Yogendra Shukla

Yogendra Shukla was one of the prominent Indian freedom fighters and a revolutionary who took active participation in the Indian freedom struggle against the British dominion. He was one of the founding members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and served in the Cellular Jail, also known as Kalapani. He was also one of the founders of Congress Socialist Party from Bihar, along with Basawon Singh. Shukla was born in the year 1896 in Jalalpur village in the district of Muzaffarpur (now known as Vaishali district) in Bihar. He was the uncle of renowned independence activist Baikuntha Shukla. Yogendra Shukla served jail sentence in Kalapani from the year 1932 to 1937, as one of the prime leaders of the revolutionary activities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He had trained Batukeshwar Datta and Bhagat Singh and was one of their senior associates. Shukla served prison terms for a period of more than 16 years for his participation in anti-British revolutionary movement. He experienced severe torture during his imprisonment in various jails of British India. As result of all these, he became blind and died due to sickness.

A.C. Davies, the Judicial Secretary, asked the DIG (CID) to suggest the names of the revolutionary convicts according to the directions of the Governor in Council in October 1932. The DIG also provided statement describing the offences of the convicts. The sentence included a brief note with a view to sending them to the Andamans. The DIG (CID) suggested the names of Ram Pratap Singh, Mohit Chandra Adhikari, Kedar Mani Shukla, Ishwar Dayal Singh, Shyamdeo Narayan a.k.a Ram Singh, Basawon Singh and Yogendra Shukla. Therefore, Shukla was transferred to the Andamans in December, 1932. Later in the year 1937, he was relocated to Hazaribagh Central Jail due to his 46 days of hunger strike. Due to the efforts of Sri Krishna Sinha, the Viceroy approved the demands and Yogendra Shukla, including some other political prisoners, were released from prison in March, 1938.

After he was released, Yogendra Shukla became a member of the Indian National Congress and was appointed as the elected Vice Chairman of the Muzaffarpur District Congress Committee. Later in 1938, he was also elected as a member of the All India Congress Committee, but later at the request of Jayaprakash Narayan, he joined the Congress Socialist Party. Soon after 1940, Shukla became a part of the Central Committee of the All India Kisan Sabha, replacing Swami Sahajanand Saraswati. Shukla also actively participated in the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in August, 1942.

On 7th December 1942, Yogendra Shukla was arrested at Muzaffarpur. He was lodged in Buxar Jail and held in bar fetters for 3 years. Shukla launched hunger strike in the Buxar Jail in March 1944. Later in the year 1946, he was released from prison. He was appointed as a member of the Bihar Legislative Council on behalf of the Praja Socialist Party and held the position until 1960.

As result of facing extreme torture in prison for several years, Yogendra Shukla became severely ill and also became blind. He died on 19th November 1960.