SPEECH BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA, AT THE BIRTH CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS OF SHAHEED ASHFAQULLA KHAN

NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1999

Ashfaqulla Khan, like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Jatindra Nath Das, and much later Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, belonged to that stream of Indian nationalism which glorified with the blood of martyrs India's struggle for freedom, even though ultimately, the freedom was won through the ingenious and startlingly novel method of non-violent mass struggle under Mahatma Gandhi. Ashfaqulla Khan was the fore runner who inspired Bhagat Singh and others in their revolutionary activities.

The celebration of this young martyr's birth centenary is charged with meaning for us from more than one point of view. We have to-day become more than ever aware of the culture and civilization of our distant past which has bequeathed to us some of the eternal values of life which still animate and sustain us. But it is also important for us to recall and revive our more immediate past which has bequeathed to us the heroic values of patriotism and the pragmatic, but nevertheless basic values of unity and harmony in our nation and in our society. I am, therefore, happy and honoured to participate in the birth centenary celebrations of Ashfaqulla Khan, whose life and martyrdom is an inspiring example in our modern history of heroic patriotism and a burning sense of national unity.

As you know Ashfaqulla Khan was one of the founders of the Hindustan Republican Association which aimed at launching an armed struggle and establish a Federal Republic of India on the basis of universal adult franchise. By looting Government money from a train at Kakori in U.P. he and his young revolutionary colleagues were challenging the sovereignty of the King Emperor over India for which they were sentenced to death by hanging in 1927. Ashfaqulla himself had pointed out the irony that the British who had looted and plundered our country for years were now charging them with the crime of looting a train. He went to the gallows cheerfully with the "Koran" tied around his neck.

The Kakori case trial brought the entire nation together to defend Ashfaqulla and his revolutionary companions. A Defence Committee was formed consisting of eminent Congress leaders like Pandit Motilal Nehru, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Govind Ballabh Pant and Mohanlal Saxena. Lala Lajpat Rai came to the forefront in expressing his sympathy with the revolutionaries. Many important Congress leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Acharya Narendra Dev remained in touch with the revolutionaries in jail. Great literary figures like Munshi Prem Chand attended the trial in the Court. The public outrage against the British Government was best expressed by the leading Hindi newspaper of those times 'The Pratap', which published the news of detention with a screaming headline "Jewels of the country in custody". The All India Congress Committee passed a resolution at Bombay strongly condemning the ill treatment meted out by the Government on the Kakori prisoners.

The trial of these great patriots further inflamed the nationalist sentiments for independence. The phenomenon of revolutionaries attending the Court, singing patriotic songs and raising stiring slogans, like "Bharatiya Prajatantra Ki Jai", moved the people. They sang in unison the songs of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Ram Prasad Bismil and drove home the point that India is one deriving unity from diverse traditions.

Martyrdom of Ashfaqulla Khan gave a new meaning and connotation to the revolutionary movement of that time. All other armed actions launched by the revolutionaries before Kakori case were deeply inspired by religious ideology and served to encourage a revivalist tendency. With the formation of Hindustan Republican Association and the involvement of Ashfaqulla Khan, the entire outlook on revolutionary movements started changing. It has been said by some historians that Ashfaqulla Khan was the first Muslim to be hanged in a conspiracy case. In fact Ashfaqulla Khan in his last message to the nation wrote, "I take pride in the fact that I will be the first and foremost Muslim to embrace death on the gallows for the freedom of my country".

During the course of the trial in Kakori case Ashfaqulla was approached by some communal elements to save his own life by deposing himself in the Court against his Hindu colleagues. When his attention was drawn to the fact that Ram Prasad Bismil who was spearheading the Hindustan Republican Association and a co-accused in the Kakori case was a Hindu striving for Hindu Raj with no place for Muslims, Ashfaqulla Khan retorted, "Ram Prasad is not a Hindu to me, he is a Hindustani. Not Hindu freedom but Hindustan freedom is his objective". That was a revolutionary and secular statement which succinctly expressed the crux of the ever-lasting message of our freedom struggle centering around composite unity and identity of our people. Ashfaqulla's adherence to democracy and secularism was total and complete.

In his last message to the countrymen before his hanging he asked, "Is it proper to divide our country on the basis of religion? Why divert your attention from the most important task of liberating your country? ... it is the patriotic duty of all Hindus and Muslims to join hands to compel the Britishers to leave India." He further wrote, "I appeal to you to unite and enter the field of action. Declare complete independence of India as your ultimate goal". His demand for complete independence preceded the 26th January 1930 declaration of the Indian National Congress that complete independence is India's goal.

In his last message which has been referred to earlier Ashfaqulla warned that the tablique and shudhi movements were dividing the Hindus and Muslims and coming in the way of our struggle for independence. It is well known that tablique movement was started as a campaign to purify the Muslim rituals and life style in confirmation with Koran as understood by conservative elements. Similarly the shudhi movement was started by those who believed that Hindus who got converted to Islam should be brought back to Hindu fold again. As a sharp critic of all these movements Ashfaqulla Khan felt that such movements would divide the joint platform of Hindus and Muslims to fight against British Rule. He sincerely believed that nationhood is not constituted by religion. At a time when we are experiencing the growth of fundamentalism and communalism, let us take a lesson from Ashfaqulla's life and faith in Indian unity and communal harmony.

Ashfaqulla Khan's life had made a strong impact on the subsequent phases of our freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Jatindra Nath Das were greatly influenced by him and reorganised the revolutionary activities culminating in their martyrdom. We owe a debt of gratitude to these revolutionaries for their sacrifices which accelerated India's independence. Today when we have assembled here on the Birth Centenary of this great Indian who at the young age of 27 went to the gallows for the unity and freedom of India, we have to ask ourselves how can we pay our debt to these brave young heroes? Words are not enough to pay the debt. We have to follow in practice the spirit of freedom and unity and eschew every trace of communalism from our society and politics. And we will have to set an example to our youth and to the succeeding generations of patriotism and unity and communal and social harmony so that they will have some reason to look back upon us with pride as we are to-day looking upon Ashfaqulla and his colleagues.

Thank you