To begin with, there are countless anecdotes and real-life stories of how the Britishers tortured and tormented the Indians whenever they got even a petty reason to do it! But as a matter of pride, many Bravehearts repeatedly roared to resist the oppressive British empire through their daunting and gallant acts of armed revolution. The 22nd of June marks the anniversary of the assassination of the British ICS (Indian Civil Services) officer, Walter Rand who was directly responsible for the horrendous torture and harassment of commoners of Pune.
He, along with his assistant Lt. Ayerest was brought to justice on this very day in 1897 which also happened to be the day on which the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria was being celebrated all over the world, including India!
Numerous men and women gave their lives to free India from the oppressive and unfair British rule that turned the country, which had a GDP of more than 20 in the 1600s, into a poor country by the end of the 19th century. This struggle took place during the early colonial rule under the East India Company and later under the Raj after 1857.
The brave freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives so that future generations could breathe clean air and experience complete freedom without any restrictions are gratefully remembered by the entire country. Numerous unsung heroes who are unknown throughout India’s length and breadth are among them. These unsung heroes include the Chapekar brothers, three of whom are from Maharastra.
What Really Happened?
The Chapekar Brothers were Vasudeo Hari Chapekar (1880–8 May 1899), also known as Vasudeva or Wasudev, Damodar Hari Chapekar (25 June 1869–18 April 1898), and Balkrishna Hari Chapekar (1873–12 May 1899, also known as Bapurao) and, in the late 19th century, after the people of Pune had grown upset with the vandalism committed by the officers and soldiers he had hired, they were engaged in the murder of W. C. Rand, the British Plague Commissioner of Pune. Mahadev Vinayak Ranade participated in the murder as well.
The brothers were originally from Chapa, a tiny village near Pune, India, called Chinchwad. An Indian Civil Services official named Walter Charles Rand served as the Special Plague Committee’s commissioner when the bubonic plague struck India in 1896–1897.
To deal with the emergency, troops were sent in. Rand appointed over 800 officers and soldiers despite government orders to take religious sentiments into account; the measures used included entry into private homes, stripping and examination of residents (including women) by British officers in public, evacuation to hospitals and segregation camps, and preventing movement out of the city.
Some of these officers have also damaged buildings and sacred objects. The people of Pune viewed these actions as oppressive, and Rand disregarded their protests. Thus, on June 22, 1897, the Chapekar brothers shot Rand and his military escort Lieutenant Ayerst to end the injustice experienced by the people of Pune.
On June 22, 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s coronation, Rand and Lt. Ayerst, his military escort, were shot as they were leaving the festivities at Government House.
Ayerst passed away immediately, and Rand died from his injuries on July 3. In addition to being accused of the murders in various capacities, the Chapekar brothers and two other people (Mahadev Ranade and Khando Vishnu Sathe) were also accused of shooting two informants and making an attempt to shoot a police officer.
All three brothers were found guilty and executed by hanging; a fourth brother, who was still a schoolboy at the time, was given a ten-year harsh jail sentence.
A Humble Family Background…
Vinayak Chapekar, the grandfather of the boys, was the patriarch of a large family that included their parents, Dwarka and Hari, as well as about twenty additional relatives, including six uncles, two aunts, and two grandparents. When Damodar was born in 1869, the family was affluent because they had previously generated lakhs of rupees in revenue.
The family’s financial situation declined over time, primarily as a result of Vinayak Chapekar’s independent nature, which prevented him from submitting to government duty, and his numerous unsuccessful business endeavours. When Damodar Hari was a young kid, the family travelled to Kashi with a group of 25 pilgrims at one point, along with two servants and three carts. The boys also had an older sister, but regrettably, she passed away during the same journey in the modern-day province of Gwalior.
Hari, the father of the brothers, attended Poona High School until the sixth standard. After that, a Shastri was assigned to teach him Sanskrit at home so that he might become a kirtankar. The brothers of Hari Chapekar were educated to play musical instruments so that they could perform with him. Given the position and age of the family, the decision of Hari to become a kirtankar was met with criticism by the members of his caste and acquaintances.
The profession was despised by Vinayak Hari’s brothers as well, who left, left the family, and went their separate ways. Even Vinayak Chapekar, who had a skilled “Balbodh” and “Modi” hand, departed the house for the then-Maratha cities of Indore and Dhar. He then began to beg on the streets, stopped speaking all other languages save Sanskrit, dressed carelessly, and avoided social interaction as much as possible. The family’s other members were also struggling with poverty and were compelled to eat in soup kitchens.
Hari Chapekar passed away and was cremated on the banks of the Kshipra; his family was in Nagpur at the time, but regretfully they were unable to travel to Nagpur to attend the funeral. The deceased widow of Hari Chapekar was also by herself. Only one of Hari’s brothers remained in their family house as the other brothers all went their separate ways.
But when he was alive, Hari taught his children to sing kirtans, and the Chapekar brothers eventually rose to prominence as prolific and well-known kirtankaars. Hari did not have the money to employ professional musicians to play alongside him during his kirtan. The father and kids had mastered their craft and were well-respected for it.
The onset of the bubonic plague and the subsequent horrific atrocities…
A pandemic spread throughout the Bombay presidency towards the end of 1896, affecting residents in Bombay and the nearby cities of Pune. The then-British Raj made major, war-like measures to stop the spread of the plague after it emerged as a threat and started to spread like a summer bushfire.
A month later, 0.6% of Pune’s population had perished from the plague, and almost half of the city’s residents had fled to avoid suffering and demise.
Under the leadership of W.C. Rand, an ICS officer who had received administrative work training at a specialised London institution designed for administrative work in India, the Governor of Bombay established “The Plague Committee“. Rand was assigned to Pune, its suburb, and the cantonment area as a Special Officer. The Governor’s directive was that actions should be handled seriously without endangering the beliefs or practises of the Muslim and Hindu communities within Pune’s territorial jurisdiction. Under the governor’s directive, only female community members would be investigated as part of the plague eradication programme.
Major Paget of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) seized charge of the officers and soldiers on March 12th, both British and native. They had to go to every region of the city and take the necessary actions to stop the disease from spreading as part of their responsibility. In actuality, they went against the governor’s orders and ordered the male members to specific locations to interrogate the family members, including the ladies.
Gate-crashing into private homes, interrogating residents, forcing women to remove their clothing, evacuating people to hospitals and segregation camps against their will, removing and destroying personal property – including idols – restraining people from leaving the city, conducting funerals in designated cremation areas, among other inhumane acts – were all examples of their actions. Additionally, if the orders are broken, the subjects risk prosecution.
The Committee completed its report on the Pune Plague on May 19, 1897. “It is a matter of great satisfaction to the members of the Plague Committee that no credible complaint that the modesty of a woman had been intentionally insulted was made either to themselves or to the officers under whom the troops worked”, W.C. Rand wrote in his report to the Governor after mentioning that the estimated total plague mortality was 2091. Numerous well-known persons complained to Rand about the troops’ barbarous behaviour before the report was even presented.
Rand ignored them, and nothing was done to stop the soldiers. On the Poona Plague, a fictitious report was created. The story was a clear misrepresentation of the facts. The truth is that in the guise of containing the outbreak, Hindu women’s modesty was offended in plain sight. According to reports, one of the two Indian ladies who had been raped committed suicide. Blasphemous actions, such as tossing Hindu idols out of the Puja room and other priceless items, allegedly took place with impunity.
Rand was accused of being the cause of the fury among the whole Hindu community in Pune. “The government should not have entrusted the execution of this order to a suspicious, sullen, and tyrannical officer like Rand”, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak stated in a letter to the Queen. In the interim, there were denials and cynical remarks about the community’s lack of participation, etc.
The Plot, and the Action…!
The Chapekars brothers – Damodar, Balkrishna, and Vasudeo, who grew up in Chinchwad, close to Pune, were individuals with a patriotic outlook. As ardent Hindus, they were quite concerned about how the faith had been denigrated and criticised in the name of change. They held the British responsible for their lack of consideration for the religious beliefs of the Indian people.
They established a group named “the Society for the Removal of Obstacles to the Hindu Religion” and trained some individuals military-style to protect the religion. The Chapekar brothers had long observed the British Sahibs and their behaviour; dissatisfaction over their prejudiced treatment of Indian people was evident on their faces.
The Chapekar brothers grew enraged in March 1897 when the forces (DLF) under Major Paget’s command caught their attention. No rational military personnel would descend to such a low state as to strip the women in full front of the public and violate their modesty in the name of eradicating the plague. The peevish and irate Rand was blamed by the DLF for this maniacal action. The brothers came together and decided to get rid of Rand at all costs. They also carefully planned how they would kill him in front of everyone.
They had a golden opportunity on a silver platter. The brothers preferred the 22 June 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s coronation in Pune, according to Damodar Hari Chapekar’s autobiography. The rationale was straightforward: Damodar Hari thought that the jubilee celebrations at the Government House would draw a sizable crowd of Europeans, including officials of various ranks, providing an ideal opportunity for Rand’s murder. The brothers Damodar and Balkrishna Hari chose a location behind a yellow bungalow on Ganeshkhind Road (now known as Senapati Bapat Road).
They would have the necessary view from the vantage point to aim at Rand. The brothers each had a sword and a pistol with them. Another tool in Balkrishna’s kit was a hatchet. When they arrived in Ganeshkhind, it was already dark when they arrived at the Government House around 7:30 p.m. It was a great celebration with several exciting events at Government House.
The security was unconcerned by their movements while carrying swords and hatchets; they stashed them for later use beneath a stone culvert close to the bungalow. Damodar Hari waited outside the Government House gate as decided by the brothers, and Rand’s carriage pulled up 10 to 15 paces behind it. Damodar signalled for Balkrishna to act when the carriage arrived at the yellow bungalow with the phrase “Gondya ala re (Gondya has come)”.
The idea was that Damodar would soon join him, and the two of them would shoot Rand to death. Damodar Hari unlocked the carriage flap, raised it, and fired a shot. Things went according to plan because Rand’s carriage continued to go forward while Balkrishna fell behind. Balkrishna developed misgivings about the people in the carriage after his own. He immediately opened fire at Lieut. Ayerst, who was leading Rand’s military guard. Ayerst, who was riding in the second carriage, passed away instantly. Rand passed away on July 3, 1897, at the David Sassoon Hospital.
The Aftermath – Arrests and the Persecutions…
As a result of the murders, which shocked the British Empire, special officers were quickly appointed to look into the case. The British government announced a reward of 20,000 rupees for anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the assassins, who had added a colourful chapter to the history of India’s freedom campaign.
To instil fear in the hearts of the populace, the police turned to brutal repression. Insinuating stories were published by the Anglo-Indian press, especially The Times of India, in which it was claimed that Lokmanya Tilak’s remarks had inspired the murderers to kill Mr Rand and that the Poona Brahmins had plotted to topple the British administration.
In the interim, Damodar Chapekar had been detained in Bombay on suspicion of killing Rand. Chapekar accepted full responsibility for the killing. When people learned of his bold testimony in court, they were astounded. Damodar received a death sentence after being found guilty in the Sessions Court on March 2nd, 1898. Tilak was housed in another wing of the Yervada prison, while Damodar Chapekar was put in the ward for inmates who would be executed.
Damodar Chapekar asked the prison officials for permission to meet Tilak at least once, and they complied with his request. When Damodar first met Tilak, he asked him for a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and demanded that his final rites be conducted as per Hindu traditions. Tilak gave Damodar a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, and when he was being hanged, Damodar remained silent while holding the holy book. As per the deceased’s desires, Tilak set up the funeral and last rituals.
In December 1898, Balkrishna Chapekar was taken into custody. The Dravid brothers, who were once friends with the Chapekar brothers, turned informants, and the police were able to apprehend Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar as a result of the information they provided.
On February 8th, 1899, Vasudeo and Ranade Chapekar, the youngest of the Chapekar brothers, shot the Dravid brothers outside of their home in Sadashiv Peth, Poona. The following day, the Dravid brothers died as a result of their wounds, while Ranade and Vasudeo Chapekar were taken into custody.
Vasudeo, his brother Balkrishna, and Mahadeo Ranade were all hung at the Yervada prison during the second week of May 1899. The three brothers did not show any signs of guilt or fear as they mounted the gallows since they all believed they were dying for a just cause. Despite being married, there were no problems. The three brothers made a supreme sacrifice that was unlike any other and inspired awe in the hearts of the populace. The three brothers and their friend Ranade, who had sacrificed their lives for the honour of their motherland, were given final rites by Tilak.
The prevailing global media focused on this shocking murder in colonial India committed directly under the control of the Crown, which subtly revealed the darker aspects of the oppressive and tyrannical regime. It damaged the British reputation around the world and exposed their continuous misgovernance and exploitation of Indians, which was no different from the misgovernance during the authority of the East India Company. The New York Times and the Sydney Morning Herald were the prominent ones to cover the incidents in detail.
The Invincible Legacy…
The Chapekar brothers’ murder of Rand was not widely perceived as a crime. Lala Lajpat Rai himself praised the freedom warriors Damodar Hari Chapekar, along with his brothers Balkrishna and Vasudeo. According to ‘Punjab Kesari’, Lala Lajpat Rai, “The Chapekar brothers, who killed the two officers who had become unruly during the Poona plague epidemic, were not viewed as criminals by the general populace. The Chapekar brothers bravely accepted their fate. Though they did not respect the act itself, people did admire the motivation behind it. The revolutionary movement in India was actually started by the Chapekar brothers”.
The Chapekars and Mahadev Ranade were hung to death for the murders of Rand and Lt. Ayerst. The account of how these courageous men gave their lives for the sake of freedom is moving. Today, one would think that Rand and Ayerst’s deaths were pointless and that Chapekar and Ranade’s actions were all childish. But one must keep in mind that they did all of this effort out of love for their nation. The Chapekar brothers had no expectation of financial reward or recognition for their deeds.
For their brothers, they sacrificed their lives. They or their family received no personal gain. “Are we willing to go to such lengths for the good of our country? Have we taken any action for our nation thus far?” – Before you criticise the brave brothers and the freedom fighters, try to respond to these questions. In reality, criticising such heroic deeds is like a coward pleading for calm in the face of certain death! Also going to hell would be those who did this! Remember that our countrymen will never forget the sacrifice made by the Chapeker Brothers and Ranade. It is permanently engraved on the Indian’s psyche!
Even now, one can’t help but be proud of the bravery and sacrifice of these young guys, who were still in their early twenties. This is the only known incident of three brothers making a brave sacrifice for the sake of their nation. Heartfelt Obeisance from my end!