As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Culture organised a special ceremony at Shahjahanpur,Uttar Pradesh to mark the birth anniversary of renowned freedom fighter Shaheed Ram Prasad Bismil. On this occasion, Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel participated in the ceremony and paid floral tribute to Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil. The Minister also paid tributes to Shaheed Thakur Roshan Singh and Shaheed Ashfaq Ula Khan.
Saluting to Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil, Patel said that Shaheed Bismil followed his conscience and lived a meaningful life by pursuing an ideal. The Minister also said that there are only a few examples of persons who have accumulated such a vast knowledge and also lead such a struggle.
Union Minister said that the next year we will celebrate the 125th year of the birth anniversary of Ram Prasad Bismilji. He thanked the Prime Minister and said that when the Prime Minister had conceived the Amrit Mahotsav, he emphasised on publicising the role of unsung heroes of our struggle for freedom. After that the Minister went to the ancestral home of Shaheed Ram Prasad Bismil ji and met his family members.
This special event was organized by the NCZCC, Ministry of Culture. Suresh Khanna, the Minister of Finance, Parliamentary Affairs & Medical Education, Govt of U.P who is also the MLA from Shahjahanpur; Neelkanth Tiwari, the Culture & Tourism Minister, Govt. of U.P.; Arun Kumar Sagar, the M.P. of Shahjahanpur& district officials were also present in the Pushpanjali Ceremony.
As a tribute to the poet – revolutionary, a small cultural presentation dedicated to his legacy was also made. At the time of Pushpanjali, Navin Mishra played devotional music on Sitar. Leading exponent of Kissagoi, Himanshu Bajpai narrated Shaheed Bismil’s life story followed by performance of patriotic songs by Kishore Chaturvedi & Group.
Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil, born on 11th June, 1897 in Shahjahanpur was amongst the most notable Indian revolutionaries who fought against British colonialism. He wrote powerful patriotic poems in Urdu and Hindi under the pen name of Bismil from age of 19. He formed the Hindustan Republican Association with leaders like Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and participated in the Mainpuri conspiracy of 1918, and the Kakori conspiracy of 1925 with Ashfaq Ullah Khan and Roshan Singh to protest against the British Rule. He was martyred at Gorakhpur Jail on 19th December, 1927 just aged 30, for his role in Kakori conspiracy. While in jail, he wrote ‘Mera Rang De BasantiChola’ and ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’ which became the anthem for freedom fighters.
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