Yogendra Shukla (1896 – 19 November 1960) was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. He served in the

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the colonial government of India for the purpose of exiling criminals and political prisoners. Many ...

(''Kalapani''), and he was among the founders of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Along with Basawon Singh (Sinha) he was among the founder members of the

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...

from

Background

Yogendra Shukla and his nephew

Baikuntha Shukla Baikuntha Shukla (15 May 1907 – 14 May 1934) was an Indian nationalist and revolutionary. He was the nephew of Yogendra Shukla, one of the founders of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). He was hanged for murdering Phanindra Na ...

(15 May 1907 – 14 May 1934) hailed from Jalalpur village in Muzaffarpur district of

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

(now

Vaishali district Vaishali district is a district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is a part of Tirhut division. Vaishali is known for being the birthplace of Mahavira of the Jain religion. Hajipur, its largest city and district headquarters, is known for its ...

) of

. From 1932 to 1937, Yogendra served a prison sentence in Kalapani, as one of the leaders of the revolutionary movement in Bihar and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. He became famous for his many exploits. He was a senior associate of

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian national ...

and Batukeshwar Datta and had even trained them. He had to serve prison terms for a total of more than sixteen and a half years for his revolutionary activities. During imprisonment in different jails in India, he was subjected to extreme torture, which corroded his iron constitution. He died in a sick condition and he had also become blind.

Kalapani

In October 1932, the Judicial Secretary, A.C.Davies, as directed by the

Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of a ...

asked the DIG (CID) to suggest the names of the revolutionary convicts with a statement showing the offences for which they had been convicted, the sentence awarded and a brief note showing their connection with the revolutionary movement to transfer them to the

Andamans The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the ...

. The DIG (CID) suggested the names of Yogendra Shukla, Basawon Singh (Sinha), Shyamdeo Narayan alias Ram Singh, Ishwar Dayal Singh, Kedar Mani Shukla, Mohit Chandra Adhikari and Ram Pratap Singh. Yogendra Shukla, Kedar Mani Shukla and Shyamdeo Narayan were transferred to the Andamans in December 1932. In 1937, Yogendra Shukla was transferred to Hazaribagh Central Jail as a result of his 46 days of hunger strike. When

Sri Krishna Sinha Shri Krishna Sinha (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Shri Babu, was the first chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was the chief minister of Bihar from the tim ...

formed the first Congress ministry in 1937, he took up the cause of political prisoners and his ministry resigned on the issue on 15 February 1938. As a result, the Viceroy conceded the demands and Yogendra Shukla along with other political prisoners was released in March 1938.

After release from Kalapani

Yogendra Shukla joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

after his release and was elected vice-chairman of the Muzaffarpur District Congress Committee. He was also elected a member of the All India Congress Committee in 1938 but later joined the

at the instance of

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...

. He was arrested in 1940, soon after he became a member of Central Committee of the

All India Kisan Sabha All India Kisan Sabha ( AIKS; lit. ''All India Farmers Union'', also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha), is the peasant or farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 1 ...

in place of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.

Quit India Movement

When

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

launched the Quit India Movement in August 1942, Yogendra Shukla scaled the wall of Hazaribagh Central Jail along with Jayaprakash Narayan, Suraj Narayan Singh, Gulab Chand Gupta, Ramnandan Mishra and Shaligram Singh intending to start the underground movement for freedom. As Jayaprakash Narayan was ill then, Shukla walked a distance to Gaya with Jayaprakash Narayan on his shoulders, a distance of about 124 kilometres.Distance between Hazaribagh Central Jail and Gaya
/ref> The British Government announced a reward of Rs. 5000 for the arrest of Shukla. He was arrested on 7 December 1942, at

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth ...

. The government believed that one day before his arrest Shukla had helped four prisoners escape from Muzaffarpur jail. They were Surajdeo Singh, Ram Babu Kalwar, Brahmanand Gupta and Ganesh Rai. Yogendra Shukla was lodged in Buxar Jail and kept in bar fetters for three years. In March 1944, he launched hunger-strike in the Buxar Jail.

During and after Independence

He was released in April 1946. In 1958, he was nominated a member of the

Bihar Legislative Council Bihar Vidhan Parishad, also known as Bihar Legislative Council, is the upper house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India. History A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the Government of India on 12 Dec ...

on behalf of the Praja Socialist Party and continued there till 1960. In 1960, he was taken seriously ill as a result of long years of prison life. He died on 19 November 1960.

References

External links

Official biography given by the Government of India when a stamp was released on him.