Gaya Prasad Katiyar

Gaya Prasad was born on 20 June 1900 in the village of Jagadishpur, Bilhaur tehsil,Kanpur to Nandarani and Mauji Ram. After completing the high school studies, he enrolled himself for the medicinal practice course in Kanpur. He joined the Arya Samaj, Kanpur branch where he got acquainted with Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi.

Alike most of the revolutionaries of HSRA, Gaya Prasad participated in the Non-cooperation Movement in 1921. He formed a strong bond with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. These two visited Dr. Gaya Prasad in Jagadishpur to celebrate Holi on  March 20, 1926.[1].

Dr. Gaya Prasad's main responsibility was to provide a cover for the bomb manufacturing factories of HSRA. The modus operandi was simple - Dr. Gaya Prasad would start a dispensary under a proxy name[2] and the other revolutionaries used to work as staff e.g.: compounders, housekeeping etc. This dispensary had hidden places where the bombs were manufactured. The odor of the chemicals could be easily be justified to the locals and neighbours as arising during the preparation of medicines.

Example of such a bomb factory:

A bomb factory in Turi Bazaar,Ferozpur was started by Dr. Gaya Prasad under the name Dr. B S Nigam. This factory was operational from August 10, 1928 to February 9, 1929. The other revolutionaries had following aliases[3]:

• Shiv Verma : Ram Narayan Kapoor
• Vijay Kumar Sinha : Bacchu
• Mahavir Singh : Pratap Singh
• Chandrashekhar Azad : Pandit ji
• Sukhdev : Balejar
• Jaigopal : Gopal

The bomb factory was shifted to Sahranpur after the arrests mounted and police actions became intensive. They were soon out of funds and couldn't convert the rented place into a dispensary. Kashiram, an HSRA associate was supposed to arrive from Delhi with money but he hadn't reached, hence it was decided that Dr. Gaya Prasad would travel to Kanpur and return with some money. Meanwhile (after 1–1.5 months of moving the factory), a Ferozpur-based barber named Kalu Ram visited Sahranpur for some personal work and he spotted Dr. Nigam(Dr. Gaya Prasad) and immediately reported this to the local police[4]. It was later revealed that Kalu Ram had been keeping a close eye on HSRA movements, on the behest of the police. On May 13, 1928, the police raided this factory located in the Chaube parish locality and arrested Shiv Verma and Jaidev Kapoor[5].

Dr. Gaya Prasad couldn't arrange any funds and returned empty-handed on May 15, 1929. He evaded the police at the Sahranpur station and reached the base in the early hours while it was still dark. He knocked the door, expecting Shiv or Jaidev. Instead, he was embraced by a policeman. Dr. Gaya Prasad couldn't recognize the policeman as it was dark and the friendly affection made him believe that it was Kashiram who had arrived with funds. The policeman then shouted for backup and within minutes, several more policeman rushed inside, overpowered Dr. Gaya Prasad and handcuffed him. On the way towards the police station, the doctor realized that in his pocket, there was a paper which had names of two famous lawyers based in Lucknow - Chandra Bhanu Gupt and Mohanlal Saxena, both of them had pleaded the Kakori conspiracy case from the side of the revolutionaries. Doctor thought that this paper must be destroyed to avoid unnecessary implication of the lawyers. He asked the constable to stop and allow him to take a leak. After some argument, his one hand was freed and the constables stood with their backs to him. He immediately put the paper in his mouth and tried to swallow it but started to cough uncontrollably. He demanded water from the constable and gulped it down his throat, swallowing the paper[6].

Dr. Gaya Prasad was sent to Lahore. Here, along with the other HSRA revolutionaries, he participated in the hunger strike. He was tried under the Lahore Conspiracy Case, sentenced for life imprisonment and deported to the Andaman cellular jail. Even in Andaman, he conducted a 46-day long hunger strike to protest against the unfair and inhuman treatment of the prisoners[7]. His HSRA compatriot, Mahavir Singh died in this same strike as a result of forced feeding, He was expatriated in 1937 but again sent to the cellular jail, finally, released in 1946[8].

In accordance with his socialist ideals cemented during the HSRA era, he struggled for the rights of workers and farmers. During this juncture, he was sent to jail a couple of times – for 6 months in 1958 and for 1.5 years between 1966 and 1968)[9].

He passed away on 10 February 1993. He is survived by a son, Kranti Kumar Katiyar[10], and daughter, Dr. Sumanbala Katiyar.

On December 26, 2016, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Ms. Anupriya Patel headed a program to introduce an Indian Postal stamp in the name of Dr. Gaya Prasad Katiyar[11]

In the movie The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Niraj Shah[12] portrayed Dr. Gaya Prasad.