Learnings from the Life of Bhagat Singh, and from his Martyrdom at the Age of 23 for the Freedom of India

Sincere work taken up very thoughtfully, courageously and with great commitment for serving humanity, for serving humanity’s urgent need for justice and equality, for creating a society free of exploitation, will always bring good and great results, although it may take time for the impact to be realized. This is one of the most enduring lessons emerging from the untiring, daring and visionary efforts of Shahid (Martyr) Bhagat Singh and his companion freedom fighters and comrades during the eventful years of the freedom movement of India (approximately) 1924-31.

Before proceeding, kindly permit me to re-emphasize a few words of the previous para as their significance is often missed. In the first sentence I speak of the courageous efforts but in addition also of very thoughtful efforts as well. The courageous part is always highlighted in the context of Shahid Bhagat Singh (September 28, 1907—March 23 1931) and his fellow revolutionaries as it is so obvious, but the thoughtful part is sometimes (perhaps frequently) neglected. It is very important to emphasize that a very important part of the Bhagat Singh story is the constant study, consultation and reflection and based on this the evolving and improving of their program and activities in such a way that it can give the best possible results in the prevailing very difficult and hostile conditions. It is this study and refection which led Bhagat Singh and his colleagues, still in their late teens or early 20s to raise highly mature issues of not just freedom for India but of creation of exploitation free world based on justice, equality and fraternity for which sustained struggle against imperialism was seen as extremely important.

Further in the second sentence in the first para I have spoken of “those eventful years of the freedom movement”. This too needs a little explanation. In fact the time around 1924 was one of the less inspiring and more worrying times in India as following the withdrawal of the non-cooperation movement by Mahatma Gandhi due to some incidents of violence taking place, times of great uncertainty had started in the freedom movement as compared to the surge of enthusiasm and unity in the recent past. This uncertainty was being used by the colonial rulers and their collaborators to break the unity of people. In these difficult times it were the great and courageous initiatives of Bhagat Singh and his companion freedom fighters which played a very important role in the return of unity and enthusiasm among the masses and carried them towards asserting in very inspiring and encouraging ways the demand for complete freedom from colonial rule.

It was at the age of only 23 years that Bhagat Singh along with his two dear friends Sukhdev and Rajguru was hanged by the British rulers following cases that saw some of the most glaring violations of the basic precepts of justice by the colonial rulers. This was in 1931. 95 years later Bhagat Singh still continues to be one of the most enduring symbols—many would say the most powerful symbol—of justice for numerous struggles big and small. For countless people he is simply the most inspiring historical figure. However there is also a different side of this immense popularity—some people who are not at all true to his ideals and thoughts also try to misuse his name for their narrow selfish ends. So it is important to have clarity on his commitments and his priorities.

Perhaps his strongest emphasis was on the creation of a society, in India as well as other countries, based on equality, justice and fraternity of all people. As imperialism was the biggest hurdle in the realization of this goal then in India, he was very firmly committed to the complete independence of India from colonial rule and in fact his courageous actions, and those of his comrades and colleagues, helped to take the mainstream Congress party in this direction. He had a strong sense of history from his ever continuing readings and studies at a young age, and this brought him to a wider opposition of imperialism beyond just the freedom movement of his own country, even though India’s freedom was of course the objective dearest to his heart for which he lived, and died at a very young age.

The society based on justice and equality for which Bhagat Singh stood firmly had absolutely no room for discrimination, injustice or violence based on caste, religion, color or other such narrow identities. He spoke very strongly for the liberation agenda of dalits or the so-called lower castes and for the unity of people of all faiths. A society based on brotherhood and fraternity was what he desired, and he referred to the objective of fraternity of all humanity or university fraternity as the noblest objective. In this context he should be seen as a very strong supporter of world peace, the kind of justice based peace that can truly help to end destructive wars. Clearly even former exploiters like the colonialists could also be included in his fraternity once they gave up their exploitative and colonizing ways. Bhagat Singh was basically against all forms of exploitation. So apart from being opposed to all forms of imperialism, he was clearly also strongly in favor of some more enlightened form of socialist society which also values liberty and human rights.

It is on the basis of these basic commitments of Shahid Bhagat Singh that we should evaluate the efforts of various forces to claim his legacy and find out for ourselves how sincere these persons or organizations are.