Balaji Raghoba Raypurkar was born in 1926 in Chimur town, Chandrapur district. Chimur was the first town in India to take note of Mahatma Gandhi's arrest on 9 August 1942.
Sunday, August 16, 1942, was the day of the ‘Nag Panchami’ festival. A grand procession was taken out at Abhyankar Chowk here. Uddhavrao Khemskar, Gaur Singh, Keshavrao Kathane, Ramchandra Kamdi, Jagannath Dahule, and Bokare Guruji were caught by the British police in this procession. The procession was moving in front. People were raising slogans. As soon as the procession in Chimur came in front of the Nagoba temple, the Circle Inspector ordered firing on the unarmed crowd.
A 16-year-old boy, Balaji Raypurkar of Chimur, who was at the forefront of the procession, was shot while shouting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. People were very angry with the death of Balaji Raypurkar. Balaji Raghoba Raypurkar was the first martyr of the freedom struggle on 16 August 1942. The procession proceeded to Chimur's post bungalow. People were using whatever sticks and stones they could find in their hands. Women also participated in this fight, along with men. The flame of the Chimur revolution was burning all over the country.
The memory of the revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives for India's freedom should be preserved forever; a martyr memorial has been erected at the Chimur Revolutionary Punyabhoomi. Every year on August 16, tributes are paid here to martyr Balaji Raghoba Raypurkar and many other revolutionaries.
Memorial at Chimur.
Newspaper clipping on martyr Balaji Raghoba Raypurkar in Maharashtra Times, Published on 15 August 2018.
Source: Dr. Shivaji Mhaske, Contributor for CCRT.