In the last few years, nationalism has been redefined. But there were times, when patriots walked the talk. And tempers flared up against the colonizer, not the brother next-doors.The man who is an outstanding symbol of the times is Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh. Despite attempts to efface him from public memory, he remains ensconsed as an ideal, an eternal icon- torchbearer of rationalism with nationalism- true inspiration for Youth!
His legacy prompted the Indian youth to fight for independence of India and today in the modern India;
Bhagat Singh continues to be a youth icon.The Reserve Bank had issued Rs.5 denomination coins to commemorate Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary.
Bhagat Singh is often termed as the 'youthicon' or the 'revolutionary of the youth' but his stature is one that equals some of the prominent names in the Indian freedom struggle. His patriotism was not restricted to the strong violent outburst against the British; he rather had a mind and intellect of a genius who could foresee division of India on communal lines which many of the much esteemed leaders of the time were unable to see. Keeping the cause of country ahead of the religion was another signs of his mature and rational mind.
Personal Life of Bhagat Singh
One of the most prominent revolutionaries of India, Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September 1907 in a Sikh family in the village of Banga in Layalpur district of present-day Pakistan. The third son of Sardar Kishan Singh and Vidyavati, Bhagat Singh's father and uncle were members of Ghadar party.
Influences on Bhagat Singh
He was greatly attracted towards socialism. Believed to be one of India's earliest Marxists, Bhagat Singh was one ofthe leaders and founders of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Bhagat Singh was deeply saddened by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. Though he participated in the non-cooperation movement, he was disappointed when Gandhi called off the agitation after the Chauri Chaura incident. He studied at the National College in Lahore where he came into contact with other revolutionaries such as Bhagwati Charan, Sukhdev and others.
Deeds of Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh was against individual acts of terrorism and gave a clarion call for mass mobilisation. In 1928, he came in contact with another famous revolutionary Chandrasekhar Azad. The two combined to form the 'Hindustan Samajvadi Prajatantra Sangha'. During the Simon Commission's visit to India in February 1928, there were protests against the Simon Commission's visit to Lahore. In one of these protests, Lala Lajpat Rai was injured in a lathi charge and later on succumbed to his injuries. To avenge Lajpat Rai's death, Bhagat Singh decided to kill the British official responsible for thekilling, Deputy Inspector General Scott. Buthe accidentally shot Assistant Superintendent Saunders instead, mistaking him for Scott.Bhagat Singh threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 and thereafter courted arrest.
Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Raj Guru were awarded death sentence by a court for their subversive activities. They were hanged on 23 March 1931. Bhagat Singh is still seen as the role model by a large number of young people in India.
Part-II
"I have been arrested while waging a war. For me there can be no gallows. Put me into the mouth of a cannon and blow me off."
One of the most affable revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, Bhagat Singh, was hanged on March 23, 1931 at 7:30 PM in Lahore jail with his companion Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar.March 23, every year, is therefore, observed as the Martyrdom day (Shaheedi Divas) of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in India.
Bhagat Singh, a Sandhu Jat(an Indian ultimately), was born in September 1907 to a Sikh family in Bankga village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India (now in Pakistan). His family had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British rule in the country.
He was a great actor in college time and acted in several plays like Rana Pratap, Samrat Chandragupta and Bharat Durdasha. During the independence movement, Bhagat Singh, had for some time been exploiting the power of drama as a means to inspire revolt against the British, purchasing a magic lantern to show slides that enlivened his talks about revolutionaries who had died as a result of the Kakori Conspiracy, such as Ram Prasad Bismil. In 1929, he proposed a dramatic act to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) with the intention of gaining massive publicity for their aims.
Singh was a great writer. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers, published from Amritsar, as well as contributed to low-priced pamphlets published by the Naujawan Bharat Sabha that excoriated the British . After Mahatma Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movement, Bhagat Singh became disillusioned with Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence. Gandhi's decision followed the violent murders of policemen by villagers who were reacting to the police killing three villagers in the 1922 Chauri Chaura incident. Singh joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began to advocate for the violent overthrow of the British in India.
To avoid getting married by his family, Singh ran away from his house to Cawnpore. In a letter he left behind, he stated:"My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now"
Subhas Chandra Bose said"Bhagat Singh had become the symbol of the new awakening among the youth."Jawaharlal Nehru acknowledged that the popularity of Bhagat Singh was leading to a new national awakening. Over the years, innumerable songs grew about him and the popularity that he achieved.
Singh was sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case and ordered to be hanged on March 24, 1931. That schedule was moved forward by 11 hours and he was hanged on March 23, 1931 at 7:30 PM. It is reported that no magistrate of the time was willing to supervise his hanging as was required by law.
Singh was not a devotee of non-violence, but he also did not subscribe to the religion of violence. He took to violence due to helplessness and to defend his homeland. In his last letter, Bhagat Singh wrote,"I have been arrested while waging a war. For me there can be no gallows. Put me into the mouth of a cannon and blow me off."
