Today ~
23rd March is a very important day for the Nation .. .. . .. and do
by chance you know the relevance of a small town Khed in Pune in Indian history
?
Today marks the 86th year of martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev
Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru. They symbolise the best example of sacrifice to
free India from the imperial clutches of British rule. Indian history books
perhaps have provided lesser exposure to
their visionary battle against British rule. These revolutionaries envisioned
India’s future were not in the same stream of Congress and did not garner that
attention that the party gotten.
They are the very definition of martyr and would eternally
motivate the youngsters for the Nation Cause.
Before that have you heard of Kartar Singh Sarabha. In the leaflet he threw in the Central
Assembly on 9 April 1929, he stated: "It is easy to kill individuals but
you cannot kill the ideas. Great empires crumbled, while the ideas
survived. While in prison, he and his 2 friends wrote to Lord Irwin, asking to be treated as prisoners of war and
consequently to be executed by firing squad and not by hanging. He declined to sign letter for clemency…….
- that is Shaheed Bhagat Singh
From his early
days, he had been attracted by revolutionary activities against oppressive
British Raj. Seeking revenge for the
death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the
assassination of British police officer John Saunders. He eluded efforts by the
police to capture him. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a
successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central
Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. Subsequently
they volunteered to surrender and be arrested. Held on this charge, he gained
widespread national support when he underwent a 116 day fast in jail, demanding
equal rights for British and Indian political prisoners. He was convicted and
subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder, aged 23. His legacy
prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and he continues
to be a youth idol in modern India.
Sadly, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death
in the Lahore conspiracy case and ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931; but Singh
was informed that his execution had been advanced by 11 hours on 23 March 1931,
just a few hours before his execution.
Singh was hanged on 23 March 1931 at 7:30 pm in Lahore jail with his
fellow comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev. It is reported that no magistrate
of the time was willing to supervise his hanging. The jail authorities then
broke the rear wall of the jail and secretly cremated the three martyrs under
cover of darkness outside Ganda Singh Wala village, and then threw the ashes
into the Sutlej river. An ex-parte trial
was against the principles of natural justice that no man shall be held guilty
unless given an opportunity to defend in a hearing. It was probably for the first time, that
executions were carried out in the evening, by
advancing the date of execution. The families of the accused were not
allowed to meet them before the execution nor were they informed about it, even
the bodies of the three were not given to their relatives after the execution
to perform last rites.
Even lesser is
known about the other two daring colleagues of Bhagat Singh. Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23
March 1931) was born at Khed, near Pune.
He was a member of the Hindustan
Socialist Republican Association, who wanted India to be freed from British
rule by any means necessary. He believed that ferocity against oppression was
far more effective against British rule than the nonviolent civil disobedience
preferred by Mahatma Gandhi.
Rajguru became a
colleague of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev, and took part in the assassination of a
British police officer, J. P. Saunders, at Lahore in 1928. Their actions were
to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai who had died a fortnight after being hit
by police while on a march protesting the Simon Commission. The three men and
21 other co-conspirators were tried under the provisions of a regulation that
was introduced in 1930 specifically for that purpose. All three were convicted
of the charges and hanged on 23 March 1931.
Years later, his birthplace of Khed has since been renamed as
Rajgurunagar in his honour. Rajguru Market, a shopping complex at Hisar,
Haryana, was named in his honour in 1953.
Almost a
century ago, there were different ideologies - the paths Gandhi and Bhagat
Singh. Were they complementary could not
be commented now .. in some ways, the Gandhian path was focussed
on the transfer of political power but Bhagat Singh's vision was to transform
independent India into better society. There
has been criticism that Gandhi and other national leaders of that time, did not
do much to prevent or reduce the sentence of 3 martyrs. Lord Irwin, in a report to the Secretary of
State, penned his position on the issue of commutation: He (Mahatma Gandhi) did
not plead for commutation, although he would, being opposed to all taking of
life, take that course himself. He also thought it would have an influence for
peace. But he did ask for postponement in present circumstances. I contented
myself with saying that, whatever might be the decision as to exact dates, I
could not think there was any case for commutation which might not be made with
equal force in the case of any other violent crime.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
23rd Mar
2017
Pic Credit : By Alicia Nijdam from Cordoba, Argentina - https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14889056
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