Archive · 9 Aug 2026
BJP Tiranga Yatra marks 101 years of Kakori Train Action
On a Sunday in August 2026, people in India held a special flag march.
They were remembering the Kakori Train Action, which happened exactly 101 years earlier.
Back then, India was ruled by Britain.
A group of young freedom fighters stopped a train near a town called Kakori.
They took about 4,600 rupees that was meant for the British treasury.
They wanted to use the money to help India become free.
Unfortunately, a gun went off by accident and a passenger named Ahmad Ali was killed.
The British caught many of the freedom fighters and even executed four of them.
Today, leaders like Yogi Adityanath honor these revolutionaries as heroes.
The BJP in Uttar Pradesh, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, held a Tiranga Yatra on Sunday (August 9) to mark 101 years of the Kakori Train Action.
The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) planned the Kakori Train Action in August 1925 to fund the organization and attract public attention to its revolutionary mission.
On August 9, 1925, HRA members stopped the Number 8 Down Train at Kakori, about 15 km from Lucknow, and looted treasury bags containing approximately Rs 4,600.
A passenger, lawyer Ahmad Ali, was killed during the robbery when a Mauser gun misfired.
The British crackdown led to 40 arrests, with four revolutionaries — Rajendra Lahiri, Ashfaqulla Khan, Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil and Thakur Roshan Singh — handed death sentences.
- Who
- Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) revolutionaries, including Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Rajendranath Lahiri; commemorated by the BJP and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
- What
- Armed robbery of British treasury money from a train at Kakori, an event that shook the British Raj; the 101st anniversary was marked with a Tiranga Yatra.
- When
- August 9, 1925 (the action); August 9, 2026 (the anniversary march).
- Where
- Kakori station, about 15 km from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- Why
- To fund the HRA and gain public attention for the armed struggle against British rule; the march expressed gratitude to the revolutionaries and freedom fighters.
Revolutionary view
Establishment view
The Kakori action
Revolutionary view
HRA revolutionaries saw it as reclaiming money that legitimately belonged to Indians, necessary to fund their cause and win public attention.
Establishment view
The British Raj treated it as a robbery of treasury funds and responded with a violent crackdown and executions to restore British authority.
How to win freedom
Revolutionary view
Young men unhappy with Gandhi's non-violent methods believed an organized and armed revolution was needed to establish a federal Republic of United States of India.
Establishment view
Gandhi's satyagraha-based Non-Cooperation Movement sought self-governance through boycott and non-violence; he ended it after Chauri Chaura despite internal disagreement within the INC.
- Incident
- Kakori Train Action
- Date of incident
- August 9, 1925
- Location
- Kakori station, about 15 km from Lucknow
- Train
- Number 8 Down Train, Shahjahanpur to Lucknow
- Money looted
- Approximately Rs 4,600 in treasury bags
- Casualty
- Lawyer Ahmad Ali, killed by a misfiring Mauser gun
- British response
- 40 arrested; death sentences for Rajendra Lahiri, Ashfaqulla Khan, Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil and Thakur Roshan Singh
- 2026 commemoration
- BJP Tiranga Yatra in Uttar Pradesh led by CM Yogi Adityanath