

And if this wasn’t enough, Azad again escaped!

 

6. He shot Saunders who was responsible for Lala Lajpat Rai’s death

We all know the story where Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally lathi charged while protesting against the Simon Commission.

Lalaji died due to the beatings and Azad swore revenge against the officer who ordered the lathi charge. Azad, with the core team members of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Jaigopal travelled all the way to Lahore to hunt down Saunders.

They shot him dead as soon as he stepped out of the police station, thus avenging Lalaji’s death.

 

7. And he escaped. Again.

You might think that after killing more than a few top officers of the British Government, you will be caught and given a brutal punishment.

But Azad still was as slippery as they came. Always on his guard, the British could never catch him. He was an expert of disguises and blended very well into the crowd, with help from other revolutionaries.

 

8. Cornered and caught, he only killed British sepoys even when his own countrymen were hellbent to kill him

Not all Indians were uber-patriotic back then. Many of them could be bought for a few rupees, and the same happened in Azad’s case.

A traitor tipped off his location to the British when he was in Allahabad. He was surrounded by 80 sepoys who fired at him mercilessly.

Azad had a pistol which he used to shoot at only British sepoys, refusing to kill the Indian sepoys who were shooting at him.

Sukhdev, who was with him, managed to escape because Azad sacrificed his life. After he knew that Sukhdev was safe, he emptied his last bullet into his own skull, thus becoming a martyr.

He didn’t want the British to have to pleasure of killing him, thus remaining a revolutionary to his death.

As he used to passionately recite his poem –

‘Dushman ki goliyon ka hum samna karenge,

Azad hee rahein hain, azad hee rahenge’

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