Lessons from Bhagat Singh

Eighty five years ago this month, Bhagat Singh, along with his revolutionary colleagues Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar, were hanged to death in Lahore Jail. They were executed for the killing of Assistant Superintendent of Police John A. Saunders. Bhagat Singh was born a mere 23 years before then to a politically active Punjabi Sikh Family. His grandfather, Sardar Arjun Singh, was strongly opposed to British Government and initiated his sons and his grandson into that tradition.

Bhagat Singh learnt English, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit at the DAV School in Lahore. He subsequently attended National College in Lahore, which was set up by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1920. Even though seeds of Bhagat Singh Revolutionary path were sown in the early days after his visit to Jallianwala Bagh, he became a committed revolutionary after the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.

The forum for the discussion of the response to Rai death was the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). The HSRA predecessor, the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) had been established in the immediate aftermath of the Chauri Chaura incident in which 22 policemen were burnt alive in a retaliatory incident. The most significant action of the HRA was the Kakori Train robbery undertaken in 1925 to finance its activities. Many leaders of the HRA, including Bismil, were hanged for that incident.

Bhagat Singh short and eventful life had many strands. He displayed an extraordinary commitment to his cause. He was an avowed atheist. He was a revolutionary and a socialist. He was a fearless patriot. He believed in using arms to gain self-respect and independence. He read and wrote a lot. Even though Bhagat Singh methods were wrong, his dedication to a cause is worthy of emulation. His fearlessness came from an inner determination and was reinforced by his extensive reading.

Bhagat Singh himself would have frowned upon a jingoistic, non-nuanced adoption of any of our heroes. That may be the most important lesson of all for today young. Shaheed Bhagat Singh, socialist and revolutionary himself said, “Bombs and pistols do not make revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas”.

Source: - Livemint.com, Monday Mar 7-2016.