A Great Freedom Fighter :
In Hardwar, while he was studying he read Gandhi’s articles in news papers and
got inspirited for fight for freedom. In late 1930’s he became a leader of a group of
freedom fighter in Hardwar and Kankhal (“We sung patriotic songs and shouted slogans against British Rulers” said Mr. Pant while answering a question). He described India’s population, “in very poor condition, where few people were in petty Government services; while most others were living in the conditions of abject poverty and slavery. It was important to have our own rulers to help them”. We thought, “Bharat maata gulami ka dard sah rahi hai, hamein sab sukh chhodkar apani jawani maa ke liye kurbaan karani hai”. “
“WE had never imagined that India could get freedom in the year 1947; but it was
Gandhiji’s power that British left India so early”, he often said. He remembered 15th
August an important day in his life, and this was the day he was put in Jail by British government. His Jail certificate indicates that he was imprisoned for six and half years (running concurrently) sentence to jail under different IPC’s/Acts. One day I ask him what was the reason behind in the sentence. He said to me, ‘You know even a whisper against government was dangerous; while doing so if any of government officer had heard you, he would pass it on to police and then police man of our own country would take any action they liked.’
He was framed by the conspiring British officers in murdering a DSP during mass
movement in Hardwar in 1942. The Magistrate LG Light himself gave a false witness for this. And he was sentenced to death on charges of murder and sedition. Later on appeal the witness of the Magistrate LG Light, was proved as false in the higher court, by barristers Puri and Suri (brought by Congress from Lahore). Only a notional reprimand was issued to the magistrate and charges of Sedition (all freedom fighters meant to be indulging a war against the State) were proved by the police, to which Hari Dutt happily agreed that he did led the movement for freedom from the British!
“ Ravi rapi na dahati yadrik dahati baluka nigrah” (Even the sun won’t burn our body as do the sand particles heated by the sun in the desert). He suffered much in jail but continued his association with the national movement without any fear. He was a fearless fighter.
He refused to eat the husk mixed chapattis, and demanded the regular diet of wheat chapattis, ghee and dal, prescribed for the prisoners awarded the death sentence. The Jailor would sarcastically tell him that the ‘wheat chapattis are meant for those who were facing the bullets in the front of Aracan’ (at that time the INA has reached the India’s border and fierce war was being fought by the British India against the INA.
He had launched agitation inside the Agra Central Jail to protest against inhuman and illegal treatment given to the political and common prisoners. Afterwards, the Prison Chief had allowed them to have a daily Prathana Sabha (Prayer Meetings) within the Jail premises. The Jailor was a British; who also became an admirer of Hari Dutt. When the Jailor asked him ‘if he is not scared of the ghosts in the cell that he was confined to’ (most prisoners used to complain about this); he replied, ‘I’m my self a ghost for the British Empire, so ghosts are my natural collaborators and friends’! Later the Jailor even allowed Hari Dutt to maintain his diary that he had earlier confiscated and used to have log chat sessions with him on spirituality, humanism and India ethos! He even used to ignore knowingly the act of an Indian Muslim policeman in the Jail, who used to bring newspaper for Hari Datt daily, hidden in his stockings.
Among his admirers in the Jail were eminent people like Ram Manohar Lohia, Jai
Prakash Narayan, Sri Praksha, Beni Prasad; and many more from United Provinces. Ram Manohar Lohia used to tell him that he would have his teeth, lost in the struggle, refixed in Germany, soon after the independence!
