Lawmakers across party lines in India, on Tuesday, paid homage to Indian revolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad on his 87th death anniversary.
On his day of martydom, Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes to the revolutionary and said “His courage and unconditional love for the motherland continue to inspire all Indians”.
My tributes to revolutionary freedom fighter, Chandra Shekhar Azad on his death anniversary. His courage and unconditional love for the motherland continue to inspire all Indians. #Chandrashekharazad pic.twitter.com/DEakrpYA6d
— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) February 27, 2018
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to pay her homage to the freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Homage to revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad on his day of martyrdom
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) February 27, 2018
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on their official Twitter handle paid tribute to his martyrdom.
महान क्रांतिकारी अमर शहीद चंद्रशेखर आजाद जी के बलिदान दिवस पर सादर श्रद्धांजलि। pic.twitter.com/qidVWoB26e
— BJP (@BJP4India) February 27, 2018
Indian National Congress Party also paid their respects and rich tributes to Chandra Shekhar Azad on their official Twitter handle.
Our rich tributes to the fearless revolutionary and freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad on his death anniversary. pic.twitter.com/Eh3c1u8JOG
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 27, 2018
BJP Karnataka President BS Yeddyurappa remembered Chandra Shekhar Azad on his death anniversary and said “his fierce patriotism and courage inspired many to enter the freedom struggle”.
Remembering the fearless revolutionary Chandra Shekhar Azad on his death anniversary. His fierce patriotism and courage inspired many to enter the freedom struggle. pic.twitter.com/E8Qd4h78BD
— B.S. Yeddyurappa (@BSYBJP) February 27, 2018
Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also remembered evolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad on his 87th death anniversary.
Remembering revolutionary freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad ji on his death anniversary.
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) February 27, 2018
Chandra Shekhar Azad was born on 23 July in 1906 as Chandrashekhar Tiwari in Bhavra village, in the present-day Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Azad was part of Indian independence movement but after the suspension of non-cooperation movement by Mahatma Gandhi, he joined Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) founded by Ram Prasad Bismil and later reorganised the HRA under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) after the death of its founderand three other prominent party leaders, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan.
Azad wanted to build an Independent India based on socialist principles and was was involved in the Kakori Train Robbery of 1925, in the attempt to blow up the Viceroy’s train in 1926, and at last the shooting of JP Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
Death
Azad died at Alfred Park in Allahabad on 27 February 1931. The police surrounded him in the park after an unknown informant told them he was there. He was wounded in the process of defending himself and Sukhdev and killed three policemen and wounded some others.
His actions made it possible for Sukhdev Raj to escape. After a long shootout, holding true to his pledge to never be captured alive, he shot himself dead with his last bullet. The Colt pistol of Chandra Shekhar Azad is displayed at the Allahabad Museum.
The body was sent to Rasulabad Ghat for cremation without informing general public.
Alfred Park in Allahabad, where Azad died, has been renamed Chandrashekhar Azad Park. Several schools, colleges, roads and other public institutions across India are also named after him.