Remembering Bhagat Singh on the 103rd birth anniversary of his
glorious and heroic life September 28th .When the entire country,
plagued as it is with the Hindutva brand of communalism in its
worst-ever ferocity and perfidy, is yet to overcome the trauma and the
judgment of the Ayodhya ironacally on the birth anniversary of the
great martyr and the horrendous communal carnage that rocked large
parts of this subcontinent thereafter, Bhagat Singh’s words are of
particular relevance for our nation and polity.

In the backdrop of the environment obtaining in India today, it would
be most appropriate to study some of the passages of his Sampradayik
Dange aur Unka Elaj (Communal Riots and their Remedy) that came out in
print in the journal Kirti in 1927 written by S.Bhagat Singh himself.
It is no essay in academic flair, but it exudes Bhagat Singh’s deepest
human concern for the Indian people who were then, as now, suffering
due to senseless human killings in the name of religion.Here are a few
excerpts from the article:

…The condition of India has now become extremely grave. The followers
of one religion have become suddenly sworn enemies of the followers of
the other religion. So much so, that to belong to one particular
religion is reason enough for becoming enemy of the other religion.
Such a feeling has gained currency.

….If still someone harbours any doubts about the gravity of the
situation, one should look at the recent riots of Lahore to gauge and
determine the savagery and ferocity of the killings. …. How Muslims
have killed innocent Hindus and Sikhs and how Sikhs have been
unsparing in their killings, deploying their best capabilities. Such
brutal mutual killings have not been resorted to by the killers to
award punishment to someone found guilty of some crime, but for the
simple reason and for the fact that someone was either Hindu, Sikh or
Muslim. For Muslims, it has been enough to kill if someone was either
Hindu or Sikh and likewise to be a Muslim was sufficient reason for
his being killed.

His deep anguish can be seen in the lines below:

…When the situation has reached this aggravated stage, then God alone
knows what will happen to India. In view of the obtaining situation,
India’s future appears extremely bleak. These religions have wrought
havoc to India and one does not know when the scourge of such
horrendous communal riots will come to an end and India will be freed
from them—from such religious riots. …At the moment political leaders
of India are conducting themselves so shamelessly. Those very leaders,
who had sweared and vowed to liberate the country and had proclaimed
of shouldering the great responsibility for that purpose, never tiring
of talking about ‘common nationality’ and who had been vociferous in
declaring their faith in the attainment of “Swaraj”, so unflinchingly
and devotedly in the past, these very same leaders are now either
keeping mum with their heads bowed in shame or are swaying along with
the raging wind of blind religious bigotry. Besides the demagoguery
and ‘double-speak’ of these ‘lost leaders’, Bhagat Singh underlined
the supine subterfuges of the leadership in face of horrendous
communal criminality:

…. Those amongst them, sitting on the fence silent in remorse and
shame, concealing their faces are not insignificant in numbers. …But
regarding those political leaders who have since joined and have
already found full convergence with the current of communal movement,
they are to be found in hundreds, if only one unravels the phenomenon
and digs a bit beneath the earth’s surface. Leaders (with a
conscience) who seek well-being, happiness and prosperity of all
people from their very heart are few and the tornado of communalism is
so wild and fierce that these few, well-meaning and good-intentioned
leaders are incapable of halting the process. Expressing his concern
he added :

…. It appears as if the Indian political leadership has gone
completely bankrupt.

Bhagat Singh’s worst fears have now come true, and the future of India
appears as bleak at the hands of its ‘bankrupt’ political leadership.
Shaheed Bhagat Singh and all the other martyrs did not sacrifice their
life for any particular caste creed or religion but for an
independent, secular and united India


Will our Doordarshan and Akashvani ever find time to portray this
charismatic youth, his life-drama, the drama of a man who,
nonetheless, was the heart-throb of millions and had nothing mystical
or magical about him?

It was about time that Doordarshan changed its stance and started
projecting personalities who shaped India’s great destiny and are
relevant to the cause of our social progress. Why cannot a month-long
Bhagat Singh epic, his life-story, be put on the small screen, without
concealing the stark realism associated with him, so as to inspire the
common people to follow his footprints in the struggle for eradication
of communalism.

What was Bhagat Singh’s own vision of the future? His Diary-Notes,
which begins on September 12, 1929, and contains 140 pages, with B. K.
Dutt’s signature dated July 1930, provides the contours of that
vision. Sunil Chopra, who found and scanned through it, has stated:

Bhagat Singh had visualised that 15 years after their martyrdom, the
British will be forced to quit, but the government that would step in
will indulge in loot and plunder of people, vested interests will
resort to self-aggrandisment and gangsterism will get the upper hand.
“People will forget us,” he noted, “within 15 years,” and added: “Then
our memory will be revived and people will put our ideas to close
scrutiny and for reconstruction of a new social order working classes
and honest people will unite together and this organisation will
secure the fruits of labour to whom it belongs.”

Perhaps it would not be a day too soon to revive his memory today.
Bhagat Singh’s immortal ideals beckon all those who can prove equal to
the task and are ready to test their mettle, as Bhagat Singh on his
own admission tried to test himself and again, on his own admission,
was not always successful.

And nothing succeeds like success!

ABHEY SINGH SANDHU
Nephew Of Shaheed Bhagat Singh
S/o S.Kulbir Singh, younger brother of S.Bhagat Singh
M-98153-08803