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In 1925, the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) carried out one of the most spectacular episodes of the Indian independence struggle.
On August 8, a group of revolutionaries from the HRA robbed the Number 8 Down Train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow as it passed through Kakori.
The specific train was targeted because it carried taxes, literal money bags, destined for the British colonial government. The revolutionaries took back resources that belonged to the Indian people in order to fund the fight for independence.
The Kakori conspiracy and heist sent British authorities into a panic, unleashing a crackdown against the HRA which included dozens of arrests. Most people were eventually released due to a lack of evidence.
However, two HRA leaders, Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, considered the masterminds behind the Kakori robbery, were sentenced to death and executed on December 19, 27. They were 30 and 27 years old, respectively.
Their martyrdom, alongside the direct action against the colonial regime, helped fuel the movement for independence, which was finally achieved in August 1947.
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Text: Ricardo Vaz. Illustration: Abhinav.