Pune (Maharasthra) [India], April 18 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday visited the memorial for freedom Chapekar brothers, who in 1897 assassinated a British officer for mismanaging the Pune’s plague. The Chief Minister urged school students to visit the memorial, saying that the place is not only about where the British officer was killed but also gives a “glimpse of the progressive thoughts of their entire family.”
Damodar Hari Chapekar and Balkrishna Hari Chapekar assassinated British Officer Walter Charles Rand and his military escort Lieutenant Ayerst on June 22, 1897, for his oppressive actions to stop the spread of the Bubonic plague in 1896 in Pune, Maharashtra. The third brother, Vasudeo Hari Chapekar, and his associates Khando Vishnu Sathe and Mahadev Vinayak Ranade assassinated the Dravid brothers, known to be police informants at that time. 
“The bravery of the Chapekar brothers occupies a unique place in the history of Indian revolutionaries. The way they killed WC Rand, who was doing injustice to the Indians, and went to the gallows with full determination, but never backed down from serving the motherland, is an inspiration for every Indian,” CM Fadnavis said while speaking to reporters in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Expressing the importance of having a memorial of the freedom fighters, he urged every school student to visit the memorial and learn how it is not only limited to remembering the place of the assassination, but also gives a glimpse of the progressive thoughts in the family.
“It is very important to build a memorial for such Chapekar brothers. This memorial presents every incident of their life in a lively form. I believe every school student should visit this memorial, as it will provide them with immense inspiration. This memorial is not limited only to the place where they killed Rand, but it also gives a glimpse of the progressive thoughts of their entire family,” he said.
In 1896, the British government in India established a Special Plague Committee, chaired by Walter Charles Rand, an Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer. He was tasked to deal with the bubonic plague in Pune. Reportedly, instead of hiring doctors to stop the spread of the plague, he delegated over 800 officers and soldiers to the city. The officials entered private homes, stripped and inspected residents (including women) in public, evacuated people to hospitals and segregation camps, prohibited funerals, and impeded movement outside the city.
The brothers, along with a few other accomplices, were found guilty and hanged by the British government. Mahadev Ranade, a schoolboy at the time and involved in the incident, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. This is also considered one of the first acts of ‘aggressive nationalism’ since the 1857 War of Independence. (ANI)
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