अमर शहीद अशफ़ाक़उल्ला ख़ाँ: व्यक्तित्व और कृतित्व (काकोरी के अमर शहीद का जीवन व रचनाएँ)

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53. Ashfaqullah appears to have arrived at Delhi about a
fortnight before he was arrested there. The
[Stay at Royal Hotel,] evidence of Sukhdarshan Singh (P. W. 124),
[Delhi, in name of Murari] manager of the Royal Hotel, Delhi, shows
[Mohan.] that Ashfaqullah arrived there on the 25th
August, giving the name of Murari Mohan, and himself wrote
particulars in the hotel book, (Ex. P. A 22,) with his own fountain
pen. A fountain pen was found in his box when he was arrested
(vide Ex. P. A 33) and futher corroboration of the manager's
evidence is furnished by Ex. P. A 34 found at the same time. 10
This is a slip of paper on which is written the name 'Murari
Mohan', and the address which he entered in the hotel book. This
suggests that he was in the habit of changing his name and kept
notes about the names under which he had passed.
54. Banarsi Lal informs us that he and Ashfaqullah were
intimate friends and that this is true is proved
[Association of Ashfaqullah and Banarsi Lal.] by the correspondence between the two found
in Banarsi Lal's house. There was also found
a photograph of the two with Ashfaqullah's arm round Banarsi's
neck, which Banarsi Lal says was taken in 1922 by Ram 20
Prasad (Ex. P. 28). Ex. P. 14 is an undated letter in Urdu to
Banarsi Lal; (Ex. P. 15) is a post card in Hindi to Banarsi, dated
11th December 1923, and Ex. P-16 is a post card in Urdu, dated
17th May 1922 to Banarsi. All of these purport to have been sent
by 'Warsi' which according to Banarsi Lal was the name by which
Ashfaqullah used to sign his letters.
Of these exhibits Ex. P. 14 and P. 15 are important as they
show not only Ashfaqullah's friendship with Banarsi Lal but also
[O. P. 72.] his mentality some time prior to the establishment of the revoluti-
nary society at Shahjahanpur. The correspondence also refers to 30
Ram Prasad and 'brother Raushan', the latter clearly being Rau-
shan Singh accused in the main case, both because Banarsi Lal
says so and because Ex. P. 15 refers to him as having been released
from Jail. In Ex. P 14 Ashfaqullah confides in Banarsi Lal in the
following words :—
"You know very well about my circumstances, and you have
a better idea of my finance, ideas and feelings than any other
friend of mine does, and this is well known to you that I have not
a single shell with me to do any business. Service means killing of
my conscience. You must remember very well that I want to live
free and I worship 'freedom' and I am ready to sacrifice my life
even for a glimpse thereof'. After remarking that he could if he
wished obtain an appointment in the Bhopal State (where his
brother Munnu Khan is employed) he says that "then all my
schemes would be upset". He puts forward another proposal for
which he invites Banarsi's assistance. It is that they should take
up farming, he obtaining land from his mother and Banarsi