MEERUT COLLECT AW TOB FREEDOM STRUGGLE 88 ln TA* Hindustan Timw, 23,24, 27 January, 1932; N A I, Home Political Dcpt. Progs. (Fortnightly report from Govt of UP for second half of January» 1982). 118 The intter-iiA^^itHstfa&H^iiallsts sUndered the Anti-imperialist arid revolutionary forces by their propaganda barrage to an extent that the lattcr's role m the inovte-ment is seen through jaundiced eyes.''To what extent that prejudice ahd blindness has gone and who are the elements whom it has emboldened was revealed to me when I was in Lahore a few days Ago. From Speeches on the Congress platform demanding release of political prisoners, the names of Kishori, Jaidev, Shiv and Gaya Prasad arc often significantly omitted though all of them are prisoners of the Punjab Government and each has served over sixteen years and a half in prison.No wonder Hansraj Vohra, a man who to save his skin turned approver in one case and deposed against Bhagat Singh and Kishori said to a comrade of ours whom he met recently: *You communists betrayed the August movement and helped the Government.' This from an arch-traitor who if he had any sense of shame would have drowned himself long ago is a revealing commentary on the existing state of affairs in our land". "And when a national leader of Pandit Nehru^s eminence repeats the same charge the faces of these comrades who have spent the best part of their young lives in prison rise before my eyes. Of Gaya Prasad who is dying of T B, of Shiv Verma who when down With pneumonia and groaning with pain during the hunger strike refused not merely medicine but even a sleeping dose, of Jaidev who was flogged for upholding the honour of political prisoners,of Kishori from whom after months of bestial torture in the Lahore Fort, the police failed to wring out a word". "Arc these the men who would be devoted to a cause which is the cause of traitors? Are these the men who would be loyal members of a party of traitors? Let Panditji ponder over the question.** Ajoy Ghosh, Bhagat Singh and His Comrades Bombay, 1945, in Ajoy Ghosh, Articles and Speeches, Moscow, 1962, pp 49-50. 119 Interview with Rajendra Pal Singh. Many revolutionaries like Yashpal, R S Sharma etc used to stay in College hostels; The Hindustan Times, 3 January, 1977 i2® The names could not be ascertained. 131 According to the information from Ravi Sinha, Secretary, Lucknow AISF 1941-44: "Immediately after we heard the news of Gandhiji etc on 8 August, 1942, on 9th morning there was a procession of law students and a strike. Later, by about 10am the whole university was on strike and the students decided to march to the city. Outside the university gate, at the Monkey Bridge, the District Magistrate, Mr Lewis Lloyd, and the S P also an Englishman, came with a large force, obstructed the procession and tried to enter the University Campus to disperse the procession. Prof N K Siddhanta intervened asking the police not to enter the campus without the Chancellor's permission. The police were withdrawn to the Monkey Bridge. When the processionists wished to break the ban on processions and moved to the city, the police fired and resorted to brutal lathi-charge. Harish Tewari, General Secretary, UP AISF had his arm fractured and warrants were issued and all the leading SF workers, including myself, were arrested under DIR and kept in Lucknow Central Jail. During the historic twenty-one day fast of Gandhi in 1943 the AISF along with other students led a campaign in Lucknow University demanding the release of all national leaders. Throughout the war period the union was suspended and no elections were held and the student organisations maint ained a regular campaign against the Government for holding of elections. In Allahabad University also the SF leaders were in the forefront of the struggle of 1942-43. The same can be said ofAgra, Kanpur and Meerut". 122 The Hindustan Times, 16 August, 1942. 128 NAI Home-Political Dept Progs (Fortnightly Report for the first half of August, 1942), F No 18/8, 1942. "* The Hindustan Times, 16 August, 1942.