Indian leaders on Thursday paid tributes to Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary. Sharing his views on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said-
“Remembering Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary. His sacrifice and unwavering dedication to the cause of India’s freedom continue to inspire generations. A beacon of courage, he will forever be a symbol of India’s relentless fight for justice and liberty.”
Bhagat Singh, an iconic figure in India’s struggle for independence, is celebrated for his unwavering commitment to the cause and his daring acts of defiance against British colonial rule.
While his revolutionary activities, such as the Lahore Conspiracy, the Assembly bombing, and his eventual martyrdom, are well-documented and widely acknowledged, there exist lesser-known facets of his life and his profound vision for a free and just India.
In this article, we delve beyond the popular narratives to explore the intriguing aspects of Bhagat Singh’s life, shedding light on his personal convictions, the intellectual influences that shaped his ideology, and the profound vision he held for a liberated India. Join us on a journey to discover the lesser-explored dimensions of this legendary freedom fighter’s life and legacy.
Family Background
Bhagat Singh was born into a Punjabi Sikh family on 27 September 1907 in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab (now part of Pakistan).
He was the second of seven children – four sons, and three daughters – born to Vidyavati and her husband Kishan Singh Sandhu.
Education
Following his initial education at a village school in Banga, Bhagat Singh was enrolled in the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore.
Subsequently, in 1923, he became a student of the National College in Lahore, an institution established two years prior by Lala Lajpat Rai as a response to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement.
This movement called upon Indian students to boycott educational institutions subsidized by the British Indian government, marking a significant chapter in Bhagat Singh’s educational journey.
Ideas and Inspirations
Singh was an avid reader of the teachings of Mikhail Bakunin and also read Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
In his last testament, “To Young Political Workers”, he declares his ideal as the “Social reconstruction on new, i.e., Marxist, basis”.
Singh did not believe in the Gandhian ideology – which advocated Satyagraha and other forms of non-violent resistance, and felt that such politics would replace one set of exploiters with another.
About Anarchism, he wrote-
“The ultimate goal of Anarchism is complete independence, according to which no one will be obsessed with God or religion, nor will anybody be crazy for money or other worldly desires. There will be no chains on the body or control by the state. This means that they want to eliminate: the Church, God and Religion; the state; Private property”.
Historian K. N. Panikkar described Singh as one of the early Marxists in India. The political theorist Jason Adams notes that he was more enamoured with Lenin than with Marx.
On the day his execution, Bhagat Singh was reading the book, Reminiscences of Lenin, authored by Clara Zetkin, a German Marxist.
Views on God & Religion
Bhagat Singh was a self-proclaimed atheist believed that religion hindered the revolutionaries’ struggle for independence, and began studying the works of Bakunin, Lenin, Trotsky – all atheist revolutionaries.
While in prison in 1930–31, Bhagat Singh was approached by Randhir Singh, a fellow inmate, and a Sikh leader who tried to convince Bhagat Singh of the existence of God, and upon failing berated him: “You are giddy with fame and have developed an ego that is standing like a black curtain between you and God”.
In the leaflet he threw in the Central Assembly on 8 April 1929, he stated: “It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled, while the ideas survived.”
Murder of John Saunders
In December 1928, Bhagat Singh and an associate, Shivaram Rajguru, both members of a small revolutionary group, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (also Army, or HSRA), shot dead a 21-year-old British police officer, John Saunders, in Lahore, Punjab, in what is today Pakistan, mistaking Saunders, who was still on probation, for the British senior police superintendent, James Scott, whom they had intended to assassinate.
They held Scott responsible for the death of a popular Indian nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai for having ordered a lathi (baton) charge in which Rai was injured and two weeks thereafter died of a heart attack.
As Saunders exited a police station on a motorcycle, he was felled by a single bullet fired from across the street by Rajguru, a marksman.
As he lay injured, he was shot at close range several times by Singh, the postmortem report showing eight bullet wounds.
Another associate of Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, shot dead an Indian police head constable, Channan Singh, who attempted to give chase as Singh and Rajguru fled.
Demands during Hunger Strike
Singh was arrested for murdering Saunders and Chanan Singh based on substantial evidence against him, including statements by his associates, Hans Raj Vohra and Jai Gopal.
For some time he was kept in Delhi and then transferred to Central Jail Mianwali in Punjab.
In Mianwali, Singh complained that he had received an enhanced diet at Delhi which was not being provided at Mianwali.
He led other Indian, self-identified political prisoners he felt were being treated as common criminals in a hunger strike.
They demanded equality in food standards, clothing, toiletries, and other hygienic necessities, as well as access to books and a daily newspaper.
They argued that they should not be forced to do manual labour or any undignified work in the jail
Writings
He wrote for, and edited, Urdu and Punjabi newspapers, published in Amritsar and also contributed to low-priced pamphlets published by the Naujawan Bharat Sabha that excoriated the British.
He also wrote for Kirti, the journal of the Kirti Kisan Party (“Workers and Peasants Party”) and briefly for the Veer Arjun newspaper, published in Delhi.
He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.
During the Lahore Conspiracy Trial, Bhagat Singh read the text of a telegram in the court and asked the magistrate to send it to the Third International. The telegram stated:
“On Lenin day we send harty greetings to all who are doing something for carrying forward the ideas of the great Lenin. We wish success to the great experiment Russia is carrying out. We join our voice to that of the international working class movement. The proletariat will win. Capitalism will be defeated. Death to Imperialism”.
Bhagat Singh also wrote an essay entitled “Why I Am an Atheist” to address the question of whether his atheism was born out of vanity.
Other Leaders Opinion about Him
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi condemned the murder John Saunders by Bhagat Singh and his associates as a retrograde action. After Singh’s execution, Gandhi wrote in Young India-
“Bhagat Singh and his two associates have been hanged. The Congress made many attempts to save their lives and the Government entertained many hopes of it, but all has been in a vain. Bhagat Singh did not wish to live. He refused to apologise, or even file an appeal. Bhagat Singh was not a devotee of non-violence, but he did not subscribe to the religion of violence. But we should not imitate their act. In our land of millions of destitute and crippled people, if we take to the practice of seeking justice through murder, there will be a terrifying situation. Our poor people will become victims of our atrocities. By making a dharma of violence, we shall be reaping the fruit of our own actions. Hence, though we praise the courage of these brave men, we should never countenance their activities. Our dharma is to swallow our anger, abide by the discipline of non-violence and carry out our duty”.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah spoke in support of Bhagat Singh in the Assembly, saying:
“The man who goes on hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul, and he believes in the justice of his cause … however much you deplore them and, however, much you say they are misguided, it is the system, this damnable system of governance, which is resented by the people”.
Jawahar Lal Nehru
On Bhagat Singh’s growing popularity, Nehru wrote, “Bhagat Singh did not become popular because of his act of terrorism but because he seemed to vindicate, for the moment, the honour of Lala Lajpat Rai, and through him of the nation”.
Nehru also met Singh at Central Jail Mianwali and later stated “I was very much pained to see the distress of the heroes. They have staked their lives in this struggle. They want that political prisoners should be treated as political prisoners. I am quite hopeful that their sacrifice would be crowned with success”.
Conclusion
As India commemorates Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary, we are reminded of his enduring legacy and unwavering commitment to the nation’s freedom struggle.
Bhagat Singh’s life, marked by daring acts of defiance against British colonial rule, is widely acknowledged.
However, in this exploration of the lesser-known dimensions of his existence, we’ve uncovered a more profound understanding of his personal convictions, intellectual influences, and visionary ideals for a liberated India.
His journey, from an educational foundation rooted in Lahore’s National College to his deep exploration of Marxist ideology and atheism, exemplifies his distinct perspective.
His writings, bold actions, and the profound impact he left on leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Jawahar Lal Nehru attest to the enduring influence of Bhagat Singh’s spirit and ideas in India’s struggle for justice, liberty, and independence.