Sardar Bhagat Singh Shaheed Life and Ideology
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1 Sardar Bhagat Singh Shaheed Life and Ideology Ihsan H. Nadiem DYAL SINGH RESEARCH & CULTURAL FORUM LAHORE, PAKISTAN. 2 © Dyal Singh Research & Cultural Forum – 2012 The matter in this book may be used for research citing the source clearly; any part of it may also be reproduced or included in other publications provided this source is quoted. Sardar Bhagat Singh Shaheed Life and Ideology SRDAR bGT ES^g sHID JIVN WTQ EVCARdARA 2012 Published by Ihsan H. Nadiem Director, Dyal Singh Research & Cultural Forum. Price Pakistan: Rs.70 Foreign : US $5 DYAL SINGH RESEARCH & CULTURAL FORUM 25-Nisbet Road, Lahore –54000, PAKISTAN. Ph: +92 42 37312080, Fax: +92 42 37232230 Web: www.dsrcf.org, Email: [email protected] 3 CONTENTS Preface ... ... ... 4 1. Prelude 5 2. The Family and Childhood 6 3. Educational Career 7 4. Making of a complete revolutionary 8 5. Murder of Saunders 9 6. Bomb in Assembly 10 7. Trial and Death Sentence 11 8. Bhagat Singh Martyred 13 4 Preface Sardar Bhagat Singh Shaheed rose meteorically as a young freedom fighter in the slave-India subcontinent, and left the world stage in the same dazzling manner, but not without leaving bright and intense imprints in the annals of history. Much has been written on the life and ideology of this icon of freedom struggle against the British colonialists. But, these writings can never be counted as sufficient to cover this multi-faceted personality and versatile achievements. It is encouraging that different writers from different forums continue researching and bringing out many an aspect of his personality and struggle, not known to the world earlier. Keeping in line with its format of bringing to the fore the works on the heroes from Punjab, Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum (DSRCF) has now been busy for many years in studying on Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his struggle from the basic and secondary sources. Based on the same, we have already published, on the web, material on his life and ideology. One of the issues of our Quarterly Punjab dey Rang was also devoted to this great man especially publishing the poetical works of different persona eulogizing and reverently remembering this one of the youngest martyrs of our history of struggle for freedom. In order to make it reach to a wider and varied segments of readers we are publishing this book in two languages – English and Punjabi, while using both of its scripts (Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi). As the research on the subject continues, we hope to add more and might come up with other publications in due course. Ihsan H. Nadiem 5 Sardar Bhagat Singh Shaheed Prelude The building of the British Empire was started at a very low key and in an unprecedented way in the eighteenth century India. Here, with the declining and disintegrating Mughal authority, the British had discovered a power vacuum and thus proceeded to fill it with skill, cunningness and a great degree of opportunism. In due course of time they had been successful in humbling almost whole of India: Bengal and Assam, Awadh, Sindh, North-Western Provinces and finally, in 1849, Punjab. The occupation of the motherland by a foreign nation was not seen eye to eye by many a patriotic native, who had been fighting with them in a heroic manner. The major events of the uprising resulted in the first War of Independence in 1857, the quelling of which led to the abolition in 1858 of the East India Company and the transfer of the administration of India to the British Crown. The struggle for freedom from the foreign yoke did not stop even when the British were using all the means of repression typical of a colonial power. Among the pioneers of the freedom fighters of the twentieth century the name of Bhagat Singh shines bright and illuminates the history of the Subcontinent striving for independence. His efforts and sacrifice might not have brought the desired results immediately but it was he, and others of his like, that kept the spirit of struggle kindled and light of hope alight, and to get to the goal 6 perhaps much sooner than the alien oppressors might have thought. The Family and Childhood The family of Bhagat Singh had migrated from a village known as Khattkarr Kalan in the Jullundar district to settle permanently in Chak No. 105/G.B. – Banga Chak – in tehsil Jarranwala of the Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) district of Punjab. Here he was born on 28th September 1907 into this Sandhu Jat family of father Sardar Kishan Singh and mother Vidyavati. His arrival was taken as a good omen for the family and, as such, his grandmother gave him the name of ‘BhagaN wala’, or ‘the lucky one’. However, with time it changed into Bhagat with the meaning of ‘devotee’, adding to it ‘Singh’ with Sikh identity. Bhagat Singh was the eldest among his two brothers – Kulbir Singh and Kulnar Singh – and three sisters; Amar Kaur, Sumitra Kaur and Shakuntala. Bhagat Singh, always thought to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Independence of the South Asia Subcontinent, had a long family history of many a freedom activist, who had been fighting against the exploitative and brutal rule of the British. While some of his family members had participated in movements supporting the independence of India others had earlier served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. His grandfather, Sardar Arjun Singh Sandhu, was a follower of Swami Dayananda Saraswati’s Arya Samaj. His uncles, Ajit Singh and Swaran Singh, as well as his father were members of the Ghadar (literally mutiny or revolution) Party, led by Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal and Har Dyal. Ajit Singh was forced to flee to Persia (Iran) because of pending cases against him while Swaran Singh was hanged on 19 December 1927 for his involvement in the Kakori train 7 robbery of 1925 – another of the events linked with freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh was sensitive child with restive soul right from his childhood. He was naturally imbibed with the revolutionary thinking and ideology that glowed all around him in the family. He spat hate at his English enemy right from his early ages. It is said that when he was hardly two or three years old, he was playing on the ground with some straws fixed in the ground. When asked as to what was he doing, he replied that he was ‘sowing’ “dambooqan” (guns). When the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh took place in 1919, he was just a lad of twelve but he chose to travel all the way to the site that represented the extreme of the cruelty at the hands of the British and brought from there the blood-drenched dust to remind him ever after of the nature of his foe. Educational Career Unlike many Sikhs his age, Singh did not attend Khalsa High School in Lahore, because his grandfather did not approve of the school officials' loyalist stance to the British authorities. Instead, his father enrolled him in Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) High School. At the age of 13, Bhagat Singh began to follow Mahatama 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 any British-imported clothing. Following Gandhi's withdrawal of the movement after the murders of policemen by villagers from Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, disenchanted and disgruntled with Gandhi's non-violence (Ahinsa) action, joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and began advocating a violent movement against the British. 8 In 1923, Bhagat Singh famously won an essay competition set by the Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. This brought Bhagat Singh in the lime light and instantly attracted the eye of members of the Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan including its General Secretary Professor Bhim Sen Vidyalankar. At this age, he felt at ease with quoting famous Punjabi literature and discussing the problems of Punjab. He was a keen reader and had gone through a lot of poetry and literature, which was written by Punjabi writers. He was attracted to Allama Iqbal, who was his favourite poet. Making of a complete revolutionary In his teenage years, Bhagat Singh started studying at the National College in Lahore, but ran away from home to escape early marriage when his family was ready to betroth him. At this stage, in 1926, he became a member of the organisation Naujawan Bharat Sabha (Youth Society of India). In the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Bhagat Singh and his fellow revolutionaries grew popular amongst the youth. He also joined the Hindustan Republican Association at the introduction of his history teacher, Professor Vidyalankar. This organization had such prominent leaders as Ram Prasad Bismil, Chandrashekhar Azad and Ashfaq ullah Khan. It is believed that he went to Kanpur to attempt free Kakori train robbery prisoners from jail, but returned to Lahore for unknown reasons. On the day of Dusehra in October 1926, a bomb was blasted in Lahore, and Bhagat Singh was arrested for his alleged involvement in this Dusehra Bomb Case on 29 May 1927. He was, however, released on a bail of Rs.60,000 after about five weeks of his arrest. 9 In the meanwhile he had also been engaged actively in writing and journalistic career and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers published from Amritsar. From May to September, 1928, Bhagat Singh serially published several articles on anarchism in Punjabi periodical Kirti. In September 1928, a meeting of various revolutionaries from across India was called at Delhi under the banner of the Kirti Kissan Party.