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Shivaram Rajguru
Shivaram Rajguru
	Shivram Hari Rajguru
Born	Shivaram Hari Rajguru; 24 August 1908; Khed, Bombay Presidency, British India; (present-day Rajgurunagar, Maharashtra, India)
Died	23 March 1931 (aged 22); Lahore Central Jail, Punjab, British India; (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Independence activist
Organization	HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Organisation)
Movement	Indian Independence movement
Criminal charges	Murder of John P. Saunders and Chanan Singh
Criminal penalty	Capital punishment
Criminal status	Executed

Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931)^[1]^[2] was an Indian independence activist from Maharashtra (then Bombay Presidency), known mainly for his involvement in the assassination of a British police officer named John Saunders. He was an active member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and on 23rd March 1931, he was hanged by the British government along with his associates Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar.

Early life

Rajguru was born on 24 August 1908 at Khed to Parvati Devi and Harinarayan Rajguru in a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family. Khed was located at the bank of river Bheema near Pune. His father died when he was only six years old and the responsibility of the family fell on his elder brother Dinkar. He received primary education at Khed and later studied in New English High School in Pune. He joined Seva Dal at a young age.

Revolutionary activities

He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, who wanted India to be free from British Raj by any means possible.^[2]

He is remembered for his revolutionary activities, particularly for his involvement in the Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, where revolutionaries robbed a British train to fund their activities. Rajguru, along with other revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan, played a significant role in this daring act. Rajguru became a colleague of Bhagat Singh & Sukhdev Thapar, and took part in the assassination of a British police officer, J. P. "John" Saunders, at Lahore on 17 December 1928. Their actions were to avenge the beating of Lala Lajpat Rai by the police while on a march protesting the Simon Commission; Lala Lajpat Rai died a fortnight after the Saunders assassination.^[3]

Legacy

Rajguru Wada is the ancestral house where Rajguru was born. Spread over 2,788 sq m of land, it is located on the banks of Bhima river on Pune-Nashik Road. It is being maintained as a memorial to Shivaram Rajguru. A local organization, the Hutatma Rajguru Smarak Samiti (HRSS), hoists the national flag here on Republic Day since 2004.^[4]

His birthplace of Khed was renamed as Rajgurunagar in his honour.^[2] Rajgurunagar is a census town in Khed tehsil of Pune district in state of Maharashtra.^[5]