M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) PART I PAPER-V (SEMESTER-II) MODERN INDIAN POLITICAL THOUGHT LESSON NO. 1.4 PROF. INDERJIT SINGH SETHI

BHAGAT SINGH: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IDEAS

Introduction or Shaheed Bhagat Singh was an Indian freedom fighter, considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He was born to a family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the in India. He, as a teenager, had studied European revolutionary movements and was attracted to anarchism and communism. He became involved in numerous revolutionary organizations. He gained support when he underwent a 64-day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for Indian and British political prisoners. He was hanged for shooting a police officer in response to the killing of veteran freedom fighter . His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and also increased the rise of socialism in India. Life-Sketch Bhagat Singh was born on 28th September,1907 into a Sandhu Jat family to Sardar Kishan Singh Sandhu and Vidyavati in the Khatkar Kalan village near Banga in the Jullundhar Doab district of Punjab. He came from a patriotic Sikh family, some of whom had participated in movements supporting the independence of India and others who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army . His grandfather, Arjun Singh, was a follower of Arya Samaj, which would carry a heavy influence on him. His uncles, Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh, as well as his father were members of the Ghadar Party. Unlike many of his age, he did not attend Khalsa High School in , because his grandfather did not approve of the school officials' loyalism to the British authorities. Instead, his father enrolled him in Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School, an Arya Samajist school. At the age of 13, he began to follow Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. At this point he had openly defied the British and had followed Gandhi's wishes by burning his government-school books and imported clothing. Following Gandhi's withdrawal of the movement after the violent murders of policemen by villagers from Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, he, disgruntled with Gandhi's nonviolence action, joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began advocating a violent movement against the British. In his teenage years, Bhagat Singh started studying at the National College in Lahore ,but ran away from home to escape early marriage, and became a member of the organization 25 M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II26 PAPER-V Naujawan Bharat Sabha. In the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, he and his fellow revolutionaries grew popular amongst the youth. He also joined the Hindustan Republican Association at the request of Professor Vidyalankar. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from Amritsar. In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across India was called at Delhi under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party. Bhagat Singh was the secretary of the meet. His later revolutionary activities were carried out as a leader of this association. Ideology : The Revolutionary Terrorist Tradition Bhagat Singh spent the years from 1927 to 1928 in studying the history of the revolutionary movement in India. His articles, mostly written for Kirti, deal with the Babbar Akali Movement, the Kakori case, the Delhi Bomb Case, individual revolutionaries, the necessity for young people to come forward and join the revolutionary movement and the need to evolve an alternative to the mainstream leadership of the Congress. The Babbar Akali movement was an attempt by Sikhs to liberate the country from the British and to free their Gurudwaras from the corrupt Mahants by an armed insurrection. In 1921 it was decided to murder some bigwigs as a retaliation for the massacre of 140 Sikhs that Mahant Narayandas organised in Nankana Sahib on the 21st of February. The Babbar Akali group however did not succeed in killing anybody but the attempt to assassinate Bowring Suptd. of Police got them into jail. This is known as the Akali Conspiracy Case of 1921. Bhagat Singh was very impressed by this movement. Bhagat Singh carefully delineates the contribution of the individuals who participated in the movement. What impressed him the most was the fearlessness with which these men were ready to embrace death (six of the leaders were sentenced to death and executed on the 27th of February, 1926). Bhagat Singh urged to visualise how these men must have taken the pledge to forsake their families and sacrifice their life for the country. In the May 1928 issue of Kirti he sought to defend terrorism by rejecting the current definition of terrorism as the destructive, coercive and unjust use of force. He said: 'Some mischievous individuals have attempted to set up terrorism in opposition to non-violence and that has led to a great misunderstanding'. The ideals of 'bravery, courage, martyrdom, the ability to use weapons, generosity, duty etc., dependent on the application of force are now considered base and unqualified'. A comparison is then made to the West, where 'every country is attempting to increase the arms at its disposal. On the other hand, here in India, it is considered a sin to take up arms.' The article asks its readers not to equate violence with crime, for 'when patriots take up arms for the sake of their country and its safety, when they eliminate exploitation and oppression or when they M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II27 PAPER-V avenge the injustice done to the oppressed and go to the gallows, they use violence but they do not spread terror'. The distinction between crime and terrorism, although both use violence, is based on the intention of those who use it. Bhagat Singh while aware of the revolutionary terrorist tradition that had existed in the country as a mode of protest against the British, especially in the Punjab, distanced himself from his predecessors on two counts. First, revolutionary leaders had not been able to accept the logic of atheism and much less to publicly proclaim it. Second there had been no conception of a post- independence society. The immediate goal being the destruction of the British Empire there had been no inclination to work out a political alternative. He lost no time in articulating the necessity of having a political ideology and that was to be Marxism. Ideals and opinions Bhagat Singh was attracted to anarchism and communism. Both communism and western anarchism had influence on him. He read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky and Mikhail Bakunin. He did not believe in Gandhian philosophy and viewed that Gandhian politics will replace one set of exploiters by another. He was an atheist and promoted the concept of atheism by writing a pamphlet titled ‘Why I am an Atheist’. Bhagat Singh was also an admirer of the writings of Irish revolutionary Terence MacSwiney. When Bhagat Singh's father petitioned the British government to pardon his son, Bhagat Singh quoted Terence MacSwiney and said "I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release" and told his father to withdraw the petition. His views on various subjects are briefly discussed as follows: On Anarchism From May to September, 1928, Bhagat Singh serially published several articles on anarchism in Punjabi periodical Kirti. He expressed concern over misunderstanding of the concept of anarchism among the public. He wrote, "The people are scared of the word anarchism. The word anarchism has been abused so much that even in India revolutionaries have been called anarchist to make them unpopular." As anarchism means absence of ruler and abolition of state, not absence of rule, he explained, "I think in India the idea of universal brotherhood, the Sanskrit sentence vasudhaiva kutumbakam etc., have the same meaning." He wrote about the growth of anarchism, the "first man to explicitly propagate the theory of Anarchism was Proudhon and that is why he is called the founder of Anarchism. After him a Russian, Bakunin worked hard to spread the doctrine. He was followed by Prince Kropotkin etc."He explained anarchism as: M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II28 PAPER-V 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. Although there appears to be many similarities in the way the revolutionaries and the Anarchists functioned, Bhagat Singh brought about a qualitative change in the Indian revolutionary movement. The adherence to Marxism meant that the revolutionaries did not deny or fight for the elimination of the State. The role of the state was seen in Marxist terms. On Marxism Bhagat Singh was also influenced by Marxism. Indian historian K. N. Panikkar described him as one of the early Marxists in India. From 1926, Bhagat Singh studied the history of the revolutionary movement in India and abroad. In his prison notebooks, he used quotations from Lenin (on imperialism being the highest stage of capitalism) and Trotsky on revolution. He came to better appreciate the necessity of fighting imperialism through a broad-based people's movement. In the Communist Manifesto, Bhagat Singh located the following paragraph, 'The first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of the ruling class, to win the battle of democracy, to wrest by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralise all instruments of production in the hands of the state, that is of the proletariat organised as the ruling class, and to increase the total of the productive forces as rapidly as possible'. It was therefore clear that a bourgeois revolution would not succeed in a country where capitalism had oppressed the masses. The perception of the existence of class cleavages in society also led to the understanding that violence would be imperative to bring about a change in the social structure. It was a violence that destroyed to build, rule the non-possessing classes'. On Atheism During his teenage years, he was a devout Arya Samajist. However, he began to question religious ideologies after witnessing the Hindu-Muslim riots that broke out after Gandhi disbanded the Non-Cooperation Movement. He did not understand how members of these two groups, initially united in fighting against the British, could be at each others' throats because of their religious differences. At this point, he dropped his religious beliefs, since he believed religion hindered the revolutionaries' struggle for independence, and began studying the works of Bakunin, Lenin, Trotsky — all atheist revolutionaries. He also took an interest in Niralamba Swami's book Common Sense, which advocated a form of "mystic M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II29 PAPER-V atheism". While in a condemned cell in 1931, he wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he discussed and advocated the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God while in a condemned cell, the accusation of vanity was also dealt with in this pamphlet. He supported his own beliefs and claimed that he used to be a firm believer in the Almighty, but could not bring himself to believe the myths and beliefs that others held close to their hearts. In this pamphlet, he acknowledged the fact that religion made death easier, but also said that unproved philosophy is a sign of human weakness. As Protagonist of Rights While in jail, Bhagat Singh and other prisoners launched a hunger strike advocating for the rights of prisoners and those facing trial. The reason for the strike was that British murderers and thieves were treated better than Indian political prisoners, who, by law, were meant to be given better rights. The aims in their strike were to ensure a decent standard of food for political prisoners, the availability of books and a daily newspaper, as well as better clothing and the supply of toilet necessities and other hygienic necessities. He also demanded that political prisoners should not be forced to do any labour or undignified work. The hunger strike ended with the British succumbing to his wishes, he gained much popularity among the common Indians. Jinnah, one of the politicians present when the Central Legislative Assembly was bombed, made no secret of his sympathies for the Lahore prisoners - commenting on the hunger strike he said "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." And talking of his actions said "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". On Revolution Bhagat Singh was an outstanding revolutionary and martyr of the Indian anti-colonial movement. He represented the youth who were dissatisfied with Gandhian politics and groped for revolutionary alternatives. He became a confirmed atheist, socialist and communist. He realised that the overthrow of British rule should be accompanied by the socialist reconstruction of Indian society and for this political power must be seized by the workers. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt enunciated their understanding of revolution in a statement made in connection with the Assembly Bomb case on 6th June, 1929: Revolution does not necessarily involve sanguinary strife, nor is there any place in it for individual vendetta. It is not the cult of the bomb and the pistol.'By Revolution we mean that the present order of things, which is based on manifest M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II30 PAPER-V injustice must change. Producers or labourers, in spite of being the most necessary element of society, are robbed by their exploiters of their labour and deprived of their elementary rights. The peasant who grows corn for all, starves with his family; the weaver who supplies the world market with textile fabrics, has not enough to cover his own and his children's bodies; masons, smiths and carpenters who raise magnificent palaces, live like pariahs in the slums. The capitalists and exploiters, the parasites of society, squander millions on their whims.'These terrible inequalities and forced disparity of chances are bound to lead to chaos. This state of affairs cannot last long, and it is obvious that the present order of society in merry-making is on the brink of a volcano. By Revolution we mean the ultimate establishment of an order of society which may not be threatened by such breakdown, and in which the sovereignty of the proletariat should be recognized and a world federation should redeem humanity from the bondage of capitalism and misery of imperial wars. This is our ideal and, with this ideology as our inspiration, we have given a fair and loud enough warning. What he meant by Revolution is quite plain. In this century it can mean only one thing -the capture of the political power by the masses for the masses. It is in fact The Revolution. Other risings attempt a mere change of your lordships, trying to perpetuate the rotting capitalistic order No amount of profession of sympathy for the people and the popular cause can ultimately hoodwink the masses about the true nature and portent of such superficial replacement . In India too, we want nothing less then the regime of the Indian proletariat in the place of the Indian Imperialists and their native allies who are barricaded behind the same economic system of exploitation .We can suffer no black evil to replace the white evil . The proletariat revolution is the only weapon of India to dislodge the Imperialist. Nothing else can attain this object . Nationalists of all shades are agreed on the objective- Independence of the Imperialists. They must realise rebelliousness of the masses is the motive force behind their agitation and militant mass action alone can push it to success. Having no recourse to it easily, they always delude themselves with the vision of overthrowing the foreign rule by an armed opposition of a few hundreds of determined idealist nationalists and then reconstructing the State on Socialistic lines. The nationalists to be effective must harness the nation into action, into revolt. The nation are not the loud- speakers of the Congress-it is the peasants and the labourers who formed more than 95 per cent of India. The nation will stir itself to action only on assurance of nationalization. i.e. freedom from slavery of Imperialist – capitalists. M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II31 PAPER-V What we need to keep in mind is that no revolution can succeed or is to be desired, but the proletariat revolution. The need of hour is therefore for a clear, honest programme for the revolution, and determined action for realization of the programme. In 1917 before the October Revolution had come off, Lenin, wrote that for a successful revolution three condition are essential :-- 1. A political- economic situation 2. A rebellious mass mind, and 3. A party of revolutionaries, trained and determined to lead the masses when the hour of trial arrives. The first condition has been more than fulfilled in India ; the second and third yet await finally and completeness . To mobilise them is the work before all workers of freedom and the programme should be framed with that end in view. The foremost duty before workers is to mobalise the masses for militant mass action. We need not to play on his blind prejudices, sentiment, piety or passive idealism. Our promises to him are not mere sops or half a loaf. They are complete and concrete, and we can be with him sincere and plain , and should never create in his mind any miasma of prejudices . The revolution is for him, and to name only the prominent heads:- 1. Abolition of Landlordism. 2. Liquidation of the peasants’ indebtedness. 3. Nationalization of land by the Revolutionary State with a view finally to lead to improved and collective farming. 4. Guarantee of security as to housing 5. Abolition of all charges on the peasantry except a minimum of unitary land tax. 6. Nationalization of the Industries and industrialization of the country. 7. Universal education. 8. Reduction of the hours of work to the minimum necessary. The masses are bound to respond to such a programme - we have only to reach them. It is the supreme task and for that purpose. 1. The Congress platform is to be availed of. 2. The Trade Union are to be captured and new Unions and bodies shaped and modelled on aggressive lines. 3. Ryat Union are to be formed to organize them on the issues indicated. 4. Every social and philanthropic organization (even the cooperative societies) that offers an opportunity to approach the masses should be secretly entered into and its activities controlled so as to further the real objective. 5. The Unions are Committees of artisans workers as well as intellectual M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II32 PAPER-V workers and are to be set up everywhere. These are the lines of approach for the educated and trained revolutionary to reach the masses. And once they are reached, they can be moved easily by a training, at first in aggressive assertion, of their rights, and later on, by militant offensives like strikes combined with sabotage. The Congress and Revolution The term revolution is too sacred, at least to us, to be so lightly used or misused. The only forces on which you can rely to bring about that revolution whether national or the socialist, are the peasantry and the labour. Congress leaders do not dare to organize those forces. They know it better than anybody else that without these forces they are absolutely helpless. When they passed the resolution of complete independence - that really meant a revolution - they did not mean it. They had to do it under pressure of the younger element, and then they wanted to use it as a threat to achieve their hearts' desire - Dominion Status. You can easily judge it by studying the resolutions of the last three sessions of the Congress i.e. Madras, Calcutta and Lahore. At Calcutta, they passed a resolution asking for Dominion Status within twelve months, otherwise they would be forced to adopt complete independence as their object, and in all solemnity waited for some such gift till midnight after the 31st December, 1929. Then they found themselves "honour bound" to adopt the Independence resolution, otherwise they did not mean it. But even then Mahatma Ji made no secret of the fact that the door (for compromise) was open. That was the real spirit. At the very outset they knew that their movement could not but end in some compromise. It is this half- heartedness that we hate, not the compromise at a particular stage in the struggle. But if you say that you will approach the peasants and labourers to enlist their active support, let me tell you that they are not going to be fooled by any sentimental talk. You can't "use" him for your purpose; you shall have to mean seriously and to make him understand that the revolution is going to be his and for his good. The Revolution of the Proletariat and for the Proletariat. On Economic Liberty There are certain people in the labour movement who enlist some absurd ideas about the economic liberty of the peasants and workers without political freedom. They are demagogues or muddle-headed people. Such ideas are unimaginable and preposterous. We mean the economic liberty of the masses, and for that very purpose we are striving to win the political power. No doubt in the beginning, we shall have to fight for little economic demands and privileges of these classes. But these struggles are the best means for educating them for a final struggle to conquer political power. Indian independence movement M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II33 PAPER-V On Secularism Secularism was,indeed, an article of faith with Bhagat Singh all his life.Two of the six rules of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha were :“To have nothing to do with communal bodies or other parties which disseminate ideas” and “to create the spirit of general toleration among the public considering religion as a matter of personal belief of man and to act upon the same fully.”According to Bhagat Singh, ‘religion was the private concern of a person, but it had to be fought as an enemy when it intruded into politics and took the form of communalism. Bhagat Singh also believed that people must free themselves from the mental bondage of religion and superstition.He made secularism as the cornerstone of his thinking. Lover of Humanism He worked hard to liberate human life of its sorrows and bondages and provide a creative future where every human being could fully develop his natural potentials and contribute for future of humanity. He had given more importance to create such a situation and social conditions in which human values and humanity could progress. He defined the motive of freedom struggle as an end of exploitation of man by man and nation by nation . ‘Down, down with imperialism and long live Revolution.’ Imperialism is the worst form of exploitation of a nation by the other nation.’ He was of the conviction that love and affection are inseparable parts of human nature. He was sympathetic and friendly towards his colleagues and other people. A man should attack those institutions which are hindrances in the development of mankind. He said, ‘we have not come to attack any individual but our protest is against the institute which only creates black laws against the Indian public.’ He preached that for social change there is no place for revenge. On Problem of Untouchability Bhagat Singh proved himself as a realist when he critically analysed the problem of untouchability. He advocated that how could we ask for greater political rights when we ourselves deny the elementary rights of human beings. For him it was shameful that we worship animals but hate human beings who perform menial jobs for us. He was of the view that an unclean work does not justify un-touchability. A mother who removes the filth of her children does not become an untouchable. He maintained that poor people from other castes were also considered untouchables because of their economic conditions and this problem was a barrier in social inter-course and socio-economic development. On Communalism He believed that a true patriot in service of the nation and humanities should not be overpowered by communal sentiments. He fought a constant M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II34 PAPER-V struggle against communalism and advocated that human beings should certainly be respected more than animals but unfortunately in India people kill each other for the sake of holy animals. He not only analysed the nature of communalism but also the causes behind the communal riots. He opined that as it is always possible to incite communal riots through financial inducements as a large number of people are suffering from hunger and starvation. He propagated not only freedom from the Britishers but also freedom of the oppressed from the oppressors. On Poverty He advocated that there was such wide-spread poverty in India that crores of the people die due to starvation. How can people sit quietly till there is slavery and poverty in India? The rich may not be thinking of freedom because they were already living a luxurious life and their interests were safeguarded under colonial rule. But for the starving people who knew that they had to die and there was no other option before them, in such a situation they were bound to resort to revolutionary activities because it was known that slavery and poverty were the root cause of revolutionary conspiracies.He wanted to establish a system where there would be no exploitation of man by man, where there would be no rich or poor and where everybody, irrespective of sex, caste, religion and race would be able develop one’s abilities to live a dignified life. Naujawan Bharat Sabha: A Mass Movement In March 1926,he took the lead in forming a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat Sabha (NBS). The founding of the NBS as an open wing of the revolutionaries to carry out political work among the youth, peasants and workers was a very significant step in the political and ideological journey of Bhagat Singh. It showed his growing Marxist conviction that popular broad-based mass movements alone could lead to a successful revolution. This mass approach is reflected in the political aims of the NBS: (a) To establish a completely independent republic of the labourers and peasants of the whole of India, (b) To infuse a spirit of patriotism in the hearts of the youth of the country in order to establish a united Indian nation, (c) To express sympathy with and to assist economic, industrial and social movements, which, being free from communal sentiments, were intended to take the movement nearer its ideals, (d) To organise labourers and peasants. In other words Swaraj was not only to be attained by the masses but also for the masses. In March 1928, the government introduced the Public Safety Bill in the M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II35 PAPER-V Legislative Assembly. The Indian members rejected the Bill and in 1929, the Viceroy attempted to pass it as an ordinance. The Naujawan Bharat Sabha passed resolutions opposing this and the Trade Dispute Bill and it finally decided to intervene directly. On 8th April, 1929, Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a small explosive in the Assembly and stayed in the visitors' gallery till they were arrested. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, representing the HSRA declared, 'we dropped the bomb on the floor of the Assembly Chamber to register our protest on behalf of those who had no other means left to give expression to their heart- rending agony. Our sole purpose was to make the deaf hear and to give the heedless a timely warning... from under the seeming stillness of the sea of humanity, a veritable storm is about to break out'. On Gandhism In 1931, Bhagat Singh wrote about Gandhism as the dominant ideology in the Congress, 'which is unable to take a stand against the British and instead wants to become a partner in power... (the Congress) is working as a centrist party and has always been so. It is embarrassed to face reality. The leaders who run it are those people whose interests are associated with the party... If revolutionary blood does not succeed in giving it a new lease of life... it will be necessary to save it (the party) from its allies. He did not have any illusion about the possibilities, failures and achievements of Congress movement, which should be, as it is to-day, be better stamped Gandhism . It does not stand for freedom avowedly ; it is in favour of “Partnership” – a strange interpretation of what “ complete independence” signifies. Its method is novel, and but for the helplessness of the people. Gandhism would gain no adherent for the Saint of Sabarmati . It has fulfilled and is fulfilling the role of an intermediate party of Liberal Radical combination fighting shy of reality of the situation and controlled mostly by men with stakes in the country, who prize their stakes with bourgeoise tenacity, and it is bound to stagnate unless rescued from its own fate by an infusion of Revolutionary blood. It must be saved from its friends. On Non-violence He was of the opinion that force used to terrorise people for any selfish or brutish objective can never be justified. But if it is used for any righteous cause or to protect the weak and the poor segment of the society, it is always justified. On the reasons why he was against Gandhiji’s non-violence was his feeling that it does not give an incentive to a person to protect himself against the strong, and the brute. In Gandhji’s opinion, violence in any form was not justified. On the other hand, Bhagat Singh thought that violence was justified, if it was used for one’s own protection or in the interest of the country. All those acts aimed at M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II36 PAPER-V terrorizing the people are condemnable but if force is used in self-defence, it cannot be condemned . Emphasising on the importance of non-violence, he declared: He was of the considered opinion that bombs cannot serve our purpose .throwing bombs is not only useless but is often harmful as well,’ we are next to none in our love for humanity. Far from terms a little more or less, must fall short of our objective – complete independence. Terrorism thus hope to wring out what Gandhism bids fair to attain – a compromise and an installment of reforms – a replacement of a white rule having any malice towards any individual, we hold human life sacred beyond words “He made it very clearly that he was in reality a revolutionary, with definite ideals and ideology.’ The Indian Congress and Non-Violence The most prominent Congressman in the Punjab was Lala Lajpat Rai. He had been part of the trinity of Extremists known as Lal-Bal-Pal. Bhagat Singh was opposed to Congress leaders more particularly, Lala Lajpat Rai, who in their eyes had become a wily politician who no longer wished to remain in active politics but to retire instead.He was blamed in these words,’ 'Those gentlemen who are familiar with Lala Lajpat Rai's political life know that he is only interested in leadership and talking without wanting to do anything... Lalaji's recent behaviour has led to a loss of confidence in his politics'. Again he was asked rhetorically if he desires to fight the British so that the country can be handed over to Indian capitalists. 'Should we wait till thousands have been destroyed or killed to begin our struggle to oust the capitalists? This would be sheer stupidity'. This foresees the political eclipse of Lala Lajpat Rai who supported the capitalists . From 1921-22, Gandhi became the ideologue of the Congress and it was under his leadership that the first Non Co-operation movement was launched. When Gandhi abruptly ended the movement the revolutionaries became disillusioned with the creed of non-violence espoused by him. During 1924-25 Gandhi became involved in an extended polemical argument on the use of violence. The brunt of Gandhi's arguments lay in what he called the ineffectiveness of violence, the added expenditure it cost the government to curb it and the insane pressure of anger and ill-will that started it in the first place. In 1925 Gandhiji was accused of ‘ Non-violent non-cooperation movement failed not because there was (a) sporadic outburst of suppressed feelings here and there but because the movement was lacking in a worthy ideal. The ideal that he preached was not in keeping with Indian culture and traditions. His philosophy of non- violence... was a philosophy arising out of despair'. In December 1929 he was warned by revolutionaries: 'The revolutionaries believe that the deliverance of their country will come through revolution... (This) revolution will not only M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II37 PAPER-V express itself in the form of an armed conflict between the foreign government and its supporters and the people, it will also usher in a new social order. The revolution will ring the death knell of Capitalism and class distinctions and privileges. It will bring joy and prosperity to the starving millions who are seething under the terrible yoke of both foreign and Indian exploitation'. Interestingly although Gandhi insisted on the acceptance of non-violence dogmatically, younger members were not so averse or critical of the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries were getting support from the Congress leaders in the form of money and weapons.Thus, 'The non-violence of the Mahatma was by-passed by the Congressmen and they were not found wanting in their moral, financial and other support to the revolutionaries', That there was public sympathy for the revolutionaries and support from within the Congress must have been known to Gandhi. On Terrorism He expressed his views on the thorny question of terrorism. The cult of the bomb is old as 1905 and it is a sad comment on Revolutionary India that they have not yet realized its use and misuse. Terrorism is a confession that the Revolutionary mentality has not penetrated down into the masses. In the initial stages it had its use; it shook the torpor out of body politic, enkindled the imagination of young intelligentsia, fired their spirit of self-sacrifice and demonstrated before the world and before our enemies the truth and the strength of the movement. But by itself it is not enough. Its history is a history of failure in every land – France, in Russia, in Balkan countries, in Germany, in Spain every where. It bears the germ of defeat within itself. The Imperialist knows that to rule 300 millions he must sacrifice 30 of his men annually .The pleasure of ruling may be bombed out or pistolled down, but the practical gain from exploitation will make him stick to his post. Even though arms were as readily available as we hope for, and were it pushed with a thoroughness unknown any where else, terrorism can at most force the Imperialist power to come to terms with party. It is aloof from the life of the masses and once installed on the throne runs the risk of being petrified into a tyranny. In a sense Gandhism with its counter –revolutionary creed of quietism makes a nearer approach to the revolutionary ideas. For it counts on mass action, though not for the masses alone. They have paved the way for the proletariat revolution by trying to harness them, however crudely and selfishly to its political programme . The Revolutionary must give to the angle of non- violence his due. On Socialist Order of Society Bhagat Singh stated "Long Live Revolution." In the simplest manner. Revolution means the complete overthrow of the existing social order and its M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II38 PAPER-V replacement with the socialist order. For that purpose our immediate aim is the achievement of power. As a matter of fact, the state, the government machinery is just a weapon in the hands of the ruling class to further and safeguard its interest. We want to snatch and handle it to utilise it for the consummation of our ideal, i.e., social reconstruction on Marxist basis. For this purpose we are fighting to handle the government machinery. All along we have to educate the masses and to create a favourable atmosphere for our social programme. In the struggles we can best train and educate them. It is a known fact that since a hue and cry was raised about the Indians' participation in and share in the responsibility of the Indian government, the Minto-Morley Reforms were introduced, which formed the Viceroy's council with consultation rights only. During the Great War, when the Indian help was needed the most, promises about self-government were made and the existing reforms were introduced. Limited legislative powers have been entrusted to the Assembly but subject to the goodwill of the Viceroy. Now is the third stage. Now reforms are being discussed and are to be introduced in the near future. To judge them, we can have the following criteria: 1. Extent of responsibility transferred to the shoulders of the Indians. 2. Form of the Government institutions that are going to be introduced and the extent of the right of participation given to the masses. 3. Future prospects and the safeguards. These might require a little further elucidation. In the first place, we can easily judge the extent of responsibility given to our people by the control our representatives will have on the executive. Up till now, the executive was never made responsible to the Legislative Assembly and the Viceroy had the veto power, which rendered all the efforts of the elected members futile. Thanks to the efforts of the Swaraj Party, the Viceroy was forced every now and then to use these extraordinary powers to shamelessly trample the solemn decisions of the national representatives under foot. It is already too well known to need further discussion. Now in the first place we must see the method of the executive formation: Whether the executive is to be elected by the members of a popular assembly or is to be imposed from above as before, and further, whether it shall be responsible to the house or shall absolutely affront it as in the past? As regards the second item, it can be judged through the scope of franchise. The property qualifications making a man eligible to vote should be altogether abolished and universal suffrage be introduced instead. Every adult, both male and female, should have the right to vote. At present we can simply see how far the franchise has been extended. M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II39 PAPER-V A mention may be made here about provincial autonomy. But it could be said that the Governor imposed from above, equipped with extraordinary powers, higher and above the legislative, shall prove to be no less than a despot. Let us better call it the "provincial tyranny" instead of "autonomy." This is a strange type of democratisation of the state institutions. The third item is quite clear. During the last two years the British politicians have been trying to undo Montague's promise for another dole of reforms to be bestowed every ten years till the British Treasury exhausts. He made it clear that we do not analyse these things to rejoice over the achievement, but to form a clear idea about our situation, so that we may enlighten the masses and prepare them for further struggle. For us, compromise never means surrender, but a step forward and some rest. He further said that they wanted a socialist revolution, the indispensable preliminary to which is the political revolution. The political revolution does not mean the transfer of state (or more crudely, the power) from the hands of the British to the Indian, but to those Indians who are at one with us as to the final goal, or to be more precise, the power to be transferred to the revolutionary party through popular support. After that, to proceed in right earnest is to organize the reconstruction of the whole society on the socialist basis. The Revolutionary Party It is on the active group of Revolutionary that the main task of reaching the masses as well as preparing them for the action rests. They are the determined mind which will energise the nation into a militant life. As circumstances arise they come and will also come for some time longer from the ranks of the revolutionary intelligentsia, who have broken away from their bourgeois or petty bourgeois traditions. The revolutionary party will be composed of these souls and they will gather around them the more and more active recruits from the labour, peasant or small artisan classes. It will be mainly a body of revolutionary- intellectuals , men and women , and on them will devolve the duty of planning and executing, publicity and propaganda, initiating and organizing , or coordinating the activities and linking up the different unions into an offensive, of seducing the army and the police and forming the army of revolution with themselves and these forces , of offering combined and organised armed resistance in the shape of raids and risings , of mobilising forces for mass insurrection and fearlessly guiding them when that hour comes. In fact they are the brains of the movement. Hence what they will require is character, i.e , capacity for initiative and revolutionary leadership and above all it should be disciplined and strengthened by an intensive study of politics , economic problems , of history and social tendencies , and current diplomatic relations, of M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II40 PAPER-V the progressive sciences and the science and art of modern warfare . Revolution is the creation of hard thinkers and hard workers. He also warned that after the present movement ends, you will find disgust and some disappointment amongst the sincere revolutionary workers. Leave sentimentalism aside. Be prepared to face the facts. Revolution is a very difficult task. It is beyond the power of any man to make a revolution. Neither can it be brought about on any appointed date. It is brought about by special environments, social and economic. The function of an organized party is to utilise any such opportunity offered by these circumstances. And to prepare the masses and organise the forces for the revolution is a very difficult task. And that requires a very great sacrifice on the part of the revolutionary workers. We require - to use the term so dear to Lenin - the "professional revolutionaries". The whole-time workers who have no other ambitions or life-work except the revolution. The greater the number of such workers organised into a party, the greater the chances of your success. On Party Discipline He laid emphasis on the discipline of the party workers. He advised that those young men who may have matured their ideas and may find themselves ready to devote their life to the cause, may be transferred to the party. The party workers shall always guide and control the work of the Youth movement as well. The party should start with the work of mass propaganda. One of the fundamental causes of the failure of the efforts of the Ghadar Party (1914-15) was the ignorance, apathy and sometimes active opposition of the masses. And apart from that, it is essential for gaining the active sympathy of and organising the peasants and workers. The name of party or rather, a communist party. This party of political workers, bound by strict discipline, should handle all other movements. It shall have to organize the peasants' and workers' parties, labour unions, and may even venture to capture the Congress and kindred political bodies. And in order to create political consciousness, not only of national politics but class politics as well as the party should organize a big publishing campaign. Subjects on all problems enlightening the masses of the socialist theory shall be within easy reach and distributed widely. The writings should be simple and clear. Organisational Capabilities The first organisation Bhagat Singh joined was the Hindustan Republican Association in 1924. As an active member of this organisation he learnt two things essential for a political organisation. First, to establish strong ties of camaraderie with like-minded individuals so that despite a small organisational base the party can function smoothly. Secondly, the necessity of bringing out a newspaper, besides notices and pamphlets, so as to put across to the people the M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II41 PAPER-V ideas and activities of the revolutionaries. He and his comrades formed the Naujawan Bharat Sabha'. He described the Sabha as, 'a revolt of the petty bourgeoisie against the Congress leadership'. In 1928, Bhagat Singh also had the responsibility of the Hindustan Republican Association with Chandra Shekhar Azad, other leaders having been sent to the gallows or given a life sentence. The first thing he did was to change its name to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. The party was 'recognised with a central committee and with provincial and district committees under it. All decisions were to be taken in these committees, majority decisions were to be binding on all'. Thus he believed in decentralization and democratization. The first prerequisite of any party that has vowed to use violence to change the existing social and political order is to build a close-knit unit that can take leadership decisions and prevent espionage and infiltration.He had organizational ability.He had the capability of inspiring the young people to join the revolutionary movement and prevent it from being appropriated by the mainstream national movement. Indian independence movement and Contemporary Relevance Story of India’s struggle for freedom is unique and captivating since it reflects the harmonious blend of the revolutionary tendencies and the non- violent way of thought, alternating in their rise and fall.Bhagat Singh gained prominence due to his revolutionary outlook and actions. Not only did he enrich and widen the ideology of the revolutionary movement but also gave a new meaning and dimension to its mode of struggle. Bombs and pistols were the double edged instruments, meant to shake off the slumber of Indians on the one hand, and to compel the insensitive bureaucrats to realise that India needed ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Socialism’. It was through Bhagat Singh that Marx and Lenin gained influence over the Indian national consciousness. Bhagat Singh enriched the concept of revolution, widened its scope and added many more dimensions to its definitions. Bhagat Singh's death had the effect that he desired and he inspired thousands of youths to assist the remainder of the Indian independence movement. After his hanging, youths in regions around Northern India rioted in protested against the British Raj. His contribution to freedom struggle and to the cause of sovereignty, secularism and socialism, however, far outweigh his weaknesses. He has a special relevance to contemporary India, with the increasing aggressiveness of American imperialism bearing down on the country and the world; with millions of workers, peasants agricultural labourers and even sections of the middle classes becoming targets of the rapacious strategy of imperialist globalization; with the economic and political sovereignty of the country itself being threatened by the worst form M.A. (POLITICAL SCIENCE) SEMESTER-II42 PAPER-V of neo-colonialism; and with all kinds of communal, castiest, and terrorist forces out to dynamite the country’s unity and integrity. In a sense, he had forewarned that such developments were bound to occur if one form of exploitative rule was merely replaced by another. Bhagat Singh is an extremely powerful symbol of the freedom struggle and of revolutionary change. The four remarkable stands in the life, work and thought of Bhagat Singh are;(I) uncompromising struggle against imperialism; (ii) unflinching resistance to communalism and caste oppression,(iii) unbending opposition to bourgeois-landlord rule and,(iv)unshakable faith in Marxism and socialism as the only alternative before the society.These are precisely the stands being championed by all patriotic and progressive forces in India today. Conclusion Bhagat Singh was an idealist, a great patriot,a profound nationalist and a revolutionary, who sincerely and honestly wanted to bring about some changes in his country and was prepared to make the highest sacrifice for the purpose. The nature of the revolutionary terrorist movement in India restricted the size of the organisations or parties. The larger the group the less effective would have been the course of action. This did not however mean that this movement had no contribution. It had an impact on the people, the Congress and the British Government.If we are to locate the role Bhagat Singh played within this movement, it is necessary to understand that Bhagat Singh was young man who because of his interest in studying and his keen sense of history gave to the revolutionary tradition a goal beyond the elimination of the British. A clarity of vision and determination of purpose distinguished Bhagat Singh from other leaders of the national movement. He was the only alternative to Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, especially for the youth.