SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH BIRTH CENTENARY 1907-2007

by Harish Puri

“Let me announce with all the strength at my command that I am not a terrorist and I never was, except perhaps, in the beginning of my revolutionary career. And I am convinced that we cannot gain anything through those methods.”

During the last two years of his life Bhagat Singh tried hard to clear the mist of confusion about his position and the objectives of the socialist revolutionary movement he was leading. There was was no regret about the murder of Assistant Superintendent of police to avenge the national humiliation of the assault on Lala Lajpat Rai. Nor did he rule out the use of violence in a revolutionary struggle. However his ideas had undergone a tremendous change thereafter. Evidence of the choice of books and other literature Bhagat Singh read , the notes he took in his diary, and the reminiscences of his close comrades point towards an extraordinary seriousness he brought to this own life and that of his comrades. That he was a ‘voracious reader’ was one thing, more significant, however, was the other quality , that “he was also willing to rethink”, as AG Noorani put it. “He had the capacity to brood and to torment his soul over the past”.

In terms of choice he and his comrades of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association had moved beyond the goal of national independence. That would only mean the domination of Indian bourgeoisie and landlords in place of the alien rulers. “What difference for a peasant if Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru replaces Lord Irwin?”. The romance of anarchist ideas and the self-sacrificing radicalism of Irish national struggle had to contend with the ideas of Marx and Lenin. The message delivered by the Bolshevik Revolution was irresistible.

Making a revolution, however, was, “a serious business”. It was “the creation of hard thinkers and hard workers”. He was troubled by the neglect of ‘intellectual equipment” and even more by a misleading simplification of the task among his revolutionary fellows, including some of the dear and close comrades. Therefore, in a letter addressed to “The Young Political Workers”, he set out to candidly discuss and explain the issues he considered important, and to lay down clear directions and guidelines. Perhaps, it was also meant to settle scores with contradictory ideas and impulses in his own mind.

The real revolutionary armies, as he explained, were in the villages and in factories --- the peasants and labourers. But the depth of timidity and cowardice among the people was distressing. The task of political awakening was formidable. “You shall have to be very sober”, he told them. The programme required “at least twenty years for its fulfillment”. If the political workers did not understand that, “then please have mercy. Stop shouting ‘long live revolution”.

Bhagat Singh in 1924 aged 17 at National College Lahore.
Detail from a group photo of Dramatics Club of the college.

Bhagat Singh had no illusions about the achievements of the Congress and even ridiculed Gandhi’s obsession with non-violence. However, he came to recognise the contribution Gandhi made to political awakening, “paving the way for proletarian revolution”. His Dandi March and Salt Satyagraha had moved “millions of peasants” resulting into, what Louis Fischer viewed as, “an insurrection without arms”. Over 60000 were put in jails. The sacrifice needed for a non-violent struggle was no less than the physical courage required for a violent struggle. “The revolutionary must give to the angel of non-violence his due”, Bhagat Singh told his comrades.

It was on the “thorny question” of terrorism, however, that he had to talk more candidly. While it had played a role in the beginning, terrorism was, as he argued, “a confession that the revolutionary mentality has not penetrated down into the masses. It is thus a confession of our failure . . . It bears the germ of defeat within itself “.

It seemed that a significant difference to his ideas was made, by his hunger strike for the rights of political prisoners – a Gandhian method – which resulted in the martyrdom of Jatindra Nath Das after 63 days of fast. A spirited support and appreciation came from a galaxy of tall national political leaders and legal luminaries of the time such as Motilal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, MR Jayakar and others. “These men are determined to die. It is not a joke…it is not everybody who can go on starving himself to death”, Jinnah pleaded in the Central Assembly.

“The man who goes on hunger–strike has a soul”. The day-to-day coverage given to the proceedings of the trial and the hunger strike by the newspapers, particularly The Tribune and The Hindustan Times aroused public interest and solidarity with him. . The action of murder was forgotten. Bhagat Singh became a symbol of sacrifice and bravery in the cause of national dignity. And he tended to underline that all their activities were directed towards an aim: "identifying ourselves with the great movement as its military wing”. “If any body has misunderstood me”, he warned, “let him amend his ideas”.

The making of the legend was related more to his human qualities and his extraordinary political maturity and intellectual capability at that young age.

– Harish Puri was head and professor of Department of Political Science and Ambedkar Chair, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He did PhD on the Ghadar movement. He has published a number of books including Terrorism in Punjab: Understanding Grassroots Reality (Har-Anand Publications. 1999). He now lives in Ludhiana after retirement. Email: harishpuri@gmail.com