Shaheed Bhagat Singh | Teen Ink

Shaheed Bhagat Singh

November 5, 2009
By Sjn Singh BRONZE, Calgary, Other
Sjn Singh BRONZE, Calgary, Other
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Shaheed means Martyr. This is a commonly used phrase when referring to Bhagat Singh. Who, born in 1907, embodied the values of heroism, dedication and selflessness. Although hardly known outside of India, he is one of the worlds most admirable heroes.

The British rule in India was very harsh and committed horrible acts. One example is the Bengal Famine of 1943, in which an estimated 3 million people died of starvation, the government not bothering to stop the export of food from the state of Bengal. The Jallianwallah Bagh massacre where hundreds of peaceful protesters fell to the bullets of British soldiers, who closed and locked the gates beforehand. These are just a few examples of the colonialism imposed upon India.

The people in India were seeing this, especially after the failed Sepoy Revolt of 1857. Many youths were getting involved with the growing independence movement, also. One of these, was Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh joined Gandhi's Non-Cooperation movement at thirteen, but began to see that it was not going anywhere. He then joined a militant group, the Hindustan Republican Association, which he later renamed Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. Although so young, he quickly rose in the party due to a number of factors, including the hanging of the older main leaders and his tremendous personal charisma.

His first widely known and openly revolutionary, though, was the killing of J. P. Saunders, this was in reaction to the brutal beating and killing of revolutionary Lala Lajput Rai. It is not very widely known that, in fact, J.P. Saunders was not the target of the killing, but rather the superintendent of police, J.A. Scott. Bhagat Singh was not responsible for this mistake, per se, as he was given a signal by a fellow revolutionary. Singh shaved his facial hair and fled from Lahore to evade arrest.

His second, and more well-known act, is the throwing of a bomb in the legislative assembly. This may seem questionable to some. However, the bomb was later deemed not strong enough to cause any serious harm, and that it was thrown away from the people. Why then was the bomb thrown? As it said on the leaflets that were thrown down afterwards: “It takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear.” They did this simply to help organise and bring attention to the revolution.Bhagat Singh did not try to escape incarceration this time. He, along with two other of his friends, were arrested.

His revolutionary activities did not stop even with his arrest and sentencing to “Transportation for Life”, though. Seeing the conditions that criminals were given, relatively good compared to the revolutionary's own, Bhagat Singh was offended as he was a political prisoner. He decided to go on a hunger strike, which demanded newspapers, books, writing materials and hygienic necessities. This hunger strike lasted a startling 63 days. This act gave him nation-wide recognition, which was previously limited to the Punjab Region. Afterwards, however, Bhagat Singh was sent to court again for the killing of J.P. Saunders. His revolutionary Comrades were optimistic for the results, but Bhagat Singh believed he would be executed. His only reason to continue was to draw more attention to the cause, he believed that his death would start something much bigger then what he could do while living.They were hung more quickly then was usual after the trial, their bodies were snuck out of the vicinity and were disposed of, causing much controversy and sparked massive protests. This is, in a way, what Bhagat Singh wanted all along, an agitated population. Bhagat Singh committed his life to a free India, but sadly didn't live long enough to see it. A hero who was lost far too quickly, dying at the young age of 24.

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This article has 2 comments.


raj b said...
on Jan. 6 2010 at 11:32 pm
Good article with some new info.Keep up the good work.

will said...
on Dec. 31 2009 at 3:01 pm
Nice article. But you might wanna put some interesting facts or something that catches the audiences eye. I read it and i was like.......boring (sorta)

good info though and nice try

Regards,

William Slater