August 08 : Shahjahanpur: The birthplace of immortal revolutionary martyr Thakur Roshan Singh, who kissed the noose with a smile while laying down his life for India's independence, continued to suffer for decades even in independent India after remaining cut off from the mainstream of development. The village whose soil gave the country such a brave son saw three generations being forced to remain cut off from the rest of the world every year during the monsoon season. Governments changed, but their pain remained. Eventually, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath felt their pain. As soon as the matter came to CM Yogi's attention after the government was formed in Uttar Pradesh, he got a permanent bridge constructed over the Khannaut River in place of the pontoon bridge.
Not only this, the Chief Minister himself reached the martyr's ancestral village, Nawada, for the inauguration of the bridge and met Thakur Roshan Singh's family. Tears welled up in the eyes of the villagers present there with feelings of gratitude towards the CM. This was not merely the inauguration of a bridge, but an emotional moment that marked the honor accorded to the martyrdom and the end of years of neglect.
The name of revolutionary Thakur Roshan Singh is recorded among the immortal martyrs in the history of India's freedom struggle. He was born on December 19, 1892, in Nawada village of Shahjahanpur district to Thakur Jangi Singh and Kaushalya Devi. From childhood, he was exceptionally courageous, a skilled wrestler and an unerring marksman. In his youth, he joined Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement and later became an active revolutionary of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA).
During a protest in Bareilly in 1922 against the Chauri Chaura incident, the British resorted to a lathi charge. During this, Roshan Singh pushed through the crowd, moved forward, and snatched the gun of a British officer. He fired in the air and forced the lathi charge to stop. Following this incident, the British government sentenced him to 2 years of rigorous imprisonment.
After his release from jail, he became completely inclined towards the revolutionary movement and turned into a major thorn in the side of the British government.
In December 1924, the HRA carried out an operation in Bamrauli village of Bisalpur tehsil in Pilibhit to raise funds for the organization. During the firing that took place in the course of the operation, one person was killed. A murder case was registered against Thakur Roshan Singh, but he was not captured by the British.
Later, following the Kakori incident of 1925, the British government arrested Thakur Roshan Singh as well and included him in the trial. Although he was not directly present during the Kakori train robbery, he was convicted along with Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Rajendra Nath Lahiri because of his association with the organization.
When he was being sentenced under various sections in court, Roshan Singh fearlessly stated, 'Give me the same punishment that was given to Bismil'. Eventually, the judge sentenced him to death. On December 19, 1927, at Naini Jail in Prayagraj, he kissed the noose after reciting the Gita and raising the resounding cry of Vande Mataram.
The country became independent, but the ancestral village of revolutionary Thakur Roshan Singh, Nawada, remained deprived of basic facilities for decades. Due to the absence of a bridge over the Khannaut River, the entire area would remain cut off from the main routes for four to five months every year because of heavy rains and floods.
Patients could not reach hospitals, children's education was disrupted, and farmers could not transport their produce to markets on time. This was not the pain of one generation of the village, but one that three generations endured continuously for decades.
Some time after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took charge of Uttar Pradesh, the people of Nawada village met him. They apprised the Chief Minister of the village's plight and requested that a pontoon bridge be constructed over the Khannaut River. Moved by the neglect of the immortal martyr's village, the CM approved a permanent bridge over the Khannaut River, along with projects for roads and a degree college, on February 25, 2018, along with development projects in Shahjahanpur.
After the permanent bridge was constructed, the Chief Minister himself reached Thakur Roshan Singh's ancestral home in Nawada village on December 30, 2018. The Chief Minister paid tribute at the martyr's statue and honored the elderly members of the family. Moved by Yogi Adityanath's gesture, the martyr's family members and villagers, who had endured years of neglect, became emotional. Tears welled up in the eyes of many elderly people.
For the villagers, this was not merely the Chief Minister's visit, but an honor for the sacrifice they had been waiting for decades.
The permanent bridge built over the Khannaut River has today become a new lease of life for Nawada Darowast and the surrounding villages. Ambulances are now able to reach on time, students can easily travel to schools and colleges, and farmers' produce has begun reaching markets. With a degree college being established in the village and the martyr's home being developed as a memorial, the new generation is also drawing inspiration from his sacrifice.
The story of the birthplace of revolutionary Thakur Roshan Singh is not merely about the construction of a bridge, but about the historic honor that three generations of the village had been waiting for. Today, that pain has become history, and the land of Nawada will continue to convey the message of patriotism, sacrifice, and honor to generations to come.
