Remembering Bhagat Singh

Born 110 years ago in a small village in Lyallpur district (now Faislabad in Pakistan) of undivided pre-independence India’s Punjab Province, Bhagat Singh went on to etch his name in the history books for his invaluable contribution to the Indian Freedom struggle. On this 110^th birth anniversary, let’s revisit few facts of the iconic freedom fighter, who was executed on March 23, 1931, when he was just 23 years old.

Bhagat Singh left home for Kanpur when his parents tried to get him married, saying that if he married in Slave India, “my bride shall only be death” and joined Hindustan Socialist Republic Association. Bhagat Singh along with Sukhdev planned to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai and plotted to kill the Superintendent of Police James Scott in Lahore. However in case of mistaken identity, John Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police was shot.

Although a Sikh by birth, he shaved his beard and cut his hair to avoid being recognized and arrested for the killing. He managed to escape from Lahore to Calcutta. On April 8, 1929, Bhagat Singh, along with freedom fighter Batukeshwar Dutt, hurled two bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi to protest against an unfavorable bill. Interestingly, their actual intentions behind this defiant act were to get arrested and to use the subsequent court appearances to further the cause of their organization Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) for India’s Independence.

Along with the bombs, Singh also threw in copies of a leaflet in the assembly that quoted a French anarchist as saying, “It takes a loud noise to make the deaf hear”, and signs off with the now epochal statement, ‘Inquilab Zindabad!’ or ‘Long Live the revolution’. He did not resist his arrest at this point. At the time of his trial, he didn’t offer any defence, rather used the occasion to propagate the idea of India’s Freedom.

In his famous article titled “Why I am an atheist?” written in jail in early October 1930, he wrote he found fulfillment through serving humanity and liberating it from sufferings and distress. Apart from Freedom from the British, his goal was to build an India where poverty, socio-economic disparity and exploitation did not exist.

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.