India has been slow to appreciate the genius of Bhagat Singh. Often clubbed with Sukhdev and Rajguru and the three revolutionaries’ hanging on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, the man who wanted to “sow guns” as a child, deserves better.
Bhagat Singh
Born as Bhaganwala on the 26th September 1907.
He belonged to a generation that was to intervene between two decisive phases of the Indian national movement -
the phase of the 'Extremism' of Lal-Bal-Paland
the Gandhian phase of nonviolent mass action.
Role in Freedom Struggle:
In 1924 in Kanpur, he became a member of the Hindustan RepublicanAssociation, started by Sachindranath Sanyal a year earlier.
The main organiser of the Association was Chandra Shekhar Azadand Bhagat Singh became very close to him.
In 1925, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore and within the next year he and his colleagues started a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
In 1928, Bhagat Singh changed the name of theHindustan Republican Association to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
In 1930, when Azad was shot, the HSRA collapsed.
Naujawan Bharat Sabha replaced HSRA in Punjab.
To take revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh and his associates plotted the assassination of James A. Scott, the Superintendent of Police. However, the revolutionaries mistakenly killed J.P. Saunders. The incident is famously known as Lahore Conspiracy case (1929).
Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a bomb on 8th April, 1929 in the Central Legislative Assembly, in protest against the passing of two repressive bills, the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill.
Bhagat Singh was re-arrested for the murder of J.P. Saunders and bomb manufacturing in the Lahore Conspiracy case. He was found guilty in this case and was hanged on 23rd March, 1931 in Lahore along with Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Every year, 23rd March is observed as Martyrs’ Day as a tribute.
Publications:
Why I Am an Atheist: An Autobiographical Discourse
