NEWS
Quit India: 64 years & the flame lives on
Tarannum Manjul
Lucknow, August 8: Even as the country celebrates the 64th anniversary of the Quit India Movement on August 9, echoes of ‘British Quit India’ and ‘Angrezon Bharat Chhodo’ can still be heard within the walls of the Benaras Hindu University and the streets of Lucknow, where the revolutions were primarily led by students.
Sixty-four years ago, students of Kanyakubj College at Lucknow and the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi, took command of the movement. And, the students of BHU went ahead to spread the movement to all districts of Eastern UP, including Pratapgarh, Azamgarh and Basti. The documents related to the inquiries of the infamous BHU sabotage case (where students ransacked the IAF hanger, office of BHU registrar and office of Master General of Ordinance) are still preserved at the State Archives of the city.
‘‘It should be recorded that the sabotage at BHU, IAF hanger and MGO office was led by a number of students and the main accused was Priyaranjan Prasad Sinha,” reads the first inquiry report conducted by Inspector Shankar Lal of the CID, Investigation Branch, United Provinces. The six files at the State Archives, under the code RR 36, give a complete detail of the incident and the inquiry conducted by the CID. And, what it reveals is a fine example of how student power went on to spread the message of ‘Quit India’ even in the remotest parts of the state.
In 1942, after the call of ‘Quit India’ was spread throughout the country, the students of Benaras Hindu University also decided to spread the message around and tumble the tables of the British empire. In December that year, after a series of planning meetings, a number of students, led by Priyaranjan Prasad Sinha, ex-student Rajendra Prasad, Sita Saran Srivastava and several others, not only ransacked the office of the Registrar of the university, but also the Air Force Hanger and the MGO office. ‘‘It has been found by us that explosive material was used by the students for creating panic and sabotage in these offices,” reads the inquiry report. It adds that on searching the Broacha hostel of the university, the CID officials found two revolvers, three ML, DB, country-made pistols, three bottles of some liquid “which might have been used for making bombs” and some powder, which made it clear that the explosives were supplied to the students from outside.
‘‘We have come to know that these arms were earlier hidden at the Jain Boarding House and then, a temple. Some of the unused ones were thrown in the Ganga, which could not be found,” the inquiry officer marked. More than half a dozen students out of the 24 accused were arrested, and booked by the United Provinces CID department for recording their statement under Sect 164 of CRPC. But, the rest managed to flee to their native districts and led smaller movements. ‘‘Some of these students are absconding and we fear that they might sabotage local offices in other places in the east part of United Provinces,” recollects the inquiry report.
At Lucknow, too, places like the Rakabganj Post Office, Chowk and City station, near Wazirganj, felt the heat of the Quit India Movement. Students from KKC like RC Khare, who was one of the prime accused in City Station bomb case, were also arrested by the police. Other significant incidents in 1942 at Lucknow also included the dacoity at the Calcutta Commercial Bank, on Sriram Road on November 12, 1942, where young revolutionaries not only looted the bank, but also distributed pamplets, reading ‘Angrezon Bharat Chhodo’, to the people around. Said OP Srivastava, the assistant director of the State Archives, ‘‘These documents are a fine recollection of the fact that the torch of the Quit India Movement was led by the students at both these places.” Prabhakar Johri, the regional archives officer adds, ‘‘It was through these smaller movements through which the fire of the Quit India Movement spread to the entire state.”