Revision as of 19:20, 24 March 2018

Lesser known stories

Devyani Mohan, March 23, 2018: The Times of India

Revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, along with comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev, was hanged on March 23, 1931. The revolutionary freedom fighter was only 23 years old. His death inspired hundreds to take up the cause of the freedom movement. His ideology continues to be relevant even in the context of today's social and political situation.

Thirst for books was legendary

The October revolution led by the Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin that led to the larger Russian Revolution of 1917 attracted Bhagat Singh and he started to read literature about socialism and socialist revolution at an early age. M M Juneja, who has written two books on Bhagat Singh, noted how his love for reading continued till the very end. In an article for TOI, Juneja wrote,”One of his co-prisoners at the Lahore Central Jail, Shiv Verma said ‘Though we all had a passion for reading, Bhagat Singh was a class by himself. Despite having a soft corner for socialism, he always clung to his passion for reading novels, particularly with political and economic themes. Dickens, Upton Sinclair, Hall Cane, Victor Hugo, Maxim Gorky, Stepnik, Oscar Wilde and Leonard Andrew were among his favourites. He frequently got emotionally involved with some particular characters in novels, to the extent that he wept and laughed with them.’"

M M Juneja went on to say, “According to some estimates, he read nearly 50 books during his schooling (1913-21), about 200 from his college days to the day of his arrest in 1921, and, approximately 300 during his imprisonment of 716 days from April 8, 1929, to March 23, 1931. He was exactly 23 years, five months and 25 days old at the time of his execution, and had by then had studied hundred of books — a record of sorts.”

This passion for reading endured till the very end. M M Juneja narrated the following incident. “Pran Mehta, Bhagat Singh's lawyer was allowed to meet him on March 23, 1931, just a few hours before the hanging. Bhagat Singh was then pacing up and down in the condemned-cell like a lion in a cage. He welcomed Mehta with a broad smile and asked him whether he had brought him Vladimir Lenin's book, ‘State and Revolution’. As soon as he was handed the book, Bhagat Singh began reading it as if he was conscious that he did not have much time left. Soon after Mehta's departure, Bhagat Singh was told that the time of hanging had been advanced by 11 hours. By then, he had finished only a few pages of the book.”

Manmathnath Gupta, a close associate of Bhagat Singh also recalled those final moments, which Juneja mentioned in his TOI article. "When called upon to mount the scaffold, Bhagat Singh was reading a book by Lenin or on Lenin. He continued his reading and said, 'Wait a while. A revolutionary is talking to another revolutionary.' There was something in his voice which made the executioners pause. Bhagat Singh continued to read. After a few moments, he flung the book towards ceiling and said, "Let us go."

How he escaped after killing of JP Saunders

Along with his comrade Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh shot dead JP Saunders in a case of mistaken identity on December 17, 1927. The freedom fighter was a Sikh by birth. Following the killing of Saunders he shaved his beard and cut his hair to avoid being recognised and arrested for the killing so that he could escape from Lahore to Calcutta. The duo had planned to kill superintendent of police James Scott to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, but the plan went awry and the 21-year-old British police officer was assassinated instead.

To escape, he needed the cover of a respectable married man to get out of the police dragnet. 'Fake' wife Durga Devi, better known as ‘Durga Bhabi, was the lady who bravely assisted Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev in their escape from Lahore in November 1928. Lalit Mohan, son of Virendra and son-in-law of Durga Das Khanna, both comrades of Bhagat Singh, recounted this incident. “At the time, the Punjab police’s focus was on nabbing the two revolutionaries and a massive manhunt was underway. As Lahore teemed with policemen, Durga Devi volunteered to 'act' as Bhagat Singh’s wife to help him escape. At the appointed time, Durga Devi along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev left for the Lahore railway station. Bhagat Singh was dressed as an Anglo-Indian in a suit and a felt hat. He carried Durga Devi’s infant son in his arms while Sukhdev posed as the domestic help.” 400 policemen were at the platform on the lookout for Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev that day, but they all played their parts brilliantly and managed to escape.

Heart of gold

And while Bhagat Singh did not marry himself, he made sure his friend Durga Das Khanna did not walk out from his own wedding. Lalit Mohan recalled the events of that day based on what his father-in-law told him . “In January 1927, Durga Das was persuaded by Rajguru and Sukhdev to slip away from his own wedding right before the ceremony with all the money collected from the shaguns during the milni. When Bhagat Singh learnt Durga Das had forsaken his family and bride-to-be. Bhagat Singh popped the question: ‘What will happen to your mother?’ Durga Das replied, ‘She will probably die of shame and embarrassment.’ At this point Sukhdev laughed: "Don’t worry. We will erect a memorial to her when India becomes free." This levity did not go down too well with Bhagat Singh who said: ‘No. We cannot let that happen. I think you better go back.’ Durga Das Khanna took his advice, and did, indeed, return home to a family in panic over the missing groom and got married that very night.”

'Inquilab Zindabad’

Bhagat Singh coined the phrase 'Inquilab Zindabad,’. A year after the mistaken killing, he and comrade Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Assembly Hall in Delhi on April 8, 1929, and shouted “Inquilab Zindabad!” He did not resist his arrest at this point, Eventually, ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ became the slogan of India's armed freedom struggle. The bombs Bhagat Singh and his associate threw in the Central Assembly in Delhi were made from low grade explosives. They were intentionally lobbed away from people in the corridors were meant only to startle and not harm. This was confirmed by the British investigation and the forensic report of the incident.

Last moments

Bhagat Singh was sentenced to be hanged on March 24, 1931. His hanging was, however, brought forward by 11 hours to March 23, 1931 at 7:30 pm. Singh was thus hanged an hour ahead of the official time and was secretly cremated on the banks of the river Sutlej by jail authorities. According to reports, no magistrate was willing to supervise the hanging. After the original death warrants expired it was an honorary judge who signed and oversaw the hanging.

Recounting Bhagat Singh’s final moments, Virendra (Bhagat Singh’s comrade), who was lodged in the same jail as the three condemned prisoners, wrote in his memoirs - "There was a Muslim barber who would go on his daily round to the area where Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were lodged, and also visit us. He knew what was happening in the jail. The newspapers had reported that the execution had been fixed for March 24. According to the jail rules all hangings would take place at 7 am in the summer and at 8 am in the winter. On any such day all other prisoners were kept locked up in their cells until after the dead men's bodies had been removed from the prison premises.

"In the afternoon of the 23rd, the prison barber came running to us and said, 'Sardarji (Bhagat Singh) says that they will probably be hung today itself. He has wished the two of you (Virendra and Ehsan Elahi) Vande Mataram.’” The next morning, Virendra and the other prisoners asked the warder, who was present at the execution, how the three rebels had conducted themselves as they approached death, This is what Virendra wrote - "At first he would not speak. When he did tears welled up in his eyes. He said, 'Ever since I have joined Jail service I have seen dozens being hung. But I have never seen anyone embrace death with such courage and fortitude.' "He said that after Bhagat Singh had changed into the outfit prescribed for the condemned and was about to reach the gallows he pleaded with him, 'Son, I have a request. It is a matter of just a few minutes more. At least remember Wahe-guru now.' The warder told us that Bhagat Singh laughed at his words and said, 'Sardarji, I did not take His name all my life. In fact, when I saw how the poor and the oppressed were being treated I even rebuked Him. Now if I pray to Him, when death stares me in the face, He will say that this man is a hypocrite and a coward. So what effect will my prayer possibly have on him? If I don't change my opinion, at least He will concede that this man was honest.'"

With those words he ascended the platform.

The iconic photo

Bhagat Singh
From:

An iconic photo of Bhagat Singh in a hat was deliberately circulated widely with the idea that people would be able to imagine the revolutionary not as a violent terrorist, but instead visualise stories, songs, poems and sayings praising his heroism. The portrait’s aim was to create a gentler image of the leader in the people’s memory, contradicting British charges that he was a ruthless killer, according to an excerpt from the book "A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence, Image, War and Text".

The hat photograph was taken a few days prior to the action in the Legislative Assembly, in the studios of Ramnath Photographers at Kashmiri Gate in Delhi. Jaidev Kapoor, an HSRA member, arranged for the photograph to be taken. He specifically asked the photographer to make a memento of Bhagat Singh, specifying that “our friend is going away, so we want a really good photograph of him.”

A ‘revolutionary terrorist’?

‘Bhagat Singh called himself a terrorist’

The Times of India, May 02 2016

Akshaya Mukul

Bhagat Singh himself said he was terrorist: Habib

Eminent historian Irfan Habib has come to the defence of Bipan Chandra and other historians who together authored India's Struggle for Independence in 1988. The book which has been part of Delhi University's history curriculum and refers to fredom fighter Bhagat Singh as a “revolutionary terrorist“ has been at the centre of controversy recently .

Habib said, “I did not agree with many points in the book but calling Bhagat Singh revolutionary terrorist was not wrong.“ He said Hindustan Republican Socialist Association to which Bhagat Singh belonged had itself in its resolution of 1929 had used the word terrorist. “In fact, HRSA 's manifesto of 1929 distributed during the Lahore session of the Congress said `we are being criticised for our terrorist policies but we are resorting to terror in response to British terror',“ Habib said.

He also pointed to Bhagat Singh's rejoinder to Mahatma Gandhi's criticism of terror activity in which he had said that terrorism in itself is not revolution but no revolution is complete without terror.

Habib said that in later stage of his life, Bhagat Singh had admitted that he was terrorist for some time in the beginning. Terrorist and terror have become pejorative words now because innocent people are being killed by them, he pointed out.

A brand name

The Times of India, May 08 2016

Joeanna Rebello 

The revolutionary is fast turning into an urban pop culture icon with his face on everything from bags and bric-a-brac to mugs and mobile covers. Capitalism Zindabad!

Bhagat Singh merchandise on line -a screen-printed T-shirt and a backpack are quite common. Now and then, the question remains that can we term him a "revolutionary terrorist"!

Stopping the sale and distribution of the Hindi edition of historian Bipan Chandra's book India's Struggle for Independence, capitulating to ABVP protests over the book's references to Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary terrorist.Whether or not the rest of the country's 18-35-year-olds approve of, or even know of the disputed description, the protagonist himself has their unequivocal vote.

For young hipsters, Singh is a desi daredevil, a rebel with a cause, a man of the hour.Literally . He gazes out from watches and wall clocks, but he's also on mugs, wallets, cushions, laptop skins, key-chains, lamps, mobile covers and even wall decals, bearing either of the two versions of his iconic image -turbaned or hatted. The more abstract art pictures him in fractals, or simply with the legend `Shaheed' or `Inquilab Zindabad' and a grim noose; some only feature a waxed moustache, shorthand like Gandhi's wire-rim glasses.

The universe of Bhagat Singh merchandise on e-commerce sites has exploded in the last year or two, generating new product forms every month. “I come from Punjab, where Bhagat Singh is very popular, so I thought people elsewhere would love him too. I believe his rebelliousness appeals to young people,“ says Puneet Gupta, co-founder of the merchandise e-store Poster Guy, which retails goods printed with graphic art sourced from designers across the country. Their `Bhagat Singh' range debuted around Independence Day last year.