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Feb 14, 2021

Chauri-Chaura Centenary: When Will UP Govt Correct Mistakes at the Memorial?

government
These mistakes have been pointed out multiple times over the last five years.
The Chauri-Chaura memorial. Photo: Manoj Singh

On February 4, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a year-long commemoration event on the centenary of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion. A grand celebration was organised at the Chauri-Chaura martyrs’ memorial, which lasted for several days. Yet no attempt was made to fix the incorrect historical facts inscribed at various places at the martyrs’ memorial and museum.

In fact, the state archives once again tried to create confusion about the date of the Chauri-Chaura incident at an exhibition of historical records on the martyrs’ memorial during the centenary event.

Even the names and addresses of the martyrs of the rebellion are not correctly stated at the martyr memorial museum. Historians and writers have asked the government why details of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion displayed incorrectly at the martyrs’ memorial have not been amended, despite being pointed out several times over the last five years.

The martyrs’ memorial, or Shaheed Smarak, was built in 1993 to commemorate the martyrs of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion. Its foundation was laid on February 6, 1982 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the 60th anniversary of the incident.

The construction of the memorial took 11 years and it was inaugurated on July 19, 1993 by then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Five years later, in 1998, a museum was added to the memorial, where the busts of the Chauri-Chaura martyrs are installed.

Statues of several other people were also installed here. A library was set up at the ground floor of the museum. In the absence of proper maintenance, the condition of the museum deteriorated and many statues were damaged.

Though the museum has been refurbished for the centenary year, the names inscribed on the busts of martyrs remain either incomplete or misleading.

In addition, several wrong facts have been recorded in the history of the martyrs of Chauri-Chaura engraved on a granite stone at the memorial’s main entrance.

Also read: Kakori Martyrs Were Symbols of Communal Harmony in India’s Freedom Struggle

The fact was brought to light after a book on the incident titled Chauri-Chaura: Vidroh Aur Swadhinta Andolan (Chauri-Chaura: Rebellion and the Freedom Struggle) written by Subhash Chandra Kushwaha was published by Penguin Books in 2014. In this book, Kushwaha stated how erroneous facts have been put on display at the memorial.

The inscription on the granite stone reads: “In March 1919, Mahatma Gandhi flagged off the non-violence movement across the country. Addressing a large gathering in 1920, he had urged the people to boycott foreign clothes and English education and start opting for khadi as it will force the British out of the country in no time.”

According to records, however, Gandhiji addressed the public meeting in Gorakhpur on February 8, 1921.

Similarly, the third line of the second paragraph of the inscription states, “On February 4, 1922, the third Saturday, people came out with great preparation and determination that no matter how much atrocities were committed, they would not turn back. Around 400 volunteers who had gathered that day were divided into separate groups. People began marching from the Congress office set up in Brahmapur towards Chauri-Chaura.”

In his book, Kushwaha offers evidence from historical documents and states that the procession of volunteers did not depart from Brahmapur but from Dumri Khurd village, which is situated about 1.5 km from Chauri-Chaura.

Inscription at the memorial carrying factual errors. Photo: Manoj Singh

His book mentions in detail the procession from Dumri Khurd to Chauri-Chaura police station on February 4, 1922. The facts in the book are supported by documents from the British Library, National Museum, Uttar Pradesh State Archives, British Government’s journals, inscriptions, as well as trials in the sessions courts and the High Court.

The last line of the third paragraph on the granite stone reads: “19 people were hanged on July 2, 1923.”

The 19 revolutionaries of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion were not all hanged the same day. According to the records of the archives of District and Sessions Court, Gorakhpur, the rebels were hanged between July 2, 1923 to July 11, 1923 in separate prisons at Barabanki, Aligarh, Meerut, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Rae Bareli, Bareilly, Agra, Fatehgarh, Kanpur, Unnao, Pratapgarh, Jhansi, Etawah, etc.

In 2015, Kushwaha wrote a letter to the district administration of Gorakhpur, seeking to correct the historical facts at the martyrs’ memorial, but no action has yet been taken.

Regarding this issue, an article was published on the website Gorakhpur Newsline on February 4, 2017. After the publication of Kushwaha’s book, several people wrote about it but in vain.

Despite grand public events being planned and organised by the government for the centenary of the rebellion, no one is paying heed to such a distortion of facts.

In addition, on the occasion of centenary celebrations, the culture department and Uttar Pradesh State Archives have set up a Historical Records Exhibition near the memorial’s main entrance to dispense information about the Chauri-Chaura rebellion.

In this exhibition called ‘Chauri-Chaura: 4 February 1922’, several misleading facts are being circulated about the rebellion. For instance, while the date of Gandhiji’s meeting in Gorakhpur has been stated correctly, the incident of Chauri-Chaura rebellion is said to have taken place on February 5.

It is stated: “On February 4, 1922, a large number of volunteers gathered at a place called Dumri, 15 miles east of the district headquarters and proceeded towards Chauri-Chaura police station after the address of local leaders. On February 5, a large number of volunteers reached Chauri-Chaura, gathered in front of the police station and demanded clarification about the crime committed by the police.”

Also read: Mohammed Shakeb: Preserver of Mughal Archival Documents and Reconstructor of Libraries

There are two villages named Dumri around Chauri-Chaura. One is Dumri Khurd, or Chhutki Dumri, while the other village is Dumri, also known as Dumri Khas, Dumri Kalan or Badki Dumri.

Dumri Khurd is about 1.5 km west of Chauri-Chaura police station while Dumri Khas is 7.5 km away. There is a distance of about six km between the two villages. According to historical documents, the volunteers gathered at Dumri Khurd on the morning of February 4, 1922 from where they proceeded towards the police station.

In his book, Kushwaha calls Dumri Khurd as the place of origin of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion. He writes, “Dumri Khurd or Chhutki Dumri is at the centre of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion, which was originally a village of Dalits. This village not only changed the direction of the Indian freedom struggle but also exposed the elitism of the leadership of the national movement and their pseudo pro-farmer guise. It was this village which suffered the most devastation, sacrificed the most lives, and had the most number of people arrested from.”

Martyrs Nazar Ali and Vikram Ahir hanged for the Chauri Chaura rebellion were residents of Dumri Khurd village. More than 30 other people were also punished. The people of this village know where the meeting took place on February 4, 1922 and how a procession of volunteers left for the Chauri-Chaura police station. This village also witnessed the atrocities of the British Government ensuing the rebellion.

Martyr Nazar Ali’s great-grandson Sarwar Nashin and Vikram Ahir’s great-grandson Shardanand Yadav said that Dumri Khurd village has been ‘omitted’ from the history of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion displayed at the Shaheed Smarak.

It is noteworthy that Dumri Khas or Dumri Kalan village was under Sikh jagirdari at the time and the jagirdar’s manager Sardar Harcharan Singh testified against the revolutionaries of Chauri-Chaura in court.

There was a dispute over the date of Chauri-Chaura rebellion in the 1990s, but many historians have testified from historical documents that the date of Chauri-Chaura rebellion is February 4, 1922.

Yet the Culture Department and the State Archives at the Chauri-Chaura Martyr Memorial have not rectified the error.

More than two dozen statues have now been installed in the Shaheed Memorial Museum. Besides the 19 martyrs of the rebellion, many other statues have also been installed including a bust of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as well as the founder president of Shaheed Smarak Chauri-Chaura and former MLA Srinivas Mani aka Sribabu.

There are also statues of people who were neither hanged after the rebellion nor sentenced to imprisonment. Not only this, the names of several martyrs and their villages are also not properly stated.

Martyr Lal Mohammad’s name is erroneously written as Lal Ahmed, and his father’s name is also wrong. Photo: Manoj Singh

One of the martyrs, Lal Mohammad, is mentioned as Lal Ahmed, son of Hakim Kota, while Lal Mohammed’s father’s name was Hakim Shah.

An idol in the museum is installed in the name of ‘Shaheed Ramapati s/o Mohar’. However, no such person was hanged for the Chauri-Chaura rebellion. Nor was any person named Ramapathi s/o Mohar listed among the 225 revolutionaries who faced trial in the sessions court.

Similarly, ‘Shaheed Baldev Prasad Dubey Chauri-Chaura, July 2, 1923’ is engraved on one of the statues but no person bearing this name was hanged after the rebellion.

The name of one of the martyrs, Lavtu s/o Shivanandan, is stated as Lautu s/o Shivcharan.

On February 5, Subhash Kushwaha shared a post on Facebook expressing dismay at how history is being neglected at the memorial and the museum.

Kushwaha questioned the distortion of historical facts in his post. “On February 4, the centenary year of the Chauri-Chaura rebellion began and I had the chance to visit the Shaheed Memorial Museum, Chauri-Chaura. I thought I should pay the honours to the martyrs. While it was a comfort to see that the broken statues have been repaired and reinstalled, I was aghast to see that 50 statues have been installed instead of 19. Statues of martyrs of 1857, such as Bandhu Singh, and other freedom fighters have also been installed there. Wouldn’t it be better if the statues of the martyrs of Chauri-Chaura were installed separately on one side to distinguish them from the rest of the martyrs on the other side?”

Referring to the engravings at the Chauri-Chaura memorial’s entrance and the labelling of the statues installed in the museum, he pointed out how history is being glossed over and wrote, “I believe this is a serious issue and senior officials will definitely investigate it. Such an error cannot be made without reason and they should punish the culprit. After all, it is a matter of pride, honour and sacrifice of the martyrs this centenary year.”

Manoj Singh is the editor of the website Gorakhpur Newsline.

Translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman. You can read the Hindi original here.

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