Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Revolutionary, HRA Leader and Freedom Fighter

Sachindra Nath Sanyal was a prominent revolutionary who played an important role in different phases of India’s freedom struggle. He was associated with the Anushilan Samiti, revolutionary activities during the First World War and later the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). He also articulated the idea of a democratic republic based on universal suffrage for independent India.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal Early Life

Sachindra Nath Sanyal was born in 1893 in Varanasi and became associated with the revolutionary movement at an early age.

• He became associated with the Anushilan Samiti and worked to expand its revolutionary activities beyond Bengal.
• In 1913, Sachindra Nath Sanyal established a branch of the Anushilan Samiti in Patna, with Bankim Chandra Mitra of B.N. College entrusted with its organisational leadership.
• His activities brought him into contact with revolutionaries in different parts of India.
• His association with Rash Behari Bose brought him into the wider revolutionary network that sought to organise an armed uprising against British rule.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Revolutionary Activities during the First World War

The First World War created an opportunity for Indian revolutionaries to attempt an armed uprising against British rule.

• Sachindra Nath Sanyal worked with Rash Behari Bose to organise revolutionary activities and encourage an uprising among soldiers.
• He was involved in the Lahore and Banaras conspiracies of 1915, which were connected with attempts to provoke an armed revolt in the British Indian Army.
• These plans were connected with the wider Ghadar movement and the Indo-German Conspiracy, which sought to use the conditions created by the First World War to challenge British rule.
• The planned uprising failed after the British authorities uncovered the revolutionary network, leading to widespread arrests and repression.
• Sanyal was convicted in the Banaras Conspiracy Case and sentenced to transportation for life to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands.

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Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Bandi Jeevan

After his release from prison, Sachindra Nath Sanyal documented his revolutionary experiences in Bandi Jeevan (A Life of Captivity), published in 1922. The work provides an account of the revolutionary movement, its organisation and the experiences of political prisoners. It also records his experiences of revolutionary activity and imprisonment. Bandi Jeevan became an influential work within the revolutionary tradition and was read by younger revolutionaries.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal and the Hindustan Republican Association

After the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922, revolutionary groups in northern India sought to reorganise themselves and develop a more coordinated movement.

• Sachindra Nath Sanyal, along with revolutionaries including Ram Prasad Bismil and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, was among the important figures involved in the formation of the Hindustan Republican Association in 1924.
• The HRA sought to overthrow British imperial rule through an organised revolutionary movement and establish a republican political order in India.
• Sanyal played an important role in giving the organisation a broader organisational and political direction.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal and the Political Ideas of the HRA

The revolutionary movement associated with Sachindra Nath Sanyal was concerned not only with ending British rule but also with the political structure of independent India.

• The HRA’s manifesto, The Revolutionary, envisaged the establishment of a Federal Republic of the United States of India through an organised armed revolution.
• The proposed republic was to be based on universal suffrage, reflecting the emphasis placed on political equality.
• The manifesto also opposed systems that enabled the exploitation of one section of society by another.

These ideas showed that the HRA’s objective extended beyond the removal of colonial rule to the establishment of a new political and social order.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Kakori and the Later Revolutionary Movement

The Kakori Train Action of 1925 became a major operation associated with the HRA and was followed by a severe British crackdown on the organisation.

• Sachindra Nath Sanyal was arrested in connection with the Kakori Conspiracy Case and sentenced to transportation for life.
• The crackdown resulted in the execution of Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh, while several other revolutionaries received long prison sentences.
• The HRA was later reorganised as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928, with younger revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad playing a prominent role.
• Sanyal spent the following years in prison before his release in 1937, after which he continued to remain associated with revolutionary activities.

Sachindra Nath Sanyal Later Years and Death

Sachindra Nath Sanyal was released from prison in 1937 after completing his sentence in the Kakori case. During the Second World War, he was arrested again in 1941 under the Defence of India Act for his revolutionary activities. He was later interned in Gorakhpur. Sachindra Nath Sanyal died of tuberculosis in Gorakhpur on 7 February 1942, before India achieved independence.