August 24th: Martyr Shivaram Hari Rajguru’s Birth Anniversary
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 man of 22 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.
Chandrashekhar Azad’s fiery words, courage and deep love for India especially captured Rajguru’s imagination and he joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA). A skilled wrestler and Sanskrit scholar, he was also an accurate shooter which earned him the title of the gunman of HSRA. Rajguru 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.
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 the Simon Commission.
All of them along with 21 co-conspirators were tried and found guilty. During the court proceedings Rajguru deliberately replied in Sanskrit to annoy the judge. 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. At the time of their execution, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar were just 23 years old while Shivaram Rajguru was only 22.
It’s time we moved beyond paying mere lip-service to their sacrifice once every year and adopt the examples they set – that of deep love for one’s nation, dedication to their cause and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge – in our own lives.
