Shiv Verma (Hindi: शिव वर्मा; 9 February 1904 — 10 January 1997) was an Indian Marxist revolutionary and a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
Early life
Shiv Verma was born on 9 February 1904 in Khateli village of Hardoi district in United Provinces. At the age of 17, he participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
He was a student of the DAV College of Cawnpore.
Revolutionary activities
Cawnpore was the place where the Hindustan Republican Association was formed by Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Suresh Chandra Bhattacharya and others. People like Bejoy Kumar Sinha, Shiv Verma, Jaidev Kapoor, and Surendra Nath Pandey joined the party. Verma's party name was 'Prabhat' (Hindi: प्रभात).
Verma was inclined towards socialism. Sinha introduced Verma to the journalist and writer, Radha Mohan Gokul, who became an ideological mentor and inspiration for Verma. Radha Mohan had an extensive collection of books and he encouraged Verma to read and discuss socialism. In 1925, after the Kakori incident, Chandra Shekhar Azad was staying in Jhansi, in seclusion. He came to Cawnpore with Kundan Lal Gupta and stayed with Radha Mohan Gokul. This was when Verma and Azad met for the first time.
While studying at DAV College, Cawnpore, Verma met Bhagat Singh for the first time in January 1927, when the latter had come to Cawnpore for a week to meet all the other revolutionaries of HRA.
Ram Prasad Bismil was going to be hanged on 19 December 1927. A day before, his mother, Moolrani Devi (Hindi: मूलरानी) came to visit him for the last time at District Jail, Gorakhpur. Verma had already reached there. He approached Bismil's mother and requested her to help him meet Bismil to discuss some party matters. Bismil's mother instantly agreed and asked him to pose as Bismil's cousin, Shankar Prasad, and refer to her as 'mausi' (Hindi: मौसी). Since it was the final meeting between mother and son, they were left alone for some time. Bismil's mother then asked him to talk to Verma, referring to him as an HRA member.
It was Verma who recruited Mahabir Singh in June 1928 for HRA activities.
Verma regrouped with Sukhdev Thapar and others in Lahore. In November 1928, Verma underwent training in the manufacturing of bombs while staying in Agra near Noori Gate where he rented a house under the alias - Amir Chand.
In the initial verdict of the Kakori conspiracy case, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. While he was kept in the District Jail, Fatehgarh in 1927, Verma and Sinha were entrusted with the job of getting Chatterjee's approval for getting him released from prison. On 3 March 1928, after the duo left Fatehgarh, the police secretly were on their trail. The duo sensed this and decided to leave immediately. They bought train tickets for Cawnpore, but the ticket details were soon available to the police. When the train started, two policemen seated themselves in the same compartment where the duo had reserved their seats. They were looking for an opportunity to abscond during the journey. Later, when the train was leaving the Jalalabad station, they jumped out of the train cautiously. The constables hurt themselves in their attempt to follow them and could not give chase. The duo again evaded arrest at the Cawnpore Station but now had accepted the fact that, henceforth, they would have to lead the life of fugitives.
Verma was a member of the Central Committee which was formed by the revolutionaries in the ruins of the Feroze Shah Kotla fort of Delhi on September 8 & 9, 1928. He was the organizer of the United Provinces branch. Verma wrote several articles for the paper 'Chand' (Hindi: चाँद).
By the beginning of 1929, it was clear that Viceroy Lord Irwin would use his veto power to pass the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bills, despite being rejected in the assembly. Verma was assigned as the leader of a team that would assess the possibility of assassinating Lord Irwin. They decided to attempt it when the Viceroy was going to attend a banquet and dinner party held by some I.C.S officers in New Delhi. Shivaram Rajguru was the spotter, Jaidev Kapoor was supposed to hurl a bomb on Irwin's car and Verma was the backup - in case Kapoor missed. Rajguru noticed that the Viceroy's car was containing three ladies, hence, he didn't give any signal and was later praised by Azad and the other compatriots for avoiding indiscriminate assassinations. They later learned that the Viceroy had proceeded to some other venue and reached the banquet venue later via a different route.