Chauri Chaura was a famous case that was argued by famous Advocate Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya in 1923 when the Freedom Movement was at its prime. Chauri Chaura is a place in district Gorakhpur in the United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh)
On 4 February 1922, participants of the Non-cooperation movement clashed with police resulting in the deaths of about 22 policemen and 3 civilians at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
It all started when Mahatama Gandhi started a nationwide non-cooperative movement using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as Satyagrah. The movement started from 1920 onwards to challenge the British Government’s oppressive regulatory measures such as the Rowlatt Act, with an ultimate goal of attaining independence. The aim of the party was Swaraj or self-government.
This was supposed to be a peaceful and non-violent movement wherein people would relinquish their government jobs and titles, stop going to government schools and colleges, not serve in the army and also refuse to pay taxes as an extreme measure.
However, an incident at Chauri Chaura changed the course of the movement. On 2 February 1922, people were protesting against high meat prices at the marketplace. They were beaten by the police and many of their leaders were arrested and detained at the Chauri Chaura police station.
The volunteers planned another protest against the police and on 4 February, about 2500 people marched towards the Chauri Chaura market in order to picket a shop selling liquor. One of their leaders was arrested. A group of people then marched towards the police station demanding the release of the arrested leader. The police fired shots in the air hoping to disperse the crowd. However, the crowd became agitated and started pelting stones at the police. Participants of the Non-cooperation movement clashed with police resulting in the deaths of about 22 policemen and 3 civilians at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district in the United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh).
The British government in response imposed martial law in and around Chauri Chaura. Several raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested. The government responded promptly bringing to trial about 228 people in connection with the case. 6 of them died in police custody.
A total of 225 people were brought to trial at Gorakhpur Sessions Court of Judge H. E. Holmes, on charges of “rioting and arson” in conjunction with the Chauri Chaura affair. Of these, six died while in police custody, two were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment, while 170 were sentenced to death by hanging and 47 were acquitted on 9 January 1923, following conviction in a trial which lasted eight months. After the 8 month-long trial, 172 people were sentenced to death.
The verdict was met with severe resistance across the country. In 1923, Madan Mohan Malviya who was a lawyer and was very active in the Freedom movement came forward to help the victims. He decided to appear for the innocent persons who were sentenced to death. He argued for continuously four days and ultimately was able to convince the Judge to review the death sentence.
On 30 April 1923, The Allahabad High Court pronounced the final judgments in the case. The Allahabad High Court reviewed the sentences and freed 151 persons from a death sentence. 110 death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment and the court held that only 19 persons will get death sentences. The remaining were sentenced to long jail terms. The 19 people who were sentenced to death were Nazar Ali, Bhagwan Ahir, Lal Mohammed, Shyamsundar, Abdullah, Dudhi Singh, Kali Charan, Lauti Kumar, Mahadev Singh, Meghu Ali, Raghuvir, Ramlakhan, Ramroop, Sahdev, Rudali, Mohan, Sampat, Shyam Sundar, and Sitaram. 14 people were sentenced to life imprisonment. 19 people were sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment. 57 people were sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment. 20 people were sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment.3 people to 2 years’ imprisonment.38 people were acquitted.
The 19 defendants condemned to death were hanged between 2 and 11 July 1923.
The Chief Justice who was hearing the case appreciated Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya’s lawyering skills and thanked him for allowing the trial to proceed in a fair manner.
Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and politician. He played an important role in the Indian Independence movement as the four times president of Indian National Congress and the founder of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha. After finishing his law degree, Malviya started practicing law at Allahabad District Court in 1891, and moved to Allahabad High Court by December 1893
Malaviya strived to promote modern education among Indians and eventually co-founded the Banaras Hindu-University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916, which was created under the B.H.U. Act, 1915. It is the largest residential university in Asia and one of the largest in the world, having over 40,000 students across arts, commerce, sciences, engineering, linguistic, Ritual, medicine, agriculture, performing arts, law, and technology from all over the world. He was the vice-chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University from 1919 to 1938.
Malaviya often described as a Hindu nationalist, strived for Hindu-Muslim unity. He gave two famous speeches on communal harmony- one in Lahore in 1922 and in Kanpur in 1931. Here is another one, an excerpt from his presidential address at the INC’s Calcutta session in 1933.
“I implore all Hindus and Mussalmans, Sikhs, Christians and Parsees and all other countrymen to sink all communal differences and to establish political unity among all sections of the people. In the midst of much darkness, I see a clear vision that the clouds which have long been hanging over our heads are lifting. Let every son and daughter do his or her duty to expedite the advent of the dawn of the day of freedom and happiness. Truth is on our side. Justice is with us. God will help us. We are sure to win. Vande Mataram.”
Malaviya was also one of the founders of the Bharat Scouts and Guides. He was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, on 24 December 2014, a day before his 153rd birth anniversary by the Modi government /LAB/SNG/