Bookstawa – Modern History

Chapekar Brothers

Background

In 1896, the dreaded disease of plague had struck Pune and by early 1897, the disease had
spread critically. In February 1897 alone, there were 657 deaths reportedly due to plague. About
half of the city’s population had left it. The government set up a Special Plague Committee in
March that year to handle the menace and control the spread of the disease. It was chaired by an
Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer W. C. Rand.

Even though the government had given explicit orders that the religious sentiments of the people
be taken care of while inspecting and taking adequate measures and that the people should be
especially informed about the good intentions of taking the various strict measures, the
commission under Rand paid scant regard to the directions.

Special Plague Commission

The commission appointed more than 800 officers and soldiers on duty in Pune rather than
employing doctors for the job of implementing the measures. The measures included entry into
houses forcefully, the examination of its occupants including women, taking them to segregation
camps and preventing people affected with plague from leaving or entering Pune, but there were

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reports that the troops indulged in vandalising personal property including religious symbols in
the name of controlling the epidemic. People were denied permission to conduct the funerals of
their loved ones unless the deaths were registered. If plague was the cause of death, the dead had
to be cremated on special grounds designated by the government. People who broke these
regulations were subjected to criminal activity.

The high-handedness of the British authorities in dealing with the epidemic led to a lot of
frustrations and anti-government sentiments among the people. Tilak wrote in Kesari, “Her
Majesty the Queen, the Secretary of State and his Council, should not have issued the orders for practising
tyranny upon the people of India without any special advantage to be gained.”

Events associated with Chapekar Brothers

The Chapekar brothers Damodar Hari, Balkrishna Hari and Vasudeo Hari planned to
assassinate Rand against whom there was a lot of hatred among the local population. On 22 nd June
1897, the British monarch Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee celebrations were being held at Pune.
The brothers expected all government officers to arrive for the function. Carrying weapons with
them, Damodar, the eldest and Balkrishna, waited for Rand’s carriage to pass by a selected spot on
Ganeshkhind Road. Balkrishna shot at Rand and wounded him. Rand’s military escort Lt. Ayerst
was also shot at. Ayerst died on the spot while Rand was admitted to a hospital where he died on
3 July.
rd

Damodar was arrested after being informed on by the Dravid brothers. In his statement, he said
that he wanted to take revenge for the atrocities committed by British soldiers like the pollution of
holy places and the desecration of idols. He was tried and hanged on 18 th April 1898. Balkrishna
th
avoided arrest till 1899 when he was caught and tried by the police. He was hanged on 12 May
1899.

The third brother Vasudeo and his friends Khando Vishnu Sathe and Mahadev Vinayak
th
Ranade killed the police informants, the Dravid brothers. Vasudeo was hanged on 8 May 1899.
Ranade was hanged on 10 th May and Sathe, a juvenile, was sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous
imprisonment.

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