Bhagat Singh – The Young Revolutionary

Bhagat Singh in 1929, aged 21

On the 28^th of September, 1907, one of the youngest martyrs in the history of the Indian revolution – Bhagat Singh, was born. Now remembered by many as a ‘hero’, Bhagat Singh was born and raised in Banga, Punjab (Present day Pakistan). His father Kishan Singh, was a follower of the Arya Samaj, which was a product of a Hindu reformist movement started by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. His grandfather too, was a staunch follower, and educated Bhagat in an educational institution run by the Arya Samaj, instead of the conventional Khalsa college, where most of the Sikhs were educated, because it was British-run institution. All of this had a very strong influence on the young boy.

Singh in the 1920’s

The year 1919, marked a very dark period in the history of the British-Indian Raj. On the 13^th of April 1919, around 1600 people were massacred mercilessly in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. Bhagat Singh, who was only 12 at that time, visited the site hours after the massacre took place. He took a handful of sand from the Bagh and pledged to take revenge for those of his brothers and sisters who had been mercilessly murdered by the British. This was the first trigger for the young martyr, to act against the British. Throughout his life as a revolutionary, Bhagat Singh opposed Gandhi’s idea of a non-violent approach to achieve freedom. He believed that non-violence and fasting could only get you so far. If the British use physical methods to ‘control’ the crowd, then we shouldn’t hold back either. Bhagat Singh had, towards his later years, a fixed group of revolutionaries whom he would plan attacks with. These included – Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan. The last three, were involved in the Kakori Train Robbery and Bismil and Ashfaq, were hung, while Azad, ran away.

An artist’s representation of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

November 1928 was the year the ‘Simon Commission’ had come to India. To protest, people would walk around in the streets of the country, with black slogans, yelling “Simon go back!”. The government would counter these protests by lathi charging (beating them up with sticks), on them. In one such incident, Lala Rajpat Rai, one of the most respected freedom fighters was killed, aged 63. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Azad, conspired together to kill the man responsible for starting the lathi charge, but in a case of mistaken identity, killed another officer, J.P Saunders. Following this incident, in 1929, Singh bombed the Central Legislative Assembly. Even though this bomb was nothing more than just a smoke bomb, detonated only to warn the British, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for both the killing of a police officer and the bombing. Singh was only 21 years old when he was arrested. Whilst imprisoned in Lahore jail, he started a hunger strike because he saw a bias in the way European prisoners and Indian prisoners were treated. They were given horrible food and were provided with no basic amenities such as newspapers, clean drinking water and decent food, which was what they were supposed to be given because they were Political Prisoners.

(Left to Right) – Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and Chandrashekhar Azad

On 7^th October 1930, the tribunal passed a 300-page long judgement which found Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, guilty of killing J.P Saunders, and sentenced them to death. At first, the trio was supposed to be executed on 24th March, but the schedule was suddenly moved forward by 11 hours, and they were hung on 23^rd March 1931 at 7:30 pm in Lahore Jail. A hole was made in the jail wall from where their bodies were dragged out, burnt and the ashes were thrown into the Sutlej River. No one was informed of this cremation, not even their family members. This act of brutality by the British was highly criticized by the press even at that time, and Gandhiji faced severe backlash by the angry youth who believed that he could have stopped the execution.

The death certificate of Bhagat Singh

Gandhi on Bhagat Singh and his accomplices’ execution

This is why the 23^rd of March, every year, is celebrated as “Shaheed Diwas” (Martyr Day), in India. Singh in the months October and November of 1930, wrote a 7-page essay entitled ‘Why I am an Atheist’. When I read the essay, I could see such mature personality traits in the young martyr which could otherwise, only be seen in a 60-year old man. He mentions how he has seen villages and along with that, his family and friends getting destroyed because of religion. Although he was brought up in a religious household, he never was a theist. According to him, whenever you place someone on a pedestal, like Gandhi, you forget the purpose of your life. He writes,

“As Mahatma ji is great, he is above criticism; as he has risen above, all that he says in the field of politics, religion, Ethics is right. You agree or not, it is binding upon you to take it as truth. This is not constructive thinking. We do not take a leap forward; we go many steps back.”

Bhagat Singh in his essay – ‘Why I am an Atheist’

An article in The Tribune, the day after Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev were hung

Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev were only 23 years old and Rajguru only 22, when they were hung. At such a tender age, they had the courage to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of their country. In all his writings, he expresses only contempt towards those Indians who served the British and tortured their own willingly. Today, the 23rd of March, marks the 90th death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. This article is a tribute to the lives of these great men, some of whose names seemed to have been lost in the pages of history…

23rd of March is celebrated, every year, as ‘Shaheed Diwas’ in India

Sources:

Bhagat Singh – Wikipedia

For those of you who would like to read Bhagat Singh’s essay titled, ‘Why I am an Atheist’, written in 1931, please click on the link below.

Why I am an Atheist – Marxists.org