Hindustan Socialist Republican association Played a prominent role in the freedom struggle

1. Hindustan Socialist
Republican Army
Dr. Monica Sharma

2. The Hindustan Socialist Republican
Association (HSRA) was a revolutionary
party set up by Ram Prasad Bismil and his
associates to fight against British colonial
rule in India and achieve independence for
the country through an armed rebellion if
necessary.

3. Background
 Mahatma Gandhi had created a wave of dissatisfaction among the
youth by a sudden suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
 The decision disillusioned many young men who were full of energy
to fight the Government. These young men did not like the theory of
nonviolence.
 They had confidence that the British can be thrown out of the country
by using of force and violence.
 At the same time, there were uprisings in other parts of world and
one could witness a number of bloody revolutions.

4. Origins of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
 The party was initially named Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) by
Ram Prasad Bismil when he formed it in 1923.
 The main reason for the party’s formation was Mahatma Gandhi’s calling
off the non-cooperation movement in 1922 because of the Chauri Chaura
incident.
 While some of the leaders of the Indian National Congress broke away
from it and formed the Swaraja Party, some of the younger nationalists and
workers became disillusioned with the idea of non-violence and considered
revolutionary movements as a way to achieve freedom.
 Bismil himself had opposed Gandhi in the 1922 session of the INC at
Gaya.

5. HSRA Formation
 The constitution for the HRA was drafted by Bismil in 1923 at Allahabad with the blessing of Lala
Har Dayal.
 Other prominent members of the party were Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Jogesh Chandra
Chatterjee (who was also a member of the Anushilan Samiti).
 The HRA formed centres at, besides Allahabad, Agra, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Shahjahanpur
and Saharanpur.
 It also had bomb manufacturing units at Calcutta and Deogarh.
 A manifesto for the party was written by Sanyal titled ‘Revolutionary’.
 It invoked the youth of the country to join the party and take part in the freedom struggle. It did
not approve of the methods used by Gandhi and criticised them. The manifesto stated that it
sought to achieve a ‘Federal Republic of the United States of India’ after overthrowing British
rule.
 It also demanded universal suffrage. The material espoused a socialist society for India.
 The pamphlets were distributed in many cities in northern India.
 In 1924 – 25, many young people joined the party, prominent among them being Bhagat Singh,
Sukhdev and Chandrasekhar Azad.

6. The Revolutionary Activities of HSRA were:
 Conducting robberies and raids in an attempt to raise funds
to acquire arms and ammunition.
 Kakori Conspiracy was a train robbery.
 The killing of John Saunders to exact revenge.
 Central Assembly Bombing Case.

7. Simon Commission
 The Simon Commission came to India in 1928. The lack of an Indian member in the
commission (which was meant to deliberate on India’s future government) was met
with widespread condemnation and protest.
 National leader Lala Lajpat Rai was severely lathi-charged on the orders of a British
officer James A Scott. The 63-year old Rai died as a result of the injuries sustained a
few days later. This enraged many revolutionaries who vowed to avenge his death.
 Bhagat Singh and Rajguru (Born on August 24, 1908) shot another police officer
John Saunders in a case of mistaken identity. They had intended to shoot Scott.
However, the HSRA still claimed that revenge had been exacted.

8. Central Assembly bombing
 Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt bombed the Central Legislative Assembly, Delhi on 8th April
1929. Their only intention was to “make the deaf hear” and not to harm anyone.
Nobody was injured in the bombing and both the revolutionaries courted arrest after
the incident.
 As they were arrested, they shouted slogans like ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Down with
Imperialism’.
 For this case, both Singh and Dutt were sentenced to ‘transportation for life’. But in the
meantime, the case of the murder of Saunders was linked to Singh.
 In 1931, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged to death for it.

9.  In 1929, the HSRA also bombed a train carrying the then viceroy of India, Lord
Irwin. He was unharmed.
 Azad was also killed by the police in a shootout at Allahabad in 1931.
 After 1931, most leaders of the party had been killed or imprisoned. The party
disintegrated as there was no leadership

10. Chandra Shekhar Azad
 Azad was born on 23rd July 1906
in the Alirajpur district of Madhya
Pradesh.
 Early Life: Chandra Shekhar, then a
15-year-old student, joined a Non-
Cooperation Movement in
December 1921. As a result, he was
arrested.
 On being presented before a
magistrate, he gave his name as
"Azad" (The Free), his father's
name as "Swatantrata"
(Independence) and his residence
as "Jail".
 Therefore, he came to be known as
Chandra Shekhar Azad.

11. Kakori Conspiracy
 Most of the fund collection for revolutionary activities was done
through robberies of government property. In line with the
same, Kakori Train Robbery near Kakori, Lucknow was done in
1925 by HRA.
 The plan was executed by Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ram Prasad
Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and Manmathnath
Gupta.

12. Hindustan Socialist Republican Association:
 HRA was later reorganised as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA).
 It was established in 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi by Chandra Shekhar
Azad, Ashfaqulla Khan, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Jogesh Chandra
Chatterjee.
 HSRA planned the shooting of J. P. Saunders, a British Policeman at Lahore in 1928
to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
 Death: He died at Azad Park in Allahabad on 27th February 1931.

14. Bhagat Singh
 Bhagat Singh played a dominant role in revolutionary activities
in the post Non Cooperation movement.
 Earlier he was drawn to Gandhi’s peaceful movement when he
got disturbed by the Jalianwala Bagh massacre.
 But due to the sudden cancellation of the movement after
Chauri Chaura incident,
 He lost faith on Gandhi and his technique, along with other
revolutionaries

15. Inspiration
 Bhagat Singh's political thought evolved gradually from Gandhian nationalism to
revolutionary Marxism
 He had read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engles and Vladimir lenin and
believed that with such large and diverse population, India could only survive properly
under a socialist regime.
 These ideals had been introduced to him during his time at the National College at
Lahore and he believed that India should reenact the Russian revolution.
 In the case that Indians were not socialist, he believed that the rich would only get
richer and poor would only get poorer