BHAGAT SINGH : THE TRUE, FATHER OF THE NATION

BHAGAT SINGH: THE TRUE FATHER OF THE NATION

It's been around 3 months since I started this blog and I haven't written even a single article praising someone/something, well that doesn't mean there's nothing good in this country but my intention was to highlight the other face of the coin which very few people have seen, it's time that we illuminate this blog with the articles of true heroes of this country.

When we think of heroes the first name that pops up in every Indian's mind is of Bhagat Singh (if Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan or Akshay Kumar popped up in your mind well it means that you are mentally ill and I suggest you read the entire article at least twice to recover from that illness)..

There are many men who work to fulfill their desires, there are men who work to fulfill their children's desires, there are good men who sacrifice many things for their family, there are great men who sacrifice many things for the good of the society and then comes people beyond great men who sacrifices everything for the good of the entire nation these men have no fear of death, no family attachments their only mantra is their country their heart won't stop chanting this mantra even if a bullet is passed through it. This country is built on the blood of such men whose greatness is beyond what we can imagine and these people are referred as FREEDOM FIGHTERS and SOLDIERS

Bhagat Singh is one such fearless hero who sacrificed everything for this country. This is the month that Bhagat Singh was born (September), many people will share his images on social media platforms on his birthday trying to showcase their patriotism but I bet that 90% of these people don't know his date of birth at present (I haven't mentioned the date yet give it a try) but everyone knows the birthday of people like Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi whose sacrifices can't even be compared with that of Bhagat Singh.

Why is it so that we remember the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhi but not the birthday of Bhagat Singh?

Because we used to enjoy children's day on the birthday of Nehru and we get a holiday on the birthday of Gandhi but what do we get on the birthday of Bhagat Singh?

Not even some inspiring stories of him, this is where politics plays its dirty role, it can make people remember someone who doesn't deserve to be remembered and it can vanish the memories of great people who deserve to be remembered.

The story of Bhagat Singh is not just informative but it is also an inspirational one if you want to know the greatness of India you should first know the greatness of the men who fought to make it independent.

WHO  WAS BHAGAT SINGH?

Bhagat Singh was born on 28th September 1907 in Jaranwala Tehsil, Lyallpur district, Punjab (at present it belongs to Pakistan ), he is one of the few freedom fighters who is respected both in India and Pakistan, he was an intellectual who never followed any customs without questioning it  he was a socialist revolutionary who ignited the minds of millions of Indians to unite and work for the independence, movement he along with Chandrashekar Azad and Sukhdev Thapar reestablished The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in the year 1928. He along with Sukhdev and Rajguru was hanged by the British on 23rd March 1931 (when he was just 23 )

Even though he had a very small lifespan of just 23 years, whenever we speak of freedom struggle we can't end the topic without taking his name, even though many history books don't remember him we Indians remember him for his love towards the nation and his fearless attitude.

HOW DID BHAGAT SINGH DEVELOP HIS LOVE TOWARDS THE NATION ?

We all love our country in one way or the other. But imagine that you are well settled in your life and you have a great family, enough money to lead a peaceful life, now forget about giving your life for the country will you even think about this country ?, will you be following the political news which impacts this country's future ?. the oblivious answer is NO, you won't even have enough time to enjoy your life. why care for the country which has given nothing to you, why care for the country whose system is rotten, why care for the country when I have everything in life, let me enjoy everything and die peacefully, no one can change this country. Right?

Well, if people like Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi had thought the same way then we would still be sucking the shoes of the British. If the people who join military think the same way who will protect this country ?. Most of the people who were the leaders in the freedom struggle were well settled in life with enough money to fly to other countries if they had wished their family could have immigrated to other countries like the US, Russia etc but did they ?, they knew how badly British had transformed India from being a culturally, scientifically economically rich India to a third world country, everything they did was for the good of the entire nation ( This holds good for our soldiers too )

The atmosphere where we grow will have a major impact on our lives it will decide what we would become in the future every member of Bhagat Singh's family were patriotic, many neighbours around him were patriotic both his family members and neighbours had participated in Gandhi's non cooperation movement, in fact, Bhagat Singh also participated in this when he was just around 9years old.

His father Kishan Singh, grandfather Arjun Singh, uncle Sawarn Singh and uncle Ajit Singh were the sources of his patriotism, he always respected Mahatma Gandhi though he didn't follow Gandhi's way of achieving Independence we can't deny the fact that he got inspired by the works of Gandhi when he was a kid

To show how patriotic his family was let me tell you the story of his uncle Sardar Ajit Singh.

SARDAR AJIT SINGH

As I've already said Sardar Ajit Singh was Bhagat Singh's uncle who was one of the early protesters against the British rule in the Punjab region of India.

During 1905 and 1906 he was the leader among the protesters against the British rule in Punjab who had organised many protests against the British Colonization Act (1906) and against increased water charges, due to his violent protests he along with Lala Lajpat Rai was exiled to Mandalay in Burma but due to the violent protests of his followers the British were forced to release both of them in December 1907.

After which he continued to spread the idea of independence in every possible way but when the British realized that people like him won't let them fool the Indians anymore they tried to arrest him but he escaped and flew to Iraq.

He knew that if he came back to India he would be put into prison by the British so he decided to stay in Iraq and help the freedom struggle by sending weapons to India. He stayed in Iraq for 38 years.

He came back to India in the month of March 1947 when it was almost confirmed that India would get Independence. He was sick and old by then (almost 66 years old), he tuned in the radio on the night of August 15th, 1947 after confirming the news of Independence he breathed his last breath and his soul left his body.

Everything he was waiting to hear was that India was Independent, he gave everything away to serve the nation but as the so-called patriotic Indians do we even know his name ?.

How can he be famous when this generation is busy making Dinchak Pooja famous and when people like me try to make them (Ajit Singh) famous no one bats an eye ( I really don't care about the views that I get I haven't put any ads on this blog and I get no profit from this blog and if I wanted to be famous trust me I would have continued my works in Android Forums the sole purpose of this blog is to provide some information which is not often available in any media )

Now coming to the main question. How did Bhagat Singh develop his love towards the nation?

How else would you expect a kid risen in such environment to be? His grandfather was a freedom fighter, his father was a freedom fighter, his uncles were freedom fighters, then what would Bhagat Singh become Doctor? Engineer? Actor?. As expected he chose to be a freedom fighter, a hero to the nation.

If the nation owes anything to some family that family is not Nehru's (Gandhi) family,  it is the family of Bhagat Singh where everyone served the nation.

WHY DID BHAGAT SINGHchooseE VIOLENT WAYS TO ACHIEVEFREEDOM??

Before we get our answer to this question we should first know about the Jalianwala Bagh incident.

THE JALIANWALA BAGH INCIDENT IN SHORT

(SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA)

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, was a seminal event in the British rule of India. On 13 April 1919, a crowd of non-violent protesters, along with Baishakhi pilgrims, had gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh garden in Amritsar, Punjab to protest against the arrest of two leaders [Dr.Satyapal and Dr.Saifuddin] despite a curfew which had been recently declared. On the orders of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer the army fired on the crowd for ten minutes, directing their bullets largely the few open gates through which people were trying to run out. The figures released by the British government were 370 dead and 1200 wounded. Other sources place the number dead at well over 1000. This "brutality stunned the entire nation", resulting in a "wrenching loss of faith" of the general public in the intentions of Britain. The ineffective inquiry and the initial accolades for Dyer by the House of Lords fuelled widespread anger, leading to the Non-cooperation Movement of 1920–22.  (SOURCE WIKIPEDIA).

A day after Jallianwala Bagh incident Bhagat Singh bunked his school and visited the place where the incident had happened, he was just 12 years at that point he was moved when he saw the blood of the people who died there, he cried for hours in there, then he collected the mud of that place which was still wet with blood in a jar and after returning to home he said to his sister "Look at this. this is the blood of our people killed by British.Salute it.". In fact, he worshipped that jar of mud everyday ( remember he was just 12 years when he said this )

It is incidents like this which he saw at a very small age which made him realize that Independence can't be achieved without any violence

HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION

WHAT WAS HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION (HSRA) ?

( SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA )

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was a revolutionary organisation, also known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Army established in 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla New Delhi by Chandrasekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and others. Previously it was known as Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) whose written constitution and published manifesto titled The Revolutionary was produced as a witness in the Kakori conspiracy case of 1925. Likewise, the Hindustan Republican Association (HSRA) was also a revolutionary organisation which worked more dangerously from 1928 to 1931 in the Indian subcontinent to uproot the British Raj from the country through armed struggle. (SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA ).

Infact this group is reffered by some historians as one of the most feared group in the British India,

The HSRA was previously known as Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) which was formed by Chandrsheker Azad even before 1928 whose main goal was to achieve poorna swaraj, when Bhagat Singh joined this group in order show that they were fighting for a bigger cause he renamed the association as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.(HSRA)

It is because of HSRA that Congress was forced to pass a resolution of purna swaraj on Jan 26th, 1930 , before that they were just fighting for dominion status where India would be riuled by Indian leaders but these leaders would be ruled by the British.

HOW DID HSRA/HRA GET MONEY TO RUN SUCH AN ASSOCIATION ? ( THE KAKORI CONSPIRACY )

Running any association requires money, there were lot of people in rhie HRA by the year of 1925 but they needed money to purchase weapons, they needed money for their food, they needed money to support other groups which were fighting for the same cause and the only way to get money was to rob someone , it was logical to loot the looters, so they decided to rob the money of the British.

The HRA plotted a plan to rob a train where British used to transport money, the train used to travel from Kakori to Alamnagar (near Lucknow). the operation was carried out mainly by Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan and many others who carried pistols with them and robbed the money in the train, this is the main source of fund for the HSRA (THIS INCIDENT IS ALSO CALLED AS KAKORI CONSPIRACY )

They looted around 8,000rs and escaped to Lucknow after which Ramprasad Bismil along with Ashfaqulla Khan and many were caught by the British and both of them were sentenced to death on the charges of murder and robbery.

THE ROLE OF BHAGAT SINGH IN HSRA

The HSRA became more strong when people like Bhagat Singh, Sukdev Thapar and many others joined the association when Chandrasheker Azad reorganized the group in 1928

THE KILLING OF JOHN P SAUNDERS

The Simon Commission ( a group of 7 people sent by the British to review the governance of East India Company),, which visited Lahore on 30th October 1928 was greeted with protests led by Lala Lajpat Rai, even though this protest didn't involve any violence, the superintendent of police ordered his men to lathi charge the protesters where Lala Lajpath Rai was hurt badly and he died after few days of this incident in a hospital. This incident was raised in the British Parliament but they denied the government's involvement in this.

When Bhagat Singh heard what happened to Lala Lajpath Rai, he knew that if he didn't counter this act the British won't stop killing the protesters, and he took an vow to take revenge on Scott who was the reason for that laati charge

Bhagat Singh along with Sukdev , Rajguru and Chandrasheker Azad plotted a plan to kill Scott, by shooting him but instead of signalling on the appearance of Scott , Jai Gopal signelled Bhagat Singh when John P. Saunders ( Assistant SI of police ) came out of the police head quaters  , Bhagat Singh took a shot at him and they killed John P. Saunders instead of Scott

They had already prepared a poster which had Schott's name in it to make the matter public but on the night of killing Saunders they modified the posters

here's what was in the posters

"JP Saunders is dead; Lala Lajpat Rai is avenged. In this man has died an agent of the British authority in India. Sorry for the bloodshed of the human being, but the sacrifice of individuals at the altar of revolution... is inevitable."

The British knew that Bhagat Singh and others killed Saunders but they didn't know how they looked like. Even though Bhagat Singh was a Sikh he used to shave his beard and used to cut his hair and wear a hat which made him unrecognisable by the British and the funny part here is he escaped as a British officer after the killing of Saunders

ASSEMBLY BOMBING

The HSRA was quite famous after the killing of Saunders in some parts of India they were portrayed in a negative way for killing him, which made Bhagat Singh and other members in HSRA realize that they ideas won't reach the people till they reach the mainstream media.

As we've already discussed Bhagat Singh was an Intellectual who used to read books related to many revolutionaries across the world. Auguste Vaillant was one of the French revolutionary who had bombed the French Chamber of Deputies from the public gallery whose intention was to seek revenge for the execution of Ravol ( his anarchist friend ), during the court proceedings he said that his aim was to hurt as many as possible and not to kill anyone, his action and his statement had become viral at that point.

Bhagat Singh got inspired by this incident and plotted a plan to bomb the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi, His aim was to reach as many people as possible through the court proceedings where his statements would be printed as it is in the news papers.

Even though Chandrasheker Azad forced Bhagat Singh not to go himself to bomb the Assembly, he resisted till he got the permission from Chandrasheker Azad.

On 8th April 1929. Bhagat Singh along with Butukeshwar Dutt entered the Central Legislative Assembly and they threw two bombs where there were less/no people no one lost their life and Bhagat Singh and Butukeshwar Duty surrendered chanting Inquilab Zindabad (Long Live the Revolution) Samrajyavad ka nash ho' (Down with Imperialism). This was published in the newspaper all over India (Note that no one knew that he was Bhagat Singh when this incident took place, even during police interrogation he never revealed his true identity )

The so called peacefuls like Gandhi criticized this incident but most of the people were happy to see such development, the people by this time knew that non violence can't get them freedom.

Whenever Bhagat Singh attended the court proceedings he used to answer every question in a fearless attitude, which used to get published in the newspapers he used to share many things during the court proceedings which made him famous and millions of people started following him.

But many of the HSRA members got arrested during this time and one of them revealed the identity of everyone including Bhagat Singh. Now the case of John Saunders was reopened and Bhagat Singh along with Sukdev Tapar and Rajguru was found guilty and they were sentenced to death

THE HUNGER STRIKE :

When Bhagat Singh and many other members of HSRA were in prison the pathetic situation of that jail made them go on a hunger strike where they demanded the fulfillment of the rights of the political prisoners, but the British officers didn't care about this, the group continued its hunger strike, after 10-15 days the British Officers started torchering them trying to make them eat at least something but they never gave up the strike on the 63rd day Jatin Das breathed his last and all of the members gave up the hunger strike after that except Bhagat Singh and B.K Dutt who continued their hunger strike till 116 days till their demands were fullfilled

Seems impossible ? Well that's the power of freedom fighters of this great nation, in fact he had set a record in history by fasting for 116 days (the previous record was 97 days by a Irish revolutionary ). If this doesn't make you feel his greatness I don't know what will.

THE BALIDHAN DIWAS (BHAGAT SINGH'S DEATH)

There were many protests against the British for their decision on hanging Bhagat Singh, Sukdev and Rajguru but the main person who could have negotiated this with the British was Mahatma Gandhi, he didn't even make a single effort to stop this from happening in fact even Mohammad Ali Jinnah criticized the act where the court had declared them guilty without their presence in the Court.

But Bhagat Singh himself wanted to die, he wanted to awaken the millions of youngsters through his death, that is exactly what happened after his death. All he desired was Independence and he knew that a small group of people can't achieve it through his death he ignited the minds of millions who then continued the freedom struggle.

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukdev were hanged a day early as that of the previously declared date,. They were hanged on 23rd March 1931, based on what the officers who witnessed this event had told , none of the three had any fear of death they gave up their life with a smiling face, just before their death all the three hugged each other and shouted Inquilab Zindabad and Samrajyavaad ka naash

WHAT MAKES BHAGAT SINGH GREAT AND SOME UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT BHAGAT SINGH :

(SOURCE : SOME OF THEM ARE FROM QUORA AND SOME OF THEM ARE FROM HIS BOOK 'WITHOUT FEAR THE LIFE AND TRAIL OF BHAGAT SINGH )

- To avoid getting married by his family, Singh ran away from his house .In a letter he left behind, he stated:

"My life has been dedicated to the noblest cause, that of the freedom of the country. Therefore, there is no rest or worldly desire that can lure me now. @Bhagat Singh"

- Kartar Singh Sarabha was his role model along with Karl Marx , Lenin and others . He used carry a photograph of Kartar Singh Sarabha.

- He used to read a lot about every topic, mainly about revolutionaries

- A few days before his death he wrote a paper named 'WHY I'AM AN ATHEIST'

- When he was a kid his father took him to a field where they used to grow something the little Bhagat told his father of growing guns in the field so that they could fight the British and serve the nation

- The October revolution led by Lenin attracted Bhagat Singh and he started to read literature about socialism and socialist revolution at an early age.

-  Bhagat Singh said: “They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit.” This was to be quoted many times over by revolutionaries after his death.

ABOUT THE TITLE

My previous post was about Gandhi I assume that you've seen it, you now have seen this post I've provided only facts nothing is my opinion here, it is now up to you to decide who should be called as the father of the nation. Is it one who sacrificed everything just to ignite the minds of Indians or the one who had a political agenda behind everything he did ?