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| Revolutionary reader | | Bhagat Singh birth centenary | |
by M.M. Juneja
Among the revolutionaries of India, Bhagat Singh is probably the most popular. On his martyrdom, he was praised even by Mahatma Gandhi, stating: “The grave blunder committed by the Government has increased our power of winning the freedom for which Bhagat Singh and his comrades - Sukhdev and Rajguru - have died.”
Bhagat Singh was different from other revolutionaries who had attained martyrdom earlier. He was not only a martyr, but a thinker too. He was not just a man, but a movement. Though he was an average student at school and college, he had a passion for reading since his early days. We are yet to come across a book-lover of Bhagat Singh’s repute in the history of the modern world. His friends often asserted that had he not become a revolutionary, he would have become a university professor. Endorsing this fact, a few examples may be cited here.
l One of his intimate comrades, Shiv Verma, states: “Bhagat Singh always moved with a small portable library. I don’t remember even a single occasion when Bhagat Singh was not carrying some books. I have seen him ill-clad and almost in rags, but even then he carried some book in his pocket.
l Bhagat Singh was arrested on 8 April 1929, sentenced to death on 7 October 1930 and he kissed the gallows on 23 March 1931. He was thus in jail for 715 days, out of which 166 days were as a prisoner sentenced to death. During his imprisonment, according to one estimate, he read nearly 300 books. The secret supply by the Dwarkadass Library (Lahore) could not keep pace with his speed of reading. He requisitioned books so frequently that it was a problem for the jail authorities to scrutinise them.
l Let us now cite the most touching example of his passion for books. Pran Nath Mehta, Bhagat Singh’s lawyer, was allowed to meet him a few hours before the hanging. Bhagat Singh was then pacing up and down in the cell like a lion in a cage. He welcomed Mr Mehta with a broad smile and asked him whether he had brought his book, The Revolutionary Lenin.
When Mr Mehta gave the book, he was very happy and began reading it as if he was conscious that he did not have much time left. Soon after Mr Mehta’s departure, the jail authorities told Bhagat Singh that the time of hanging had been advanced by eleven hours. By then, Bhagat Singh had hardly finished a few pages of the book. Manmathnath Gupta, a close associate of Bhagat Singh, writes:
“When called upon to mount the scaffold, Bhagat Singh was reading a book by Lenin or on Lenin. He continued his reading and said, “Wait a while. A revolutionary is talking to another revolutionary.” There was something in his voice which made the executioners pause. Bhagat Singh continued to read. After a few moments, he flung the book towards the ceiling and said, “Let us go”.
Apart from being a unique book-lover, Bhagat Singh was exceedingly bold and brave.
l In one of his hearings in the court, the handcuffed Bhagat Singh, while chatting with one of his comrades, started laughing loudly. The duty magistrate took objection and asked Bhagat Singh: Why are you laughing? Thereupon Bhagat Singh stood ringing his handcuffs, and said “Dear Magistrate, if you can’t tolerate my laughing at this moment, what will happen to you when I will laugh even on the scaffold?”
l Ultimately, the judgment of death sentence was conveyed to Bhagat Singh on 7 October 1930. He then recited the following couplet of Saint Kabir: “Jis marne te jag dare, mere man anand, Marne te hi paiye puran parmanand!”
l On reaching the scaffold on the fateful evening of 23 March 1931, Bhagat Singh told the British Magistrate proudly: “You are really fortunate that you are witnessing how Indian revolutionaries march to their death!”
l At the young age of just 23 years, 5 months and 25 days, Bhagat Singh was hanged to death (he was born on 28 September 1907). The whole country was clamouring to save Bhagat Singh, but he himself wanted to be sacrificed on the altar of freedom. Generally speaking, people cling to life, but here was a young man in his early 20s, full of youth and vigour, who wanted to ring down the curtain of his life to have a rendezvous with death for the good of his beloved country.
Bhagat Singh was not only a martyr of the first rate, but a great ideologue of the day too. Having gone through the pages of the literature of the East and the West alike, he had developed his own views on different problems of the world, especially India. He was perhaps the only example in the history of the world who critically studied the works of the great thinkers and philosophers till the moment of hanging.
By doing so, Bhagat Singh wanted to give a foolproof model to his beloved country, rather to the whole world, so that it could be free from the exploitation of man by man and nation by nation. Endorsing this fact, his niece Ms. Virendra Sindhu befittingly writes: “Phansi par jhoolne se pahale, Bhagat Singh samaj ko ek nayee samaj-vyavastha ka pura chitra pradhaan karna chahte the.”
“Was Bhagat Singh satisfied with his sacrifice?” Not at all! It is obvious from the following letter which he wrote to his intimate comrade B.K. Dutt a few days before his martyrdom:
“ I do not want to live with my freedom curbed. If I die wreathed with smiles, Indian mothers would wish their children to emulate Bhagat Singh, and thus the number of formidable freedom fighters would increase so much that it would be impossible for the satanic forces of imperialism to stop and stem the march of revolution. Of course, there lingers a hidden hankering in my heart that I have not accomplished even a thousandth part of what I proposed to do. Could I live, may be I could get the opportunity to fulfil the tasks and thus be happy.”
Bhagat Singh kissed the gallows heroically, but died dissatisfied. Thus, we can ask ourselves, “Can we fulfil the unaccomplished task left by Bhagat Singh? It is true that our nation is now free from British Imperialism, but we still need the courage and commitment of men like Bhagat Singh in the process of protecting our freedom from the enemies who are widening the gulf between the haves and have nots and disturbing our communal harmony.
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