Bhagat Singh was a young and brave person who contributed to the freedom struggle, later were hanged to death in the Lahore Central Jail.
87 years later, the country still recollects the death of Bhagat Singh Rajguru Sukhdev, let’s salute these 3 great freedom fighters who fought for us.
Bhagat Singh Information
- Name: Bhagat Singh
- Date of Birth: 28th September 1907
- Birth Place: Banga, present Pakistan
- Education: National College, Lahore, National College of Arts, Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System
- Father: Sardar Kishan Singh Sandhu
- Mother: Vidyavati
- Siblings: Bibi Amar Kaur, Bibi Shakuntla, Kultar Singh, Rajinder Singh, Kulbir Singh, Bibi Parkash Kaur, Jagat Singh, Ranbir Singh
- Date of Death: 23rd March 1931
- Death Place: Lahore Central Jail, Lahore, Pakistan
Bhagat Singh is considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian Nationalist Movement. He was involved with numerous progressive organizations and played a critical function in the Indian National Movement.
He died showing his patriotism at the age of just 23 years. Following his execution, on 23rd March 1931, the supporters and fans of Bhagat Singh called him a “Shaheed” (Patriotist).
History of Bhagat Singh – Biography
Bhagat Singh was born on 27th September 1907, at Banga in Lyallpur district (now Pakistan) as the son of Kishan Singh and Vidyavati.
At the time of his life beginning, his father Kishan Singh, uncles Ajit and Swaran Singh have been in prison for demonstrations in opposition to the Colonization Bill applied in 1906.
His uncle, Sardar Ajit Singh, turned into a proponent of the movement and hooked up the Indian Patriots’ Association.
He nicely-supported by way of his friend Syed Haidar Raza in organizing the peasants towards the Chenab Canal Colony Bill. Ajit Singh had 22 cases against him and turned into pressured to flee to Iran.
His own family became the supporter of the Ghadar Party celebration and the politically aware surroundings at home helped incite a sense of patriotism within the heart of young Bhagat Singh.
Bhagat Singh studied till the 5th class in his village school, and then his father Kishan Singh got him enrolled at the Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School in Lahore.
At a very young age, Bhagat Singh started out following the Non-Cooperation Movement, initiated with the aid of Mahatma Gandhi.
Bhagat Singh had openly refused the British and had observed Gandhi’s wishes by means of burning the government-sponsored books.
Two incidents at some stage in his teenage days made him patriotic outlook – the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 and killing of unarmed Akali protesters on the Nankana Sahib in 1921.
His family believed within the Gandhian ideology of non-violent method to obtain Swaraj and for some time Bhagat Singh also supported the Indian National Congress and the reasons at the back of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Following the violent incidents of “Chauri Chaura”, Gandhi referred for the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Unhappy with the selection, Bhagat Singh, isolated himself from Gandhi’s nonviolent action and joined the Young Revolutionary Movement.
Thus commenced his journey as the most outstanding violent opposition against the British Raj.
While he was pursuing a B.A. Exam while his parents deliberate to get married. He rejected the idea and said that, if his marriage was made in Slave-India, my bride will be the simplest death.”
In March 1925, stimulated by way of European nationalist moves, the Naujawan Bharat Sabha shaped with Bhagat Singh, as the secretary.
Bhagat Singh also joined the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a radical institution, which he later change the name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) along with fellow revolutionaries Chandrashekhar Azad and Sukhdev.
He came back home in Lahore after assurances given by his mother and father that he could now not be forced to get married. He contacted members of the Kirti Kisan Party and started contributing frequently to its magazine, the “Kirti”.
As a pupil, Bhagat Singh was having an interest in reading and he would examine up about European nationalist actions.
Inspired via the writings of Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, his political ideologies took shape and he became more inclined toward a socialist method. He also wrote in newspapers like “Veer Arjun” “under several author names.
National Movement & Revolutionary Activities
Initially, Bhagat Singh’s activities have been confined to writing corrosive articles in opposition to the British Government, printing and distributing pamphlets outlining principles of a violent uprising, geared towards overthrowing the Government.
Considering his impact on the adolescents, and his association with the Akali movement, he became someone of interest for the government.
The police arrested him in a bombing case in the year 1926 in Lahore. He was released after five months with an Rs.60,000 rupees bond.
On 30th October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led an all-parties procession and marched towards the Lahore railway station to protest in opposition to the appearance of the Simon Commission.
The police resorted to a brutal lathi-charge to stop the advancement of the protesters. The disagreement left Lala Lajpat Rai with severe accidents and he succumbed to his injuries on November 17, 1928.
As a revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh and his buddies plotted the assassination of James A. Scott, the Superintendent of Police, believed to have ordered the lathi charge.
The revolutionaries, mistaking J.P. Saunders, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, like Scott, killed him as a substitute.
Bhagat Singh hurriedly left Lahore to escape his arrest. To avoid recognition, he shaved his beard and reduce his hair, a contravention of the sacred tenets of Sikhism.
In reaction to the system of Defence of India Act, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association deliberate to blow up a bomb inside the meeting premises, wherein the ordinance became going to be passed.
On April 8, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb onto the corridors of the assembly, shouted “Inquilab Zindabad” and threw pamphlets into the air to spread their message.
The bomb was not thrown in the intention of killing or injuring someone and consequently thrown far from the crowded location but still, numerous council contributors have been injured in the situation.
Following the blasts, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt were arrested.
1929 Assembly Incident Trial
The dramatic demonstration of protest turned into met with giant criticisms from the political arena.
Singh spoke back – “Force while aggressively carried out is ‘violence’ and is, therefore, morally unjustifiable, but when it’s miles used within the furtherance of a legitimate motive, it has its ethical justification.”
Trial complaints started out in May in which Singh sought to shield himself, whilst Batukeshwar Dutt was represented by Afsar Ali.
The court ruled in favor of a life sentence mentioning the malicious and illegal motive of the explosions.
Remembering the guys who shake-up the British Raj
- Martyrs’ Day it is
Bhagat Singh Rajguru Sukhdev – some of the most respected figures of the Indian freedom struggle – had been hanged on March 23rd, 1931, in Punjab’s Hussainwala (now in Pakistan).
Their execution spurred many teens to soak up the innovative direction, playing an important position in energizing the combat in opposition to the British empire.
On Martyrs’ Day, also known as Shaheed Diwas or Sarvodaya Day, Indians pay homage to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the combat for India’s independence.
Shivaram Rajguru
- Full Name: Shivaram Hari Rajguru
- Date of Birth: 24th August 1908
- Birth Place: Rajgurunagar
- Father: Hari Narayana
- Mother: Parvati Bai
- Siblings: Dinkar Hari Rajguru
- Date of Death: 23rd March 1931
- Death Place: Lahore Central Jail, Lahore, Pakistan
He studied Hindu religious Vedas and Upanishads, He exercised a lot and was a big fan of Chhatrapati Shivaji and the style he was following. While attending Varanasi, Rajguru was contacted by several revolutionaries. Shivram Hari Rajguru was born in the village of Kheda district of Pune in 1908. At the age of 6 years, after the death of the father, He came to Varanasi to learn Sanskrit at a very early age.
This instilled inside him a robust urge to join the hands with the revolutionaries for India’s freedom battle. He joined Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) with a motive to strike fear into the heart of the British empire.
Rajguru was also a good shooter. During the execution of Saunders, he gave full support to Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev, while Chandrasekhar Azad provided tactical protection for the three as Shadow.
Sukhdev Thapar
- Name: Sukhdev Thapar
- Date of Birth: 15th May 1907
- Birth Place: Ludhiana
- Education: National College of Arts, National College, Lahore
- Father: Ramlal Thapar
- Mother: Ralli Devi
- Children: Madhu Sehgal
- Siblings: Jagdish Chand Thapar, Prakash Chand Thapar, Mathuradass Thapar, Krishna Thapar, Jaidev Thapar
- Date of Death: 23 March 1931
- Death Place: Lahore Central Jail, Lahore, Pakistan
Born on May 15, 1907, Sukhdev Thapar had witnessed the brutal atrocities that the Imperial British Raj had inflicted on India, which then led him to sign up for the revolutionaries, vowing to set India free from the shackles of British dominion.
As a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), Sukhdev Thapar organized revolutionary cells in Punjab and different regions of North India.
He even went on to teach the young people at the National College in Lahore, greatly inspiring them about India’s superb beyond.
He alongside different famed revolutionaries began the ‘Naujawan Bharat Sabha’ at Lahore that became an enterprise concerned in various sports, especially gearing the children for the freedom warfare and setting an end to communalism.
He also took lively element in several revolutionary activities like the ‘Prison starvation strike’ in 1929; however, he is best remembered for his brave attack within the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
Lahore Conspiracy Case
Soon after the sentencing, the police raided the HSRA bomb factories in Lahore and arrested several outstanding revolutionaries.
Three people, Hans Raj Vohra, Jai Gopal, and Phanindra Nath Ghosh turned approver for the Government which caused a total of 21 arrests which include those of Sukhdev, Jatindra Nath Das, and Rajguru.
Bhagat Singh became re-arrested for the Lahore Conspiracy case, the murder of Assistant Superintendent Saunders, and bomb manufacturing.
The trial began against 28 accused in a special session court docket presided over by Judge Rai Sahib Pandit Sri Kishen, on July 10, 1929.
Meanwhile, Singh and his fellow inmates declared an indefinite starvation strike in protest of the prejudiced distinction in the remedy of the white as opposed to local prisoners and demanded to be recognized as ‘political prisoners’.
The starvation strike obtained notable interest from the click and accumulated principal public support in favor of their needs.
Death of Jatindra Nath Das, after 63 days long rapid, brought about the terrible public opinions intensifying in the direction of the government.
Bhagat Singh sooner or later broke his 116-day fast, on request of his father and Congress leadership, on October five, 1929.
Owing to the gradual tempo of the prison lawsuits, a special tribunal which includes Justice J. Coldstream, Justice Agha Hyder, and Justice G. C. Hilton was set up on the directives of the Viceroy, Lord Irwin on 1 May 1930.
The tribunal turned into empowered to proceed without the presence of the accused and changed into a one-sided trial that infrequently adhered to the normal criminal rights hints.
The tribunal delivered its 300-page judgment on 7 October 1930. It declared that irrefutable evidence has been offered confirming the involvement of Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru inside the Saunders murder.
Singh admitted to the murder and made statements against the British rule throughout the trial. They had been sentenced to be hanged until death.
Prison Hunger Strike
In the prison, Bhagat Singh and his fellow inmates declared an indefinite starvation strike in protest of the prejudiced distinction in the remedy of the white versus native prisoners and demanded to be recognized as ‘political prisoners’.
The hunger strike acquired terrific attention from the click and gathered predominant public help in favor of their needs. Death of Jatindra Nath Das, after 63 days long fast, caused the bad public evaluations intensifying in the direction of the government.
Bhagat Singh ultimately broke his 116-day speedy, on request of his father and Congress leadership, on October five, 1929.
Saunders’ Homicide
On December 17, 1927, Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shot and killed assistant superintendent of police John Saunders.
They have been supported on this act by means of their compatriots Sukhdev Thapar and Chandrasekhar Azad.
However, their authentic goal became no longer Saunders but the superintendent of police James Scott who had ordered his guys to lathi-price protesters leading to the death of the nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai.
Owing to the slow tempo of the legal complaints, a unique tribunal consisting of Justice J Coldstream, Justice Agha Hyder, and Justice GC Hilton changed into the installation at the directives of the Viceroy, Lord Irwin on May 1, 1930.
The tribunal turned into empowered to proceed without the presence of the accused and was a one-sided trial that hardly ever adhered to the ordinary prison rights hints.
The tribunal delivered its three-hundred-page judgment on October 7, 1930. It declared that irrefutable evidence has been offered confirming the involvement of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru inside the Saunders homicide.
Bhagat Singh admitted to the homicide and made statements against the British rule during the trial. They were sentenced to be hanged till loss of life.
Shaheed Diwas
On March 23, 1931, 7:30 am Bhagat Singh alongside along with his comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev have been hanged in Lahore Jail.
It is said that the trio proceeded pretty cheerfully towards the gallows at the same time as chanting their favorite slogans like “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Down with British Imperialism”.
India’s liked sons have been cremated at Hussainiwala on the banks of Sutlej River.
At the time of their execution, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar were simply 23 years vintage. And Shivaram Rajguru became only 22 while he turned into hanged on March 23.
Short Essay On Bhagat Singh – Summary
There were various revolutionaries operating in India. These were mostly working in Bengal, Utter Pradesh, Punjab, and now present Maharashtra, but were organized in different groups, they, however, started coming into close contact with the revolutionaries of one another province.
Saheed Bhagat Singh achieved a reputation of revolutionary within no time and his contacts spread to another province.
In connection with his revolutionary activities maintained close contacts with a great revolutionary named Jatindernath Dass. He also came into contact with Chandrasekhar Azad, a great revolutionary of the U.P.
A process of developing common understanding and political activities was set in and efforts were made by the revolutionists to have some sort of central nucleus.
When the central legislative assembly met in a session in Delhi in April 1929 Bhagat Singh went inside the Assembly Hall to create an alarm there, along with him was Butkeshwar Dutt, another young revolutionary from Bengal and they throw a bomb in the hall.
It created a sensation and a scare. Assemblymember, the staff of the assembly and visitors ran halter and swelter.
The two young revolutionaries, however, did not move nor tried to run away from the spot to escape the likely punishment for the offense they had committed.
After a while the watch and ward staff of the assembly spotted them, they were arrested. They made it clear there and then that they could kill many in the hall but they never intended that.
Their action was aimed at creating the awakening in the Indian people so as to rise for the struggle for Indian freedom.
This was obviously a daring act on the part of Bhagat Singh and his comrade, unmindful of consequences that their arrest would entail. It was also an indication that the revolutionary activities of the revolutionaries were no longer an isolated affair of Bengal or Punjab.
Concerted and common efforts on the part of revolutionaries of different provinces had already started to dislodge the British government in India.
At a young age, Bhagat Singh had a tremendous Political awakening and understanding. He had a dream and political vision of India and wanted her to be a socialist country in the future.
He believed in eliminating socioeconomic disparities in the people. As such, with the view in mind, he formed the socialist Republican Party of India.
The people were not happy with the visit of the Simon Commission to India. When it reached Lahore in 1928 people demonstrated against it by raising slogans “Simon go back”.
Lala Lajpat Rai was leading a huge procession of demonstration, the British police superintendent ordered a lathi-charge to disperse the procession, another British police officers Saunders ran towards Lajpat Rai and hit him severely resulting in his death within a month Bhagat Singh and his comrade avenged this death by shooting down Saunders.
Finally, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were connected in connection with the killing of Saunders. They were placed in Lahore prison and the court verdict came against them, imposing the death penalty.
Instead of hanging them on “24 March 1931” as directed, they were hanged a day earlier without affording their relations with any chance to meet them before their execution. This was the tragic end of this young great revolutionary.