Remembering Shivaram Hari Rajguru on his birthday
Let us remember the martyr Shivaram Hari Rajguru on his birthday. India is enjoying the 69th year of Freedom for which he had to pay with his life.
August 24th is martyr Shivaram Hari Rajguru's birthday. He, like several other revolutionaries, is lost in the pages of history. We only remember the brave deeds of Bhagat Singh and not this young boy who was not only extremely passionate about the freedom struggle but also did not flinch away from the thought of sacrificing his life for his motherland. He showed extreme dedication and courage. Once he was seen touching a hot iron rod with his hands and when Chandra Shekhar Azad inquired about this insanity, he smiled calmly and said that he was testing himself if he can bear police torture.
1) Shivaram Hari Rajguru was born in a Brahmin family. He was from Khed, near Pune. From childhood he was moved by the atrocities against Indians by the British Raj. He always wanted to join the revolutionary movement and fight for Justice.
2) Once he failed in his English exam and his brother punished him by making him read out an English lesson before his new wife. Enraged, Rajguru left home with only 11 paisa.
3) He joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army, an active force working against the British. In the party he was known by the pseudonym of Raghunath.
4) Rajguru was a learned man. He was an eminent scholar in various Indian scriptures. He was also an accurate shooter which earned him the title of the gunman of HSRA.
5) His was a friend and also tough competitor of Bhagat Singh. He always wanted to stay one step ahead of Bhagat Singh and this aspiration of his led to several comic situations. He was the main entertainer in the bleak HSRA meetings.
6) He was very passionate about what he was doing and wanted to get rid of the Britishers by any mean. He didn't mind using force against them and that made his ideas come in direct conflict with the gentle non cooperation movement started by Gandhi.
7) Rajguru, along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev, took part in the murder of a British police officer, J. P. Saunders, at Lahore in 1928. They explained their actions as an avenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, who succumbed to the injuries inflicted by the police while protesting against the Simon Commission. Just before Rajguru was arrested, he was planning his next murder and this time the governor was on his hit list.
8) All of them along with other 21 co-conspirators were tried and found guilty. During the court proceedings Rajguru, to annoy the judge, deliberately replied in Sanskrit. When the baffled British judge used to shout at him, he used to have a good laugh and nudge Bhagat to translate. They were hanged on 23 March 1931 and were cremated at the banks of the Sutlej river. He was only 22 when he became a martyr.
9) As a tribute to him, his birth place Khed was renamed as Rajgurunagar. Writer Anil Verma, wrote a book on him titled Ajeya Krantikari Rajguru. It was released on 24 August 2008 on Birth centenary of Rajguru.
