Vaman Narayan Joshi was born in 1889, in the village of Samsherpur in Akola, within the Ahmednagar district. His early education took place in Samsherpur but he later pursued further studies in Nashik. It was during his time in Nashik that he was deeply influenced by the ideas of the Savarkar brothers.
In 1909, an arrogant British officer named William unjustly killed a poor driver for a minor incident involving his horse carriage. Shockingly, no action was taken against him. Another British officer, while hunting, fired a shot that struck and killed a poor forest dweller, yet he too remained unpunished. Dissatisfaction grew in Nashik and in contrast, the British imposed many restrictions on the Savarkar brothers and the Abhinav Bharat organization. This led to growing resentment among the followers of Savarkar. The Collector of Nashik at that time, Jackson, was responsible for these atrocities. Consequently, Vaman Joshi, along with Anant Kanhere, Vinayak Deshpande, Krishnaji Karve and other revolutionaries, decided to assassinate Jackson. The revolutionaries in Nashik obtained Browning pistols ordered from Paris just in time for their plan. It was with these pistols that 17-year-old revolutionary Anant Kanhere shot and killed Jackson at the Vijayanand Theater on 29 December 1909.
Anant Kanhere and Vinayak Deshpande were arrested at the theater itself, while Krishnaji Karve was arrested on December 26. On the same day, Vaman Narayan Joshi, alias Daji Joshi, was apprehended in Yewle. He was subjected to severe physical abuse, stripped and brought to Nashik. All the arrested youths endured brutal torture, orchestrated by a cruel man named Alikhan, who was given special authorization to extract confessions through any means necessary. This case is known as the Nashik case. While the trial was ongoing, Vinayak Kolhatkar was martyred by the police. Eventually, the charges were proven. Consequently, Anant Kanhere, Vinayak Deshpande and Krishnaji Karve were sentenced to death, while Vaman Joshi (Daji) received a life sentence with hard labour in the Black water Andaman. He was released in 1922.
Vaman Narayan Joshi passed away on 14 January 1964.
Joshi’s name engraved on the walls of Cellular jail , Port Blair
Source : Vijay Balasaheb Pawbake, Contributor for CCRT