Sachindra Nath Sanyal was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out armed resistance against the British Empire in India. He was a mentor for revolutionaries like Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh .
Sachindranath sanyal |
Early life
Sachindra Nath Sanyal's parents were Bengali Brahmins.His father was Hari Nath Sanyal and his mother was Kherod Vasini Devi. He was born in Banaras then in North-Western Provinces, on 3 April 1890 and married Pratibha Sanyal with whom he had one son. Economist Sanjeev Sanyal is his grand nephew.
Revolutionary career
Sanyal founded a branch of the Anushilan Samiti in Patna in 1913 . In 1912 Delhi Conspiracy Trial Sanyal with Rashbehari Bose attacked the then Viceroy Hardinge while he was making entry into new capital of Delhi after annulment of Bengal Partition. Hardinge was injured And lady Hardinge died at the attack.
He was extensively involved in the plans for the Ghadar conspiracy, and went underground after it was exposed in February 1915.He was a close associate of Rash Behari Bose. After Bose escaped to Japan, Sanyal was considered the most senior leader of India's revolutionary movement.
Sanyal was sentenced to life - term imprisonment for his involvement in the conspiracy and was imprisoned at Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where he wrote his book titled Bandi Jeevan (A Life of Captivity, 1922).He was briefly released from jail but when he continued to engage in anti-British activities, he was sent back and his ancestral family home in Banaras was confiscated.
Following the end of the Non-cooperation movement in 1922 Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil and some other revolutionaries who wanted an independent India and were prepared to use force to achieve their goal, founded the Hindustan Republican Association in October 1924.He was the author of the HRA manifesto, titled The Revolutionary, that was distributed in large cities of North India on 1 January 1925.
Sanyal was jailed for his involvement in the Kakori conspiracy but was among those conspirators released from Naini Central Prison in August 1937.Thus, Sanyal has the unique distinction of having been sent to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair twice.He contracted tuberculosis in jail and was sent to Gorakhpur Jail for his final months.
Legacy and belief
Sanyal was known for his firm Hindu beliefs, although most of his followers were Marxists and thus opposed to religions. Bhagat Singh discusses Sanyal's beliefs in his tract Why I am an Atheist. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee was a close associate of Sanyal.[citation needed] He was also supplied with guns by Maulana Shaukat Ali, who was at that time a supporter of Congress and its non-violent methods but not with the same fervor for non-violence that was expressed by his organization's leader, Gandhi. Another prominent Congressman, Krishna Kant Malaviya, also supplied him with weapons.
Sachindra Nath's brother Jatindra Nath published the first authentic autobiography of Bhagat Singh in 1931 but the book was banned by the colonial government.
Sanyal continued to be involved in the revolutionary movement and wrote several books on revolutionary theory, including "Bandi Jeevan" (Life in Prison) and "The Philosophy of Bomb". His ideas on revolutionary strategy and tactics were influential in shaping the thinking of many young revolutionaries in India.
Sanyal's legacy is that of a committed revolutionary who fought tirelessly for India's freedom. He believed that armed struggle was necessary to achieve independence and inspired many young revolutionaries to take up the cause. His writings continue to be studied and debated by scholars and activists in India and around the world.
The renowned economist and environmentalist Sanjeev Sanyal is their grand-nephew. His son, RK Sanyal, retired as chairman UP State Electricity Board. Later, his grandsons Dr Sandeep Sanyal and Saurabh Sanyal served in Indian Army.
Death
Sanyal participated in anti-British programs, which resulted in a second prison term and government seizure of his Benares property. He died of tuberculosis while serving his second term in prison on 7 February 1942.