Odyssey of the Enlightened — 40: On the Path of Parikrama — 4
An Important Responsibility Given
Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant was overseeing the activities of Congress in the United Province in those days. He was in Nainital. They could not get the statistics about Agra region. This matter was brought up in the meeting of the group members. Rawatji suggested that Shriram be put on this job, since he had in-depth knowledge of the area. The suggestion was welcomed by other congressmen and it was decided that Shriram would take up this job along with 3–4 other companions.
Within four days, a report with the details of all the fields, their owners, tax amount of one hundred twenty-eight villages in that region was ready. Shriram and his companions contacted the village panchs and patwaris frequently visiting Tehsil offices. They obtained almost eighty percent of the information from them. Then, they went to some large villages and met the key people and found out the details of farmers in their village and about their tax levies. All this was made into a report and submitted to the Congress district headquarters. This way, Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant received the details of Agra district first. He expressed his surprise at how the entire information was collected so quickly.
Martin had written this incident while describing the style of working of Shriram. He also mentioned that this news about collecting such vast information in four days reached the ears of Gandhiji also. Gandhiji had commented: 'If there was one person like Shriram in each district, then attaining the goal of independence is possible within a month.' During the Nainital conference, Gandhiji had called aside Shriram Sharma and enquired about his style of operation and examined it. Later during the meeting of volunteers, Gandhiji praised Shriram and said that with such workers, no power on earth could prevent India from winning its independence.
Conspiracy of the Administration
District administration had taken this comment seriously. There was speculation that he would be caught even before the conference began. There was however no apparent reason based on which this could be done. Shriram got a scent of the plans of the administration and decided to go underground. He relinquished the attire of a congress worker and began to wear dhoti-kurta. He grew a beard in place of a sparse moustache and began to look like a real farmer's son.
He prepared two hundred volunteers and began to contact people in towns like Agra, Tundla, Baah, Siroli, etc. This work too could not continue for more than twenty days. Ultimately his style of working revealed his identity. The lane in Freeganj at Agra where he stayed began to be watched. Shriram suspected that the police might be keeping a watch at his hideout, so he sent another friend to go and examine the situation. His suspicion turned out to be true and he immediately decided to quit Agra. He decided to move slowly from one station to the other, contacting people, and finally reach Calcutta — nearly 1300 kilometers away.
Calcutta Conference
British government was determined not to let the session be held and was arresting Congress volunteers all over the country. All the places in the radius of 200 kms around Calcutta were being closely monitored. In nearby stations, each and every one was being questioned. Naihari, Ranaghat, Durgapur, Asansol, Aara, Ghatshila, Haldia and Kharagpur had been made almost unreachable by the police.
Mahamana Malaviyaji was to preside over the Calcutta conference. He started from Banaras for Calcutta as planned and was arrested at Asansol. Over the course of next few days, eminent people like Swaroop Rani Nehru (Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru's mother), Dr. Syed Mehmood, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and Anna Saheb were all arrested at the same station.
On second of April, Shriram and his associates reached Asansol. An inspector of police from Agra named Anantram was deputed at Asansol. Jagan Prasad Rawat recognized him immediately and warned his friends. Anantram immediately chased the group along with other policemen. It was difficult to escape and hence Shriram and his friends were apprehended by the police.
The Congress workers were all kept in an enclosed space — a makeshift prison with temporary rooms made by pitching tents. People like Devdas Gandhi (Gandhiji's son), Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Kanhaiyalal Khadiwala, Ravi Shankar Shukla, Srimannarayan and other leaders were also held captive there.
Since Malaviyaji was arrested, Smt. Neli Sengupta presided over the session. The Presidential address prepared by Malaviyaji was read out, in which he had congratulated Gandhiji on the success of his hunger strike and proposed that the pledge of Poorna Swarajya taken at Lahore Congress be reiterated, and resolutions for boycotting British goods and disobedience to rules made by the British be passed. It goes without saying that all of these proposals were unanimously accepted. Neli Sengupta said that the government had arrested more than one and a half lakhs people in the past fifteen months, and more than twenty thousand to disrupt this conference.
Malaviyaji's Indication
Couple of days before being released from Asansol jail, Malaviyaji visited that compound where several people were still held captive. When it was Shriram's turn, they began to introduce him by saying, 'He had been invested with sacred thread by you. His father is Pandit Roop Kishore…' Before the sentence was completed, Malaviyaji said, 'Roop Kishore was my close friend. We have done Bhagavat Katha together.' After completing his observations, he asked Shriram, 'How was the shikha-diksha (education) done?' Shriram said, 'After completing education in the village school and with my father, I am now receiving further education in the school of revolution.'
Malaviyaji smiled on hearing the reply. He patted Shriram's back and said that he had a lot of things to talk to Shriram and assign him some responsibilities. He asked Shriram to visit Shantiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore. He further told: 'The time spent there will give direction to your work. Everyone should visit Shanti Niketan. One cannot understand India without visiting this place.'
Among the seven thousand representatives arrested during the convention, four hundred were detained with a plan to charge them of rebellion against the state. Shriram was also among the people detained. Jagan Prasad took the message of Shriram's detention to Paliwalji. Shriram had to spend two more weeks in jail. The moment he was released, Shriram was eager to visit Shanti Niketan — about two hundred kilometers away from Asansol.
"God resides most strongly and evidently where science has not yet progressed to go." — Terryl L. Givens
"A scientific discovery is also a religious discovery. There is no conflict between science and religion. Our knowledge of God is made larger with every discovery we make about the world." — Nobel laureate Joseph H. Taylor Jr.