Anant Laxman Kanhere

Hutatma Anant Laxman Kanhere
Born	1892 Aayani (Anjani), India
Died	19 April 1910 Thane, India
Cause of death	hanged
Nationality	Indian
Known for	Indian Independence Movement

19 April 1910

Anant Laxman Kanhere was an Indian independence fighter. On 21 December 1909, he shot the Collector of Nashik in British India. The murder of Jackson was an important event in the history of Nashik and the Indian revolutionary movement.

Anant Laxman Kanhere was born in 1891 in At Post Bramhanwadi, Aayani (Anjani), a small village in Khed Taluka, Ratnagiri district. He had two brothers and two sisters. He completed his primary education in Nizamabad (which was then also called as Indur ), and his English education took place in Aurangabad. Later, Anant wrote a novel 'Mitra Prem' about the friendships he developed at this time. Anant came in contact with the members of secret revolutionary groups at this time, and was attracted towards their work. At that time the atmosphere in India and Maharashtra, called the Central Province during the British era, was very much charged with anti-British feelings. Nashik was at the forefront with the formation of the revolutionary organization Abhinav Bharat Society by the Savarkar Brothers. Many small secret revolutionary organizations were formed in and around Nashik, guided by Babarao Savarkar, elder brother of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Krishnaji Gopal Karve, popularly called Anna Karve, had formed one such secret society in Nashik. Anna Karve was a young lawyer who aspired to do something for his motherland. Another member of the secret society was Vinayak Narayan Deshpande, who was also one of the main accused in the Jackson Murder case; he was a teacher in an English Medium school in Panchavati, Nashik.

Jackson, a British officer, was aware of these activities. He started mixing with people, unlike other British officers, and made an image of himself as a people friendly officer. He told people that he was a Vedic-literate Brahmin in his previous life and that was why he felt affection towards the Indian people. He used to talk to people in Marathi and had knowledge of Sanskrit. In reality, his intentions were to make Indian people feel that they were good and safe in slavery and to suppress any anti-British activities. For example, one of the English officers who beat an Indian to death for merely touching his golf ball was cleared of his offence and transferred to another location; the Indian was declared dead due to diarrhoea. In another instance, youths returning from Kalika Fair shouting the patriotic slogan Vande Mataram were charged with "anti-national" activities and were prosecuted. The lawyer Babasaheb Khare, who helped pro bono the revolutionaries on whom the government had filed cases, was barred from practicing in the court, had his property confiscated and was arrested and sent to prison.

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