| Freedom Fighters |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
ASHFAQULLA KHAN |
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| The Train Is
Stopped The No. 8 down train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was approaching Kakori on August 9, 1925. The sun was going down in the west. The train stopped abruptly. Some one had pulled the chain. Ashfaqulla got off a second class compartment with his friends Sachindra Bakshi and Rajendra Lahiri. He had done the first part of the duty in the Kakori plot that day. The guard had got off his van by now. He was trying to find out in which compartment the chain had been pulled and why. Two revolutionaries fell on him. They made him lie down on his face. They warned that he would be shot dead if he tried to raise his head. Two others pushed the driver from the engine to the ground and stood guard over him. One revolutionary stood at each end of the train and both fired shots with their pistols. In the meantime theyshouted, "'Travelers! Do not be afraid. We are revolutionaries fighting for freedom. Your lives, money and honor are safe. But take care not to peep out of the train." Four young men entered the Guard's Van. They managed to push the box to the ground. It had a strong lock. Neither the driver nor the guard had the key. There was an opening on the top; through this opening they could drop - money bags into it. But nothing could be taken out of it. The revolutionaries started dealing blows with hammers to break it open. But even ten hard blows with iron hammers could not break the box. Ashfaq who was keeping guard saw this. He was the strongest of the group. He handed the pistol in his hand to his comrade, Manmathnath and ran towards the box. He dealt blow after blow on the opening of the box to widen it. The metallic sound of his heavy blows echoed through the silent and lonely place. |
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