Shaheed Bhagat Singh

September 27, 1907 - March 23, 1931

Biography

Shaheed Bhagat Singh was born September 27, 1907 in the village Banga of Layalpur, in district of Punjab , to Mata Vidyavati and Sardar Kishan Singh. His uncle, Sardar Ajit Singh,was a great freedom fighter,of `pagari sambhal jatta' fame. Ajit Singh established the Indian Patriots' Association, along with Syed Haidar Raza, to organize the peasants against the Chenab Canal Colony Bill. He also established the secret organization, the Bharat Mata Society. Ajit Singh had 22 cases against him and was forced to flee to Iran.
At an early age, Bhagat Singh started dreaming of uprooting the British empire. Never afraid of fighting, during his childhood he thought of "growing guns in the fields," so that he could fight against the British. Kartar Sing Sarabha, a freedom fighter who hanged at the age of 19, became his hero. The massacre at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919 drove him to go to Amritsar, where he kissed the earth sanctified by the martyrs' blood and brought back home a little of the soaked soil in his in his launch box and kept it as a memento for life. He studied in the D.A.V. School in Lahore. At the age of 16, he used to wonder why so many Indians could not drive away these fistful of invaders.
To avoid early marriage, he ran away from home and became a member of the youth organization Noujawan Bharat Sabha which had memberships of all sects and religions. He met Chandra Shekhar Sharma (Azad), B.K. Dutt Sukhdev and Rajguru and other revolutionaries. They used to print handouts and newspapers in secret and spread political awareness in India through Urdu, Punjabi and English. These were all banned activities in India at the time, punishable with imprisonment.
Bhagat Singh, along with the help of Chandrashekhar Azad, formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA). The aim of this Indian revolutionary movement was now defined as not only to make India independent, but also to create "a socialist India."
The Fight For Freedom
Anti-British feelings were spreading; Indians wanted some proper representation in running the administration of their country to which British reciprocated only on paper. Noticing restlessness was spreading, the British Government appointed a commission under the leadership of Sir John Simon in 1928, to report on political happenings. There was no single Indian member in this commission, and all the political parties decided to boycott the commission when it planned to visit major cities of India.

In Lahore, Lala Lajpatrai and Pandit Madan Mohan Malavia decided to protest to the commission in open about their displeasure. It was a silent protest march, yet the police chief Scott had banned meetings or processions. Scott beat Lala Lajpatrai severely with a lathi (bamboo stick) on the head several times. Finally, the leader succumbed to the injuries.

Bhagat Singh who was an eye witness to the morbid scene vowed to take revenge and with the help of Azad, Rajguru and Sukhadev plotted to kill Scott. Unfortunately, he killed Mr. Sanders, a junior officer, in a case of mistaken identity. He had to flee from Lahore to escape death punishment.
No doubt, the British were keen to arrest all leaders who opposed its arbitrary actions, and Bhagat Singh who was in hiding all this while, volunteered to throw a bomb in the central assembly where the meeting to pass the ordinance was being held. It was a carefully laid out plot, not to cause death or injury but to draw the attention of the government, that the modes of its suppression could no more be tolerated. It was agreed that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt would court arrest after throwing the bomb.

It was a forgone conclusion in 1929 April 8th at Delhi Central Assembly. Singh and Dutt threw handouts, and bombed in the corridor not to cause injury and courted arrest after shouting slogans Inquilab Zindabad (Long Live, Revolution!)

Meanwhile, the killers of Sanders were identified by the treachery of Bhagat Singh's friends who became "Approvers." Bhagat Singh thought the court would be a proper venue to get publicity for the cause of freedom, and did not want to disown the crime. But he gave a fiery statement giving reasons for killing which was symbolic of freedom struggle.He and his friends wanted to be shot dead, since they were termed as prisoners of war. Their request was not fulfilled, and on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru, and Sukhdev were hanged to death.
This man's only mission in life was to see his country free from British rule. He did his best and when he was being led to the gallows, he was satisfied that he had lived up to his principles, irrespective of the consequences. The only thing that made him sad was that he couldn't do more for his country .
Bhagat Singh became a legendary hero for the masses. Innumerable songs were composed about him, and the youth throughout the country made him their ideal. He became a symbol of bravery and a goal to free India.