CM Rekha Gupta pays tribute to revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan
Synopsis
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta paid tribute to revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan on his birth anniversary, honouring his role in the 1925 Kakori train action and calling his sacrifice an undying example of patriotism for future generations.
Key Takeaways
Delhi CM Rekha Gupta posted a birthday tribute to freedom fighter Ashfaqulla Khan on 22 October 2026 .
Ashfaqulla Khan was a key figure in the Kakori Kand of 9 August 1925 , in which revolutionaries seized British treasury funds from a train near Kakori, UP .
Khan was executed by the British on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad jail .
His partnership with Ram Prasad Bismil is remembered as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in the freedom struggle.
CM Gupta highlighted his writings and revolutionary ideas as a source of patriotic inspiration for Indian youth.
A century after the British gallows silenced him, Ashfaqulla Khan still commands salutes from the highest offices in the land. On his birth anniversary, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta paid homage on Thursday, 22 October 2026, honouring the revolutionary who shook colonial rule through the audacious Kakori train action of 1925.
In her post, CM Gupta wrote — 'अमर क्रांतिकारी अशफाक उल्ला खां जी की जयंती पर उन्हें शत-शत नमन' ('A hundred salutes to the immortal revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan on his birth anniversary') — calling his supreme sacrifice for the motherland 'an undying example of courage, renunciation, and patriotism.' She added that his inspiring life would continue to kindle love for the nation in generations to come.
The man who rattled an empire at Kakori
Ashfaqulla Khan was one of the principal architects of the Kakori Kand, the daring 9 August 1925 operation in which a band of revolutionaries — among them his close comrade Ram Prasad Bismil — halted a British train near Kakori, Uttar Pradesh, and seized government treasury funds to finance the anti-colonial struggle. The action electrified nationalist India and threw the colonial administration into a fury.
The British response was swift and severe. Khan was hunted down, tried, and hanged on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad jail, dying at a young age with a defiance that would outlast the empire itself. His partnership with Bismil — a Hindu revolutionary bonded to a Muslim one — became one of freedom-struggle history's most cited examples of composite nationalism.
A birthday remembered across the political spectrum
Paying tribute to independence-era revolutionaries on their birth and death anniversaries is a long-established practice among Indian political leaders of all parties. CM Gupta's post follows that tradition — invoking Khan's 'pen and revolutionary ideas' alongside his battlefield courage as twin torches that lit the freedom spirit in youth of his era.
The Kakori centenary, observed in 2025, renewed public interest in the episode, with commemorations held across Uttar Pradesh and educational institutions adding the action to syllabuses. That renewed attention gives this year's birth-anniversary tributes added resonance.
Point of View
Which increasingly seeks to reclaim figures from all communities as part of a unified nationalist heritage. By foregrounding Khan's 'pen and revolutionary ideas' alongside his armed resistance, CM Gupta reinforces a narrative that positions the freedom struggle as a shared inheritance rather than the property of any single party's lineage. The post arrives as the Kakori centenary remains fresh in public memory, giving the tribute a cultural currency beyond the routine anniversary cycle. It also signals Delhi's ruling administration actively contesting the space of secular-revolutionary symbolism that Opposition parties have long claimed.
NationPress
22 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Ashfaqulla Khan?
Ashfaqulla Khan was an Indian revolutionary freedom fighter and a central participant in the 1925 Kakori train action. He was executed by British authorities on 19 December 1927 at Faizabad jail.
What was the Kakori Kand?
The Kakori Kand was a 9 August 1925 operation in which revolutionaries including Ashfaqulla Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil halted a British train near Kakori, Uttar Pradesh, and seized government treasury funds to finance the anti-colonial movement.
When is Ashfaqulla Khan's birth anniversary?
Ashfaqulla Khan's birth anniversary falls on 22 October, and it is observed each year with tributes from political leaders, educational institutions, and cultural organisations across India.
Why did Rekha Gupta pay tribute to Ashfaqulla Khan?
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta posted a tribute on the occasion of Ashfaqulla Khan's birth anniversary, honouring his sacrifice in the Kakori Kand and his role in inspiring patriotism among India's youth.
What was the relationship between Ashfaqulla Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil?
Ashfaqulla Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil were close comrades and co-conspirators in the Kakori train action. Their bond — a Muslim and a Hindu revolutionary fighting together — is widely cited as an example of composite nationalism in the Indian freedom struggle.
