BHAGAT SINGH

Sahid bhagat singh 

Bhagat Singh was an Indian revolutionary, considered to be one of the most famous martyrs of the Indian freedom struggle. He is also believed by many to be one of the earliest Marxists in India and has been labeled so by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was one of the leaders and founders of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.


Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family in village Banga in Layalpur district of Punjab. He was the third son of Sardar Kishan Singh and Vidyavati. Bhagat Singh's family was actively involved in freedom struggle. His father Kishan Singh and uncle Ajit Singh were members of Ghadr Party founded in the United States to oust British rule from India. Family atmosphere had a great effect on the mind of young Bhagat Singh and patriotism flowed in his veins from childhood


While studying at the local DAV School in Lahore, in 1916, young Bhagat Singh came into contact with some well-known political leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Rash Bihari Bose. Punjab was politically very charged in those days. In 1919, when the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place, Bhagat Singh was only 12 years old. The massacre deeply disturbed him. On the next day of the massacre Bhagat Singh went to the Jallianwala Bagh and collected soil from the spot. He kept it as a memento for the rest of his life. The massacre strengthened his resolve to drive the British out from India.


In response to Mahatma Gandhi's call for the non-cooperation against the erish rule in 1921, Bhagat Singh left his school and actively participated in the movement. In 1922, when Mahatma Gandhi suspended the Non-cooperation Movement against the violence at Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur Bhagat was greatly disappointed. His faith in non-violence weakened and he came to the conclusion that armed revolution was the only practical way of winning freedom.


To continue his studies, Bhagat Singh joined the National College in Lahore, founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. At this college, which was a centre of revolutionary activities, he came into contact with revolutionaries such as Bhagwati Charan, Sukhdev and others


In 1928, he attended a meeting of revolutionaries in Delhi and came into contact with Chandrashekhar Azad. The two formed the Hindustan Samajvadi Prajatantra Sangha. 

In February 1928, a committee from England, called Simon Commission visited india. 

The purpose of its visit was to decide how much freedom and responsibility


could be given to the people of India. But there was no Indian on the committee


This angered the Indians and they decided to boycott the Simon Commission. While protesting against the Simon Commission in Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai succumbed to injuries. Bhagat Singh determined to avenge Lajpat Rai's death by shooting the British official responsible for killing Deputy Inspector General Scott. He shot down Assistant Superintendent Saunders instead, mistaking him for Scott Bhagat Singh had to flee from Lahore to escape death punishment.


The British government took repressive measures. Under the Defence of India Act, it gave more power to the police to arrest persons to stop processions with suspicious movements and actions. Bhagat Singh who was in hiding all this while, volunteered to throw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly where the meeting to pass the ordinance was being held


On April 8, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Assembly Hall while the assembly was in session. The bombs did not hurt anyone. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt deliberately courted arrest by refusing to run away from the scene. Meanwhile, the killers of Saunders were identified by the treachery of Bhagat Singh's friends who became "Approvers".


In jail, he went on hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment of fellow political prisoners by jail authorities. On October 7, 1930, Bhagat Singh, Sukh Dev and Raj Guru were awarded death sentence by a special tribunal for terrorist activities.


Despite great popular pressure and numerous appeals by political leaders of India, Bhagat Singh and his associates were hanged in the early hours of March 23, 1931, His supporters, who had been protesting against the hanging, immediately declared him as a shaheed or martyr. Singh was cremated at Hussainiwala on the banks of the Sutlej River in Lahore.