~~*A TRIBUTE TO SAHEED BHAGAT SINGH*~~

23rd March,1931
(Martydom's Day)

Lala Lajpat Rai's Death

The British government created a commission under Sir John Simon to report on the current political situation in India in 1928. The Indian political parties boycotted the commission because it did not include a single Indian as its member. When the commission visited Lahore on October 30, 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led the protest against the commission in a silent march, but the police chief Scott beat Lala Lajpat Rai severely and he succumbed to his injuries later. Bhagat Singh, who was an eyewitness to this event, vowed to take revenge on Scott. He joined with other revolutionaries, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev, in a plot to kill the police chief. However, in a case of mistaken identity, Bhagat Singh accidentally killed Mr. Saunders, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. He quickly left Lahore to escape the police. He shaved his beard and cut his hair to avoid recognition, a violation of one of the sacred tenets of Sikhism.

Trial for Mr. Saunders' murder

Shortly after his arrest and trial for the Assembly bombing, the British came to know of his involvement in the murder of Mr. Saunders. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were charged with the murder. Bhagat Singh decided to use the court as a tool to publicize his cause for the independence of India. He admitted to the murder and made many anti-British statements during the trial. On March 23, 1931 Bhagat Singh was hanged with his fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev.


Advocate of Marxism and Atheism

Bhagat Singh's political thought evolved gradually from Gandhian nationalism to revolutionary Marxism. By the end of 1928, he and his comrades renamed their organization the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. He had read the teachings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin and believed that, with such a large and diverse population, India could only survive properly under a socialist regime. Otherwise, he believed that the rich would only get richer and the poor would only get poorer. This, and his aggressive stance of violence, put him at odds with Gandhi and members of the Congress. He became the first socialist leader in India to make any gain. Even today, socialist leaders sometimes refer back to him as the founder of Indian socialism.

While in jail during 1930-31 awaiting the gallows, he wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an Atheist in which he discusses and advocates the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God while in a condemned cell. He supported his own beliefs and claimed that he used to be a firm believer in The Almighty, but could not bring himself to believe the myths and beliefs that others held close to their hearts.

Portrayal in Popular Media

Several popular Bollywood films have been made capturing the life and times of Bhagat Singh.

The most successful was Shaheed in 1965, starring Manoj Kumar as Singh.

Two major films about Singh were released in 2002, 23 March 1931: Shaheed and The Legend of Bhagat Singh. 23 March 1931: Shaheed was directed by Guddu Dhanoa and starred Bobby Deol as Singh, with Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai co-starring. The Legend of Bhagat Singh is Rajkumar Santoshi's adaption, in which Ajay Devgan played Singh and Amrita Rao was featured in a brief role. But owing to proximity of release of both films, neither one could obtain popular success.

The 2006 film Rang De Basanti (starring Aamir Khan)is a critically acclaimed film drawing parallels between revolutionaries of Bhagat Singh's era and modern Indian youth. It covers a lot of Bhagat Singh's role in the Indian freedom struggle.


sarfaroshi ki tamana ab hamare dil main hai
dekhna hai zor kitna bazu-e-qatil main hai
karta nahi kyon dusara kuch bat-chit
dekhata hun main jise vo chup teri mahfil main hai
ai shahid-e-mulk-o-millat main tere upar nisar
ab teri himat ka charcha gair ki mahfil main hai
vaqt ane de bata denge tujhe ai asman
ham abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil main hai
khinch kar lai hain sab ko qatl hone ki ummid
ashiqon ka aj jamghat kucha-e-qatil main hai
sarfaroshi ki tamana ab hamare dil main hai
dekhna hai zor kitna bazu-e-qatil main hai

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[/b]

23rd march 1931,salut to Shaheed Bhagat Singh,Rajguru & Sukhdev.Let us appriciate their contribution in making india free.they are real pioneers & contribution must be acknowledged.INQULAB ZINDABAAD.

Regards Sunny.


Shera de putt sher he jaane jande ne,
lakhan vichon v Sikh he pehchane jande ne,
maut sahmne vekh kade kise de piche lukde na,
putt SARDARAN de kade kise de agge jhukde na...!

My tribute to the great freedom fighters and martyr - Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev !!!

Bhagat Singh's Last Petition [/color]


To
The Punjab Governor

Sir,

With due respect we beg to bring to your kind notice the following:
That we were sentenced to death on 7th October 1930 by a British Court, L.C.C Tribunal, constituted under the Sp. Lahore Conspiracy Case Ordinance, promulgated by the H.E. The Viceroy, the Head of the British Government of India, and that the main charge against us was that of having waged war against H.M. King George, the King of England.


The above-mentioned finding of the Court pre-supposed two things:
Firstly, that there exists a state of war between the British Nation and the Indian Nation and, secondly, that we had actually participated in that war and were therefore war prisoners.
The second pre-supposition seems to be a little bit flattering, but nevertheless it is too tempting to resist the desire of acquiescing in it.


As regards the first, we are constrained to go into some detail. Apparently there seems to be no such war as the phrase indicates. Nevertheless, please allow us to accept the validity of the pre-supposition taking it at its face value. But in order to be correctly understood we must explain it further. Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixed British and Indian or even purely Indian. They may be carrying on their insidious exploitation through mixed or even on purely Indian bureaucratic apparatus. All these things make no difference. No matter, if your Government tries and succeeds in winning over the leaders of the upper strata of the Indian Society through petty concessions and compromises and thereby cause a temporary demoralization in the main body of the forces. No matter, if once again the vanguard of the Indian movement, the Revolutionary Party, finds itself deserted in the thick of the war. No matter if the leaders to whom personally we are much indebted for the sympathy and feelings they expressed for us, but nevertheless we cannot overlook the fact that they did become so callous as to ignore and not to make a mention in the peace negotiation of even the homeless, friendless and penniless of female workers who are alleged to be belonging to the vanguard and whom the leaders consider to be enemies of their utopian non-violent cult which has already become a thing of the past; the heroines who had ungrudgingly sacrificed or offered for sacrifice their husbands, brothers, and all that were nearest and dearest to them, including themselves, whom your government has declared to be outlaws. No matter, it your agents stoop so low as to fabricate baseless calumnies against their spotless characters to damage their and their party's reputation. The war shall continue.


It may assume different shapes at different times. It may become now open, now hidden, now purely agitational, now fierce life and death struggle. The choice of the course, whether bloody or comparatively peaceful, which it should adopt rests with you. Choose whichever you like. But that war shall be incessantly waged without taking into consideration the petty (illegible) and the meaningless ethical ideologies. It shall be waged ever with new vigour, greater audacity and unflinching determination till the Socialist Republic is established and the present social order is completely replaced by a new social order, based on social prosperity and thus every sort of exploitation is put an end to and the humanity is ushered into the era of genuine and permanent peace. In the very near future the final battle shall be fought and final settlement arrived at.


The days of capitalist and imperialist exploitation are numbered. The war neither began with us nor is it going to end with our lives. It is the inevitable consequence of the historic events and the existing environments. Our humble sacrifices shall be only a link in the chain that has very accurately been beautified by the unparalleled sacrifice of Mr. Das and most tragic but noblest sacrifice of Comrade Bhagawati Charan and the glorious death of our dear warrior Azad.



As to the question of our fates, please allow us to say that when you have decided to put us to death, you will certainly do it. You have got the power in your hands and the power is the greatest justification in this world. We know that the maxim "Might is right" serves as your guiding motto. The whole of our trial was just a proof of that. We wanted to point out that according to the verdict of your court we had waged war and were therefore war prisoners. And we claim to be treated as such, i.e., we claim to be shot dead instead of to be hanged. It rests with you to prove that you really meant what your court has said.



We request and hope that you will very kindly order the military department to send its detachment to perform our execution.

Yours'

BHAGAT SINGH

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Asqk Bhare hain ankhon mein
Kehne ko nahi kuch iss dil mein hai
mehsus kartein hain taks-e-rooh mere..
ke rooh kisi shaheed ki mehfil mein hai

Sarfaroshi ki tamana abb hamare dil mein hai
Dekhan hai Zorr kitna bazuyein katil mein hai

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