A Forgotten Indian Revolutionary - Ashfaqullah Khan Shaheed

[Afzal A. Khan]

Some five months back, our worthy friend, Janab Naseer Saheb
posed a query about two poets with the same taKHallus, viz.
"Bismil".

His query was in the context of the well-known poem, with its
first misra' : "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil men hai",
which was composed by Bismil Shahjahanpuri, who was involved in
the Kakori Train Dacoity Case, and hanged.

But, regrettably, another revolutionary (closely associated with
Bismil and who shared the same fate) has been forgotten today.

My reference of course is to Ashfaqullah Khan Shaheed, who too
was a poet with "Hasrat" as his taKHallus. The word "Shaheed"
is often added after his name to indicate that he died a martyr,
(like the Sufi Saint Sarmad).

This post is calculated to rectify this omission.

Here is a brief biographical sketch :

Ashfaqullah Khan was born on 22 October 1900 in Shahjahanpur, a
historical city of Uttar Pradesh. His father, Shafiqullah Khan
belonged to a highly respected Pathan family, residing in the
Aiman'zai locality of the city. Ashfaq received his early educa-
tion at home, as was the custom in those days. After learning
Urdu, Faarsi and religious texts, he got admitted to a Mission
School in the city, where another patriot (by the name of Ram
Prasad) was also a student. Both became friends. Apart from
their patriotic fervour, they also shared a common love for Urdu
poetry. Ram Prasad wrote under the pen-name "Bismil" and
Ashfaqullah's taKHallus was "Hasrat". Both became members of a
revolutionary group that decided to use violent means to achieve
their mission of ousting the British from India. To meet their
need for money to carry out their activities, it was decided to
loot a train that would be carrying cash. Accordingly, a train
(8 Down) going from Saharanpur to Lucknow was looted on the night
of 9th August 1925, as it was nearing Kakori Station, near Lucknow.
The treasury chest that was being carried in the Guard's cabin was
snatched and a few shots were also fired. The looters were all
members of the revolutionary group and included Ashfaqullah Khan
and Ram Prasad Bismil. Unfortunately, one man was killed by a
stray bullet. A massive manhunt was ordered and Ram Prasad was
apprehended at Saharanpur on 26th September 1925. Ashfaqullah
however remained untraceable for about 10 months, hiding in
Banaras. He then went to Delhi, but was betrayed by someone
from his own clan.

After a trial that lasted for some two years, four persons including
Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan were hanged. Coincidentally,
the two were hanged on the same date (19th December 1927), but at
different jails. Contemporary accounts speak about the exemplary
courage and devout nature of Ashfaqullah Khan Shaheed.

**********

As already stated, Ashfaqullah Khan was also an Urdu poet. My
purpose in sending this post was to introduce ALUPers to his
poetry also. So here are some examples, that are remarkable mainly
for their patriotic zeal :

Jise fana woh samajh rahe haiN, baqa ka hai raaz isi men muzmar
NaheeN miTaaye se miT sakeNge, woh laakh hum to miTa rahe haiN
KahaaN gaya Koh-e-Noor mera, kidhar gayee meri haaye daulat
Woh sab ka sab looT kar ke ulTa, hum hi ko Daaku bata rahe haiN
KHush hai Hasrat, KHamosh Hasrat,agar hai jazba watan ka dil men
Sazaa ko pahuncheNge apni be'shak, jo aaj hum ko phaNsaa rahe haiN


BuzdiloN ko hi sada maut se Darte dekha
Go k(e) sau baar unheN roz hi marte dekha
Maut se veer ko hum ne naheeN Darte dekha
TaKHta-e-maut pe bhi khel hi karte dekha


TaNg aa kar hum bhi un ke zulm se, bedaad se
Chal diye KHuld-e-'adam, zindaan-e-Faizabad se


Junoon-e-hubb-e-watan ka maza shabaab men hai
Lahu men phir yeh ravaani rahe, rahe na rahe
Watan hamesha rahe shaad~kaam aur aazaad
Hamaara kya hai agar hum rahe, rahe na rahe


Just before he was hanged at the Faizabad jail, he was asked
about his last wish. In reply, he recited the following
verse :

Kuchh aarzoo naheeN hai, hai aarzoo to yeh hai
Rakh de koi zara si KHaak-e-watan kafan men



-------------------------





Afzal

[Balvinder]

"Afzal" saahib aadaab arz hai

aaj ke is bhaagte hue daur meN logoN ke paas kahaaN itnii fursat hai jo hamaare
jaaN_baaz shahiidoN kii qurbaaniyoN ko yaad rakhe...aap ne "Ashfaq" saahib par ye tahreer pesh kar bahut khoob nazarnaa-e-aqeedat pesh kiyaa hai...saath hii unke kalaam se roo-b-roo karvaane ke liye bhii maiN aap ka shukr_guzaar hooN.

in kii ek nazm se chand sher mulaahiza farmaaeN...

"Shorish-e-junooN"

bahaar aaii hai, shorish hai, junoon-e-fitnaa saamaaN kii
ilaahii Khair rakhnaa too mire jaib-o-GhariibaaN kii

bhalaa jazbaat-e-ulfat bhii kahiiN miTne se miTte haiN
abas haiN dhamkiaaN daar-o-rasan kii aur zindaaN kii

vo gulshan jo kabhii aazaad thaa guzare zamaane meN
maiN hooN shaaKh-e-shikasta yaaN usii ujaRhe gulistaaN kii

nahiiN tum se shikaayat ham_safeeraan-e-chaman mujh ko
mirii taqdeer hii meN thaa qafas aur qaid zindaaN kii

zamiiN dushman, zamaaN dushman, jo apne the paraae haiN
sunoge daastaaN kyaa tum, mire haal-e-pareeshaaN kii

ye jhagRhe aur bakheRhe meT kar aapas meN mil jaao
abas tafreeq hai tum meN yeh hindoo aur musalmaaN kii

sabhii saamaan-e-ishrat the, maze se apnii kaTtii thii
watan ke ishq ne ham ko havaa khilvaaii zindaaN kii

ba_hamd illaah chamak uTThaa sitaaraa merii qismat kaa
ki taqleed-e-haqeeqee kii ataa shaah-e-shaheedaaN kii

idhar Khauf-e-KhizaaN hai aashiyaaN ka Gham udhar dil ko
hameN yaksaaN hai tafreeh-e-chaman aur qaid zindaaN kii




Balvinder

[Afzal A. Khan]

On 7/17/2013 10:13 AM, Balvinder wrote:
>>
>> posed a query about two poets with the same taKHallus, viz.
>>
>> "Bismil".
>>

Balvinder Saheb,

AK Shaheed ki yeh naz'm yahaaN pesh karne ka bahut bahut
shukriya.

Aap ne saheeh farmaaya k(e) aaj ke is masheenee daur men
ham logoN ko fursat naheen k(e) apne maazi ke shaandaar
waaqe'aat aur muhibbaan-e-watan ko yaad rakheN.

Is naz'm ke pehle sher ke doosre misre' men ek lafz
shaayad saheeh naql na ho paya. Roman Urdu men likhna
mere liye bhi zara mushkil hota hai. Mere KHayaal men yeh
lafz shaayad "girebaaN" hai. Yeh maiN is liye likh raha hooN
k(e)koi nau~waaridaan-e-ALUP "GHareebaaN" ko hi saheeh na samajh
leN. Ummeed hai aap kuchh KHayaal na farmaayeNge.


Afzal

[Naseer]

muHtaram Afzal SaaHib, aadaab 3arz hai

Thank you for introducing Ashfaqullah Khan Shaheed's biographical details, in your usual thorough and delightful style.I don't know how well known Ashfaqullah Khan is to ALUPers but I for one can tell you that I was totally ignorant of this man's contribution to the cause of National Freedom. I am surprised that his life and political activities seem to have been a bit of a "secret" especially taking into consideration that he and Ram Prasad Bismil were very close buddies and he was hanged on the same day as Ram Prasad Bismil!

Thank you also for introducing his Urdu verse to us. The reason for my delay in responding to this thread is that I was hoping to add some more of his verse to this thread but before I could find any, Balvinder SaaHib has kindly chipped in with some of his kalaam. Truth of the matter is that I was unsuccessful in finding anything! I am glad that Balvinder SaaHib has access to some of Urdu's most treasured pieces of verse.

Naseer

[Naseer]

Shorish-i-JunuuN (incomplete)

bahaar aa'ii hai, shorish hai junuun-i-fitnah-saamaaN kii
ilaahii xair rakhnaa tuu mire jaib-o-garebaaN kii

bhalaa jazbaat-i-ulfat bhii kahiiN miTne se miTte haiN
3abas haiN dhamkiyaaN daar-o-rasan kii aur zindaaN kii

vuh gulshan jo kabhii aazaad thaa guzre zamaane meN
maiN huuN shaax-i-shikastah yaan usii ujRe gulsitaaN kii

nahiiN tum se shikaayat ham-safiiraan-i-chaman mujh ko
mirii taqdiir hii meN thaa qafas aur qaid zindaaN kii

zamiiN dushman, zamaaN dushman jo apne the paraa'e haiN
suno ge daastaaN kyaa tum mire Haal-i-pareshaaN kii

yih jhagRe aur bakheRe miiT kar aapas meN mil jaa'o
3abas tafriiq hai tum meN yih Hindu aur MusalmaaN kii

sabhii saamaan-i-3ishrat the maze meN apnii kaTtii thii
vatan ke 3ishq ne ham ko havaa khilvaa'ii zindaaN kii

idhar xauf-i-xizaaN hai, aashiyaaN kaa Gham udhar dil ko
hameN yaksaaN hai tafriiH-i-chaman aur qaid zindaaN kii

....>

Asfaqullah Khan Shaheed Kakorvi

...............................................................

Naseer