100 Years of the Kakori Train Action:
The Kakori Train Action, which took place in August 1925 near Kakori village close to Lucknow, holds a significant place in India’s freedom struggle.
- On 9th August 1925, Indian revolutionaries carried out the Kakori train action on the Number 8 Down train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow, aiming to seize British government funds to support the freedom struggle.
- After the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919) and suspension of Non-Cooperation Movement (1922), young nationalists formed Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) (1924) to fund revolutionary activities by seizing British treasury money transported by train.
- It was carried out by revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, Keshav Chakraborty, Mukundi Lal, Banwari Lal, and Chandrashekhar Azad (member of HRA).
- British crackdown after the Kakori robbery led to arrests of many, of whom 17 were jailed, four transported for life and four—Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged. Kakori proved to be a setback.
- Chandrashekhar Azad was one of the few revolutionaries who managed to escape police charges.
