Making Of A Revolutionary Bhagat Singh Making Of A Revolutionary Over half a century ago, a bomb was thrown in the central Legislative Assembly, Delhi, to make the deaf hear. Bhagat Singh, the leader of the group, which committed this heroic act, has today become an official mar- tyr of the capitalist-landlord government. In his memory, ministers give speeches, garland statues and inaugurate exhibitions. This is not surprising. When leaders of the oppressed masses die, the ruling class uses these meth- ods to divert the people from their revolutionary ideas by glorifying their name. Therefore, while exploiters make a mockery of Bhagat Singhs mar- tyrdom, the working class and the people of India must once again remem- ber the revolutionary ideas of one of its bravest sons and pledge itself to the cause for which he and his comrades made the ultimate sacrifice. Born in 1917, Bhagat Singh belonged to a family well known for its anti-imperialist views. Ajit Singh, his uncle, was a nationalist leader who was imprisoned for his opposition to British imperialism. As Bhagat Singh grew up, India and the world underwent great changes. First, the needs of the First Imperialist War (1914-1918) led to a growth in industry and with that the numbers of the working class. Secondly, the revolution in Russia (1917) led by the working class gave inspiration to the liberation struggles in the colonial countries. In these circumstances, the Congress, led by Gandhi, started the Non- co-operation Movement. Thousands flooded the streets in response to Gandhis call. The days of British rule seemed num- bered. During the agitation, the peasants of Chauri Chaura attacked the police sta- tion to protest against the police brutality. Describing this militancy as violence, Gandhi called off the movement. The with- drawal of the struggle when it had just begun to gain strength was clearly a be- trayal. Most people, especially the youth, 1 Making Of A Revolutionary became frustrated. Bhagat Singh, along with Chandrashekar Azad, Sukhdev, Jatin Das and Yashpal, has actively participated in the non-cooperation movement. When the movement was withdrawn, they realized that there was some- thing wrong with the theory of Ahimsa that would destroy a mass-move- ment just because the peasants showed some militancy. Soon under the leadership of Sachindranath Sanyal, Jogeshchandra Chaterjee and Ram Prasad Bismil, the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) was formed in 1924, to meet the armed might of imperialists with armed resistance. Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Sukhdev became active members of the HRA. What did the HRA stand for? It wanted to overthrow British imperialism by a social revolution. In that period voting rights existed only for the propertied class and for the educated. Women of all classes were alltogether excluded from this right. The HRAs proclamation issued in 1925, said it stood for the abolition of all systems that made possible the exploitation of man by man. By abolishing the exploitative system, the HRA meant establishing a federal republic of united states, whose basic right would be the right to vote for all. From the very beginning, the HRA paid lot of importance to reading and study. Its constitution stated that one of the qualifications of a HRA 2 Making Of A Revolutionary district organizer was a capacity to grasp political, social and economic programmes of the present day, with special reference to his mother- land. Even Chadrashekhar Azad, mainly a military leader, made others read out books in English to him and explain them until he grasped their main ideas. Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev who were then at Lahore, helped Lala Lajapath Rai to establish a library called Dwaraka Das library. They collected several books on revolution, particularly those of Russia, Ireland, Italy and popularised their reading. An avid reader, Bhagat Singh studied most of these books and with Sukhdevs help, started study circles. Intensive discussions on political, economic and social problems took place at these study circles. Meanwhile, the British imperialists began to attack the newly formed organisation. After the Kakori conspiracy case in 1925, Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan, two leaders of HRA were killed by the imperialists. This incident, along with the other experiences, made Bhagat Singh and his comrades come to the conclusion that HRA had to make fundamental changes in its politics. To discuss these changes, they held a meeting near Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi on September 12th 1928. Bhagat Singh argued with the older members of the HRA that demanding voting rights for all was not enough and the goal of the HRA should be socialism. After a two-day debate, he convinced most of them of the correctness of his views. At his insistence a fundamentally different manifesto was drafted and the organisations name was changed to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. What differences did Bhagat Singh bring about in the HSRAs ap- proach to revolution? Unlike the HRA, the HSRA stressed that Indian soci- ety was divided into classes and that British imperialist rule over India was part of class rule. The manifesto declared: The position of the Indian proletariat today is extremely critical. It has double danger to face. It has to bear the onslaught of foreign capitalism on the one hand and the treacherous attack of Indian capital on the other. The latter is showing a progressive tendency to compromise with the former. Thus, Bhagat Singh had realised that the oppression of the proletariat was because of capitalist rule, not merely foreign rule. This rule according to HSRAs manifesto, could be ended only through 3 Making Of A Revolutionary a revolution. Upheavals have always been a terror to holders of power and privilege, but, revolution is a phenomenon which nature loves and without which, there can be no progress either in nature or in human af- fairs. Revolution is not a philosophy of despair, or a creed of despera- does .. it is a vital, living force which is indicative of external conflict between the old and the new, between life and death, between darkness and light. The manifesto stated that the goal of this revolution should be social- ism, which alone can lead to the establishment of complete indepen- dence and the removal of all social distinctions and privileges. Who is to lead the struggle for socialism? According to Bhagat Singh, the nation can wage a successful struggle on the strength of organised workers, kisans and the common people. The main appeal of the HSRA was directed towards the militant youth. This is clearly seen in December 1928 when the British police officer Saunders was assassinated by the HSRA for his role in the murder of Lala Lajapat Rai. In response to the assassination of Saunders, but mainly to attack the growing trade union movement in the large cities, the British introduced two laws. One was the Public Safety (Amendment) Bill, which restricted civil liber- ties, and invested in the Governor General the powers to drive out British or foreign communists from India. The other was the Trade Disputes Bill aimed against the working class movement, by curtailing all its trade union rights. 4 Making Of A Revolutionary The HSRA carefully prepared to answer this offensive of the imperialist. This was the bomb plan. April 8, 1929. It still remains one of the most memorable days in the history of peoples movement for freedom. The Central Legislative As- sembly waited for the finance minister to rise to introduce the Trade Dis- putes Bill. As the minister rose, a bomb was hurled from the visitors gallery exploding with a deafening blast. The ministers and members rose in fear, as copies of the Red Leaflet floated down from the gallery. Amidst the confusion and panic, a passionate cry filled the hall. It was the slogan of the proletariat Inquilab Zindabad! The police froze but Bhagat Singh and Dutt who had thrown the bomb made no move to escape. Calm and confident, they permitted the guards to lead them away. As they went, Inquilab Zindabad still rang in the air. The trial of Bhagat Singh and his comrades known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case, is extremely important for the working class. It gave Bhagat Singh and his comrades an opportunity to publicly declare what he and militant opponents of Ahimsa stood for. By declaring his views in court, Bhagat Singh was able to spread them throughout the country. In a joint statement made on June 6th, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Dutt stated that the revolution was the only way to change the social order, based on manifest injustice. The manifest injustice consisted in the fact that producers and labourers in spite of being the most necessary ele- ment of society, are robbed by the exploiters of the fruits of their labour and deprived of their elementary rights. On the one hand, the peasant who grows grain for all starves with his family, the weaver who clothes the world, cannot find enough to cover himself, his wife and childrens bod- ies. Masons, smiths and carpenters who rear magnificent palaces, live and perish in filthy slums. On the other hand, capitalist exploiters, para- sites of society, squander millions on their whims. Those who celebrate life at the cost of the miseries of the labouring and starving people, are sitting on a volcano which is waiting to explode. Explaining that only revolution could ring the death knell of capital- ism, Bhagat Singh continued: By revolution we meant the ultimate es- tablishment of an order of society which may not be threatened by such 5 Making Of A Revolutionary social breakdowns and in which the sovereignty of the proletariat shall be recognised, as a result of which a world federation should redeem humanity from the bondage of capitalism and the misery of imperial wars.