Bhagat Singh’s 113 birth anniversary is being celebrated all across the nation today and the young hero, who sacrificed his life at the age of 24, is being remembered. He was born on September 28, 1907 in Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab province which is now in Pakistan. His ancestral village Khatkar Kalan is in Punjab, India. His father’s name was Kishan Singh and mother was Vidhya Devi.
As the nation remembers this revolutionary leader who sacrificed his life in his youth for the sake of his nation, we bring out a few facts from this hero’s life whom the Nation is paying tributes on his birthday.
1. Bhagat Singh was a revolutionary freedom-fighter born in a politically active Sikh family in Lyallpur district of undivided Punjab province in pre-independence era.
2. His father and uncles were supporters of the Ghadar Party, while his grandfather Arjun Singh was a member of the Arya Samaj movement. Bhagat Singh, staying in the Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School, learnt the philosophy of the Arya Samaj movement. In this institute, he advocated the universal truths of the Vedas and continued opposing the obscurantism of Hindu religious practices.
3. Bhagat Singh, after a few events, lost his faith in non-violence and participated in the Young Revolutionary Movement, supporting the use of force in ousting Britishers from India.
4. In 1927 Bhagat Singh left his family home to avoid a marriage that was being arranged for him. He said ‘if I married in slave India, my bride shall only be death”. Later, he joined Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
5. Along with Sukhdev, he planned to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai and planned to kill the Superintendent of Police James Scott in Lahore. However, John Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police was shot in a case of mistaken identity.
6. Despite being a Sikh by birth, he shaved his beard and cut his hair to avoid being recognised and was arrested on charges of the killing. However, he escaped from Lahore to Calcutta.
7. He and Batukeshwar Dutt, a year later, threw bombs in the Central Assembly Hall in Delhi, and screamed slogans like “Inquilab Zindabad!” When arrested, he did not resist his arrest.
8. During his interrogation, his involvement in John Saunders’ death came out. Surprisingly, he offered no defence at the time of his trial but propagated the idea if India’s freedom.
9. He was pronounced with death sentence October 7, 1930, which he heard with defiant courage. During his stay in jail, he staged a hunger strike demanding the policy of better treatment for prisoners from foreign origin.
10. Although, he was sentenced to be hanged on March 24, 1931, but it was brought forward by 11 hours to 23 March 1931 at 7:30 pm due to the popular rising sentiment in favour of the brave sons of India. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed by hanging in Lahore jail.
11. They were cremated and their ashes immersed in the Sutlej river by the jail authorities.
12. The manner in which their trail was carried out and the sentence was announced aroused protests across India. Their patriotism inspired several people to join the freedom struggle.
Even today Bhagat Singh is celebrated in film and song as a patriotic son of India who sacrificed his life for the cause of her freedom.
