Biography of Bhagat Singh

History of Bhagat singh, get detailed information

Wednesday, 23rd June 2021

Early Years

Bhagat Singh was the second son of Kishan Singh and Vidya Vati, and was born on September 27, 1907, to a Sikh family in Punjab, India (now Pakistan). The family was deeply rooted in nationalism and actively participated in independence struggles. His father was imprisoned for political activism at the time of Bhagat's birth.

Bhagat Singh was well aware of this family's revolutionary actions by the time he was 13 years old. Singh dropped out of school and enrolled in the National College in Lahore, where he studied European revolutionary movements when his father became a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's call for a boycott of government-aided institutions. He became disillusioned with Gandhi's nonviolent struggle over time, feeling that military conflict was the only way to achieve political freedom.

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In his youth

Bhagat Singh established the Naujavan Bharat Sabha (Indian Youth Society) in 1926 and joined the Hindustan Republican Association (later known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association), where he met several renowned revolutionaries. Singh's parents planned to marry him a year later, which he flatly refused, and he dropped out of school.

Bhagat Singh had become a police target by this time, and he was imprisoned in May 1927 for allegedly being engaged in a bombing the previous October. After a few weeks, he was liberated and began writing for numerous revolutionary newspapers. He returned to Lahore after receiving guarantees from his parents that he would not be forced to marry.

Radical Revolutionary

The Simon Commission was established by the British government in 1928 to discuss Indian autonomy. Because the Commission had no Indian representatives, some Indian political organizations boycotted the gathering. Lala Lajpat Rai, a comrade of Bhagat Singh, led a protest march against the Commission in October. The superintendent of police, James A. Scott, was hurt during the melee when police sought to disperse the massive gathering. Rai died two weeks later from cardiac issues. Any impropriety on the part of the British government was denied.

Bhagat Singh and two others planned to assassinate the police superintendent to avenge his friend's death, but instead shot and killed police officer John P. Saunders. Despite a large search for Singh and his co-conspirators, they eluded arrest. To protest the execution of the Public Safety Bill, Bhagat Singh and an associate attacked the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi in April 1929. The bombs they carried were supposedly meant to terrify people rather than kill them (no one was killed, though there were some injuries). The bombers intended to be apprehended and tried in order to forward their cause.

Arrest and Prosecution

The young revolutionaries' actions were roundly denounced by Gandhi's followers, but Bhagat Singh was overjoyed to have a platform to preach his cause. During the trial, he gave no defense and instead disrupted the proceedings with rants on political orthodoxy. He was found guilty and given a life sentence.

Police uncovered a link between Bhagat Singh and the murder of Officer Saunders after further inquiry, and he was re-arrested. He went on a hunger strike in prison while awaiting trial. Singh and his co-conspirators were eventually prosecuted and sentenced to death. On March 23, 1931, he was executed. He is reported to have kissed the noose of the hangman before it was hung around his neck. His demise elicited a range of reactions across India. Gandhi's detractors thought he was too extreme and harmed the cause of independence, while his followers saw him as a martyr. Singh continues to be a prominent, if divisive, role in India's independence movement.

The News Talkie Bureau

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