Bhagat Singh and the freedom struggle

In the story of the struggle for the liberation of India from the British Raj, Bhagat Singh and his friends deserve a prominent mention. Bhagat was born in a small village of Lyalpur (now Faisalabad) in 1907 in a family of freedom fighters – which became his first source of inspiration. He was also stimulated by the brave stance of the Ghadar party. Though the Ghadar party was crushed in India through the brutal force of the British Raj, it inspired a large number of Indian freedom fighters, including Bhagat Singh.

Bhagat was only twelve years old when, on the order of Brigadier-General Dyer about 400 innocent people were killed in Jalianwala Bagh, Amritser. Young Bhagat missed his school and went to the massacre site the next day. This incident remained with him for the rest of his life.

Bhagat, imbued with patriotism, could not have gone to a better place for the development of political intellectualism than National College in Lahore which was established by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand. It was here that Bhagat met Jay Chandra Vidyalankar who acted as his mentor. It was also in National College that Bhagat met Sukhdev. Here Bhagat, along with his friends, established Naujwan Bharat Sabha, a militant organisation, to intensify the struggle for freedom. Bhagat also joined the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) in 1924.

Bhagat and his friends wanted to play an active role at the national level. The opportunity came soon when the Simon Commission announced a visit to Lahore on October 30, 1928. Thousands of people gathered at the Lahore Railway Station to protest. The procession was led by Lala Lajpat Rai an eminent leader of the Congress. The charged crowd was baton-charged by the police. Superintendent Scott ensured a physical attack on Lala Lajpat Rai until Rai started bleeding and fell on the ground. This humiliating incident provoked young Bhagat and his friends.

Following the provocative incident of torture on Lala Lajpat Rai the members of HRA held a meeting where two important decisions were made. First, on the recommendation of Bhagat Singh the name of the organisation was changed to the Hindustan Socialistic Republic Association (HSRA). Second, the meeting unanimously decided that Scott must be killed. Lala Lajpat Rai sustained inner wounds and finally succumbed to death on November, 17 1928.

Killing Scott would avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, and bring the HSRA into the limelight as a major force of resistance. The team that was assigned the task to kill Scott comprised Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Jai Paul. However, due to a case of mistaken identity another assistant superintendent of police, Saunders, got killed. Bhagat and his team managed to escape the murder scene and reached their hideout on Mozang road.

The killing of the British police officer rocked the whole province of Punjab and Lahore was besieged by police but Bhagat Singh and his friends managed to reach Calcutta with the help of Durga Devi, another revolutionary member of the HSRA. In Calcutta Bhagat met a number of revolutionaries including Jatinder Nath Das, a bomb expert.

The British government was cognizant of the growing restlessness among the masses together with the increasing voices of dissent and decided to bring two bills to the assembly – the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill. Both these bills were aimed at curtailing human rights. Bhagat Sing and B K Dutt volunteered to drop homemade desi bombs in order to draw the attention of the lawmakers to the excesses of the British Raj. It is important to note that bombs were of low intensity and were deliberately dropped at an unoccupied place to avoid any injury.

According to the planned programme, Bhagat Singh and B K Dutt volunteered their arrest. A few of their own party members, including Jai Paul and Hans Raj Vohra became approvers who shared the details of Saunders’ murder with the police. Bhagat Singh and his friends used the platform of the trial court to share their message with the masses as the court proceedings were carried by the newspapers.

The trial turned out to be a farce as the British Raj was determined to silence any voices that challenged its legitimacy. As a result of judicial politics Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced to death. This news stunned the people of India. Bhagat and his friends did not bow down and staged the longest hunger strike in jail against discriminatory treatment. The hunger strike lasted for 110 days. Again one important objective was to reveal the ugly face of imperialism to the outside world.

On a spring evening of March 23, 1931 Bhagat and his friends went to the gallows singing popular revolutionary lyrics. For the jail officers it was a rare site to see someone standing at the gallows kiss the hanging rope and raised the slogan ‘Inqilab zindabaad’ (Long live the Revolution) at the top of his voice.

Such commitment and conviction does not come with transitory emotional upheaval but is an outcome of total and sustained immersion in the ideology of revolution. Behind this commitment was a long journey. Some of the milestones of this journey included his revolutionary family, the impact of the Jalianwala Bagh incident, mentoring at National College, and interaction with revolutionary organisations.

Another factor that contributed in the formation of Bhagat’s personality was his habit of extensive reading. Bhagat was an avid reader. He could not live without books. His only request to his lawyer and his friends was for a regular supply of books in jail. Most of the books of a radical nature at Dwarka Das Library were read by him.

Bhagat was an intellectual who self taught himself contemporary revolutionary philosophies – like Communism and Marxism. Reading was an addiction that armed him with logical thinking, the power of argument and the skill of persuasion.

On the day he was to be hanged his lawyer brought a book at his request – ‘Revolutionary Lenin’. Besides extensive reading, Bhagat also wrote while in jail.

In the history of the struggle for freedom Bhagat and his friends’ role will always be remembered with respect and appreciation. His courage, intellect, dedication, commitment, sincerity, selflessness, patriotism, non-communal stance, and love for the downtrodden turned him into a symbol of freedom and a source of inspiration for freedom fighters for all times to come.

The writer is an educationist.

Email: shahidksiddiqui@gmail.com