Manmath Nath Gupta (Aged 92) was born on February 7, 1908, in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father’s name was Veereshvar Gupta. At the young age of 13, he joined the Indian nationalist movement and was jailed for three months in 1921 for distributing pamphlets calling for a boycott of the reception of the Prince of Wales by the Maharaja of Banares. He was even tortured during his time in jail.
After joining the Indian National Congress as a volunteer worker and witnessing its slow progress and lack of immediate results, Manmath Nath Gupta became dissatisfied with the organization. His disillusionment with Congress was further fueled by Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to call off the Non-cooperation movement following the Chauri Chaura incident in 1922.
Gupta then joined the Hindustan Republican Association, a group of young revolutionaries who were committed to ending British rule in India, even if it required violent means. “We were called revolutionaries, but we were just ordinary people ready to sacrifice our lives for our country,” he once said. Gupta also played a key role in introducing Chandrasekhar Azad to the association. In his book, “They Lived Dangerously,” he recounts a close encounter with Azad, in which the latter almost shot him.
The Kakori train robbery was a turning point in his life. On August 9, 1925, he and ten other revolutionaries stopped a train near Kakori and looted the government treasury travelling in it. During this action, a passenger named Ahmed Ali was killed by a bullet fired by Manmath. He was arrested along with all other revolutionaries, tried for the incident, and sentenced to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment, since he was a teenager at the time.
After his release in 1937, he began writing against the British Government. However, he was again arrested in 1939 and imprisoned for life, spending some time in the Cellular Jail in Andaman. He passed away on October 26, 2000, in Nizamuddin East, New Delhi, India.
Manmath Nath Gupta
(1908 – 2000) – (Uttar Pradesh)
Manmath Nath Gupta (Aged 92) was born on February 7, 1908, in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father’s name was Veereshvar Gupta. At the young age of 13, he joined the Indian nationalist movement and was jailed for three months in 1921 for distributing pamphlets calling for a boycott of the reception of the Prince of Wales by the Maharaja of Banares. He was even tortured during his time in jail.
After joining the Indian National Congress as a volunteer worker and witnessing its slow progress and lack of immediate results, Manmath Nath Gupta became dissatisfied with the organization. His disillusionment with Congress was further fueled by Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to call off the Non-cooperation movement following the Chauri Chaura incident in 1922.
Gupta then joined the Hindustan Republican Association, a group of young revolutionaries who were committed to ending British rule in India, even if it required violent means. “We were called revolutionaries, but we were just ordinary people ready to sacrifice our lives for our country,” he once said. Gupta also played a key role in introducing Chandrasekhar Azad to the association. In his book, “They Lived Dangerously,” he recounts a close encounter with Azad, in which the latter almost shot him.
The Kakori train robbery was a turning point in his life. On August 9, 1925, he and ten other revolutionaries stopped a train near Kakori and looted the government treasury travelling in it. During this action, a passenger named Ahmed Ali was killed by a bullet fired by Manmath. He was arrested along with all other revolutionaries, tried for the incident, and sentenced to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment, since he was a teenager at the time.
After his release in 1937, he began writing against the British Government. However, he was again arrested in 1939 and imprisoned for life, spending some time in the Cellular Jail in Andaman. He passed away on October 26, 2000, in Nizamuddin East, New Delhi, India.
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