Pluralism that defined revolutionaries

Marte ‘Bismil’, ‘Roshan’, ‘Lahiri’, ‘Ashfaq’ atyachaar se/Honge paida sainkadon veer inke rudhir ki dhaar se

(‘Bismil’, Roshan, Ashfaq die at the hands of tyranny. Hundreds of brave souls shall be born from their blood)

The newly translated autobiography of revolutionary Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’ — ‘A Glimpse of My Life’, written in secret, smuggled out of his cell and published just two days before he was hanged in 1927 — has a message that stands out: friendship. Close to a century after ‘Bismil’ wrote his autobiography, it is now available in English.

Peppered with poetry, he writes about his mother, his childhood, his dreams for India, but what shines through is his bond with Ashfaqullah Khan.

Their friendship was unusual. In Saharanpur, where communal tensions were high, it was bold. It was also very much a word that defined Ram Prasad’s identity — revolutionary. “You were very keen to meet me,” wrote Ram Prasad about Ashfaq penning down his thoughts in “the last days” of his life. “But I was wary of a Muslim school student wanting to talk to me, and I rebuffed you.” Ashfaq, however, convinced him of his “sincerity”.

“Our friendship — between a strict, orthodox Arya Samaji and a Muslim — surprised everyone,” Ram Prasad wrote. “I performed the shuddhi ceremony for Muslims, lived in the Arya Samaj mandir, but none of this bothered you. Some of my friends would look at you with contempt and hate for being a Muslim, but this did not prevent you from interacting with me… You were abused by all, called a kafir when Hindu-Muslim communal tensions broke out, but you did not agree with their hate-filled views.”

His relationship with Ashfaqullah withstood death. There were many who betrayed him. But Ashfaq remained his comrade, fellow inmate and confidant till the end. While ‘Bismil’ went to the gallows on December 19, 1927, Ashfaqullah Khan met his fate at Faizabad Jail the same day and Thakur Roshan Singh at Allahabad. Their friend Lahiri was hanged two days earlier, on December 17.

Their friendship was not just symbolic. “We ate from the same plate. And any ideas I might have about the differences between Hindus and Muslims simply left me,” wrote Ram Prasad. The fires burnt, yet they did not wipe out camaraderie. Nor will they ever.

History chronicles revolutions as catalysts for change, but Ram Prasad dreamt of social equality. Revolutionaries offer lessons not only to overthrow brutal regimes, but more importantly to stir optimism for a better world. In India, like Ram Prasad, they were also sticklers for honour, even if idealistic. So, ‘Bismil’ chose to not escape and face the punishment for the train dacoity. He didn’t want the blame to fall on the officers or a jailer who had been kind to him.

This summer has rebellion brewing on bookshelves. Brilliantly translated by Awadhesh Tripathi, ‘A Glimpse of My Life’ is essential reading for anyone who wants to go beyond the black and white picture with a moustache that pops up on the screen.

Rana Preet Gill’s ‘The Ghadar Movement — A Forgotten Struggle’ is a brave attempt to add information on the revolutionaries who tried to smuggle arms into India to light the fire of rebellion. A vet by training, Rana has chosen to find the stories behind the names she read in a park at Cellular Jail on a holiday in 2019.

The Ghadar Party also tried to incite Indians in the British army to revolt. Mostly from Punjab, while the stirrers of revolt in Bengal have been acknowledged, the Ghadar Party that tried to sow ferment in India from America or Canada hasn’t really been recognised in the larger Indian Independence narrative.

Tying both these books in spirit is Khwaja Ahmad Abbas’ ‘Inquilab’, a fictionalised retelling of the freedom struggle that touches upon the Khilafat movement, Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

In each of these books, the bond that celebrates this spirit, fuels it and powers the impossible dream is friendship. That went against the division of the times. The dream can’t be dreamt alone. The yaari that it needed to fight the common dushman overcomes divisiveness.

It is the dosti of Anwar with Ratan that is at the heart of ‘Inquilab’, quite like the friendship of Ashfaq and Ram Prasad. “My friend! That is what Ratan had called him. My friend! Two simple words and yet how sweet they sounded in Anwar’s ears,” writes Abbas. They were friends in the times when water was separated as “Hindu pani” and “Muslim pani”, as the young Anwar witnessed, wide-eyed, on the railway station where in the midst of shops selling fruit, books and newspapers, two men sold “different water”. The dispenser of the “Muslim water” had a beard and carried a goatskin slung across his shoulders. The Hindu had a pail in each hand. The source of the water, Anwar noticed, was a common tap. In times of hate, a human connection.

The Ghadar Party members’ motto also flies in the face of divisiveness. Apart from no salaries for the work they did, the promise was simple: “Religious beliefs were to be personal. They were not Sikhs, Hindus or Mussalmans: they were one. They were all Ghadarites.”

The books also acknowledge that the path of revolution was far from easy. It demanded austerity. Lala Har Dayal’s life exemplified frugality. He was so devoted to his cause that he often neglected his own needs. His jacket was torn and his shoes worn. Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’ used his mother’s money to pay for printing pamphlets that offered proof of the truth of the British government. The life of revolution or ghadar had penury, terrorisation by the government, and danger.

While the armed struggle for many seemed just guns — certainly for those who viewed it as romantic — ‘Bismil’ writes of young men thinking that holding a gun “makes them feel powerful. When I ask them a simple question — what would they gain out of keeping a revolver? — they have no answer for it”.

Failure and treachery from confidants are a feature of revolutionary life, he wrote. It makes friendship, the kind that seemed improbable, worth celebrating. “No matter how fraught the process, the unity of Hindus and Muslims will enable us, help us and is our greatest desire,” wrote Ram Prasad ‘Bismil’. His words are worth remembering.

— The writer is a literary critic