Shivaram Rajguru
{{short description|Indian anti-colonial revolutionary and independence activist (1908–1931)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_name = Shivaram Hari Rajguru
| image = Martyr Shivram Hari Rajguru.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Shivram Hari Rajguru
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1908|08|24}}
| birth_place = Khed, Bombay Presidency, British India
{{small|(present-day Rajgurunagar, Maharashtra, India)}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1931|03|23|1908|08|24}}
| death_place = Lahore Central Jail, Punjab, British India
{{small|(present-day Punjab, Pakistan)}}
| death_cause = Execution by hanging
| nationality = Indian
| occupation = Independence activist
| organization = HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Organisation)
| movement = Indian Independence movement
| criminal_charges = Murder of John P. Saunders and Chanan Singh
| criminal_penalty = Capital punishment
| criminal_status = Executed
}}
Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931){{cite book|author=Verma, Anil |title=Rajguru – The Invincible Revolutionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Um42DwAAQBAJ|year=2017|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|isbn=978-81-230-2522-3}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/remembering-shivaram-hari-rajguru-on-his-birthday-24th-august-indian-revolutionary-289951-2015-08-24|title=Remembering Shivaram Hari Rajguru on his birthday|date=24 August 2015|work=India Today|access-date=28 May 2018}} was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary and independence activist. He is best known for his involvement in the 1928 assassination of a British police officer named John Saunders. He was an active member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and on 23rd March 1931, he was hanged by the British government along with his associates Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar.
Early life
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Rajguru was born on 24 August 1908 at Khed to Parvati Devi and Harinarayan Rajguru in a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family. Khed was located at the bank of river Bheema near Pune. His father died when he was only six years old and the responsibility of the family fell on his elder brother Dinkar. He received primary education at Khed and later studied in New English High School in Pune. He joined Seva Dal at a young age.
Revolutionary activities
He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, who wanted India to be free from British Raj by any means possible.
He is remembered for his revolutionary activities, particularly for his involvement in the Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, where revolutionaries robbed a British train to fund their activities. Rajguru, along with other revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan, played a significant role in this daring act. Rajguru became a colleague of Bhagat Singh & Sukhdev Thapar, and took part in the assassination of a British police officer, J. P. "John" Saunders, at Lahore on 17 December 1928. Their actions were to avenge the beating of Lala Lajpat Rai by the police while on a march protesting the Simon Commission; Lala Lajpat Rai died a fortnight after the Saunders assassination.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ferozepur.nic.in/html/HUSSAINIWALA.html|title=National Martyrs Memorial Hussainiwala|website=Firozepur district official website|access-date=27 May 2018}}
Legacy
Rajguru Wada is the ancestral house where Rajguru was born. Spread over 2,788 sq m of land, it is located on the banks of Bhima river on Pune-Nashik Road. It is being maintained as a memorial to Shivaram Rajguru. A local organization, the Hutatma Rajguru Smarak Samiti (HRSS), hoists the national flag here on Republic Day since 2004.{{Cite news |date=21 September 2013 |title=Freedom fighter Rajguru's wada |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/report-shocking-neglect-of-freedom-fighter-rajguru-s-wada-1891637 |access-date=27 May 2018 |work=DNA India}} File:Shivaram Rajguru 2013 stamp of India.jpg
His birthplace of Khed was renamed as Rajgurunagar in his honour. Rajgurunagar is a census town in Khed tehsil of Pune district in state of Maharashtra.{{Cite web|url=http://www.census2011.co.in/data/town/555861-rajgurunagar-maharashtra.html|title=Rajgurunagar Population Census 2011|website=2011 Census of India|access-date=28 May 2018}}File:Rajguruwada in present, rajgurunagar.JPG
Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women is located in Vasundhara Enclave, Delhi, and is a constituent college of Delhi University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rajgurucollege.com/index.aspx|title=Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women|website=Official website of college|access-date=28 May 2018}}
See also
References
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Further reading
- {{cite book |last=Noorani |first=Abdul Gafoor Abdul Majeed |author-link=A. G. Noorani |title=The Trial of Bhagat Singh: Politics of Justice |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |orig-year=1996 |isbn=0195796675}}
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{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}
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Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
Category:20th-century executions by British India
Category:Executed Indian revolutionaries
Category:People executed by British India by hanging