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The
Phenomenon of Bhagat Singh by Manpreet
Singh Badal
A rare
picture showing Bhagat Singh aged 10 with an unknown friend. 1917
his
year marks the 103rd birth anniversary of one of the great Indian
revolutionary-martyrs, Bhagat Singh. Born on September 28, 1907, Bhagat
Singh was a mere 23-year-old young man when he was judicially murdered on
March 23, 1931, by the British.
Although
his life was plucked so early, during the short period of time he lived,
he became a cult figure, who literally aroused devotion on the part of the
Indian youth and the wider downtrodden masses. To no small extent was the
"phenomenon of Bhagat Singh" to borrow Nehru’s apt
description, due to this remarkable young man’s spotlessly clean life,
his lofty ideals, his passionate commitment to the cause of Indian
freedom, his devotion to secularism and uncompromising hostility towards
religious fundamentalism, his hatred of narrow nationalism and his
dauntless courage, unwavering fortitude and a self-sacrificing heroism
that defies belief in the pursuit of the ideals to which he had devoted
his life. By
all accounts, Bhagat Singh was of a scholarly bent of mind and a deep
thinker who understood the power of ideas. "The sword of
revolution", he told the judges trying him, "is sharpened at the
whetstone of thought". On being asked as to what set him apart from
other revolutionaries, Shiv Verma, a fellow revolutionary and a close
comrade-in-arms, replied thus: "I can tell you that in just one
sentence: Bhagat Singh was our undisputed ideological leader. I do not
remember a single moment when Bhagat Singh did not have a book in his
pocket. The other virtues of Bhagat Singh like tremendous courage and so
on were there in the other revolutionaries amongst us also. But his
uniqueness lay in his great studiousness. The degree of clarity and
integrity that he had about the aims of our movement was not there in any
of us at that time". It
was to the ideals of freedom of the Indian masses that he had committed
himself while still in his teens. In 1924, learning that his father was
insistent upon marrying him, Bhagat Singh left for It
was in the pursuit of the self-same ideals that Bhagat Singh along with
Sukhdev, B.C. Vohra and Ram Krishan, formed the Naujawan Sabha in March,
1926, played a leading role in the formation of the Hindustani Socialist
Republican Association in September 1928; took part along with Sukhdev,
Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad, in the killing of the British Police
Officer, J.P. Saunders on December 17, 1928, and on April 8, 1929, he and
Butukeshwar Dutt threw two bombs in the Central Assembly Hall.
In
the Second Lahore Conspiracy case, which lasted from July 10, 1929 to
October 7, 1930, Bhagat Singh and his fellow accused formed, as had been
their intention all along, the court room into an arena for trying the
crimes of British imperialism against the Indian people, for propagating
their revolutionary programme and rousing the Indian masses to revolt
against the alien rulers who had so abused their subjects. The
verdict was a forgone conclusion with Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev
receiving the death sentence, while seven others were transported for life
and the remaining two were given prison sentences of seven and five years. Meanwhile,
as the judgment day neared, unable to contain his paternal feelings,
Bhagat Singh’s father, Kishen Singh, petitioned the Tribunal in a last
desperate effort to save his son’s life. On hearing of his father’s
petition, Bhagat Singh was incandescent with rage and wrote to his father
a remonstrative letter, which brings out clearly Bhagat Singh’s exacting
standards of conduct — standards which he followed and expected others,
including those he dearly loved and respected, to abide by. Bhagat
Singh’s letter, published in full by The Tribune on October 4,
just three days before the Tribunal’s judgment, reflects not only his
legendary courage, fidelity to principle and indomitable spirit of
self-sacrifice but also the deeply-felt injury to his feelings inflicted
on him by the father that he loved and respected. This is what, inter
alia, Bhagat Singh wrote to his father on this occasion (the original
written in Urdu is translated here):
“My dear father,
I was astounded to learn that you had submitted a petition to the
members of the
Special Tribunal in connection with my defence. This intelligence
proved to be too
severe a blow to be borne with equanimity. It has upset the whole
equilibrium of my
mind. I have not been able to understand how you could think it
proper to submit
such a petition at this stage and in these circumstances. In spite
of all the sentiments
and feelings of a father, I don’t think you were at all entitled
to make such a move on my behalf without even consulting me.
Father, I am quite perplexed. I fear I might overlook the ordinary
principle of
etiquette and my language may become a little but harsh while
criticising or
censoring this move on your part. Let me be candid. I feel as
though I have been
stabbed in the back. Had any other person done it, I would have
considered it to be
nothing short of treachery. But in your case let me say that it has
been a weakness.
This was the time when everybody’s mettle was being tested. Let
me say, father, you
have failed. I know you are as sincere a patriot as one can be. I
know you have
devoted your life to the cause of Indian independence, but why, at
this moment, have
you displayed such a weakness? I cannot understand.” On
the evening of March 23, 1931, with the shouts of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’
and ‘Down with Imperialism’, the three great revolutionaries forced
the hangman’s noose. They were hanged while singing the following
couplet, which has become a symbol of the revolutionary immortality of
Bhagat Singh and his comrades:
Dil
se niklegi na markar bhi watan ki ulfat,
Meri mitti se bhi khushboo-e-watan aaegi. (Love
for the motherland will not leave my heart even after death/ Its fragrance
will still be there in my dusty remains.) While
we freed ourselves from the alien rule about 63 years ago after bearing
the merciless physical pain and agony of unrelenting batons and well aimed
bullets, our country continues to flounder on the edge of economic
despair. The
fire of nationhood actuated Shaheed Bhagat Singh and so many other
patriots of the same genre who left their smiling children, beautiful
wives, green fields and happy homes so that the people of India could live
a life of honour and dignity — a cultured and prosperous life. But the
dreams of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and those patriots remain unfulfilled. Why
has Around
300 million people live on less than Rs 25 a day. Every other child is
malnourished in our country. But even more than these, at the level of
basic existence, access to potable water, inadequate sewage facility,
crucial shortage of decent housing and electricity remain but a dream.
As
a policy maker, I pause here to focus upon the proud martial tradition of
Punjab, which has had the privilege of guarding the borders of I
ask the young people of The
war is not merely against the enemy without but the enemy within and I
hope some of us will devote part of our lives and one day turn the tide in
favour of the starving millions of this great country. Today
is the day to make the pledge in all our hearts that while we have life
and strength, we will fight the forces which have kept It
is not an easy task to learn to give back to society from which one has
always taken so far. This would require a deep sense of honour and
courage. Let us remember what the great Shaheed wrote to his brother
Kultar in his last letter from Lahore Central Jail in 1931:
Daher (duniya) se kyon khaffa rahen
Charakh (ruler of the sky) se kyon gila karen
Sara jahan Addu Sahi (dushman)
Aao mukaabla aren [Why
should we remain annoyed with the world? Why should we complain against
the God (ruler of skies)? Let us face stoically the opposing world.] Today,
while marking the 103rd birth anniversary of this great son of <> [The author
Manpreet Singh Badal is Finance Minister in the (East) |
