23rd March every year is the most sentimental day especially for we Punjabis and also for whole of our nation when young trio Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed to death by Britishers in Lahore jail this day in the year 1931.They were in their twenties. Nation wept and anguish was widespread then.
But, today even after 94 years of their martyrdom the towering message of communal harmony, justice and economic liberty given by their struggle stands as tall and conspicuous as it was then. Rather it is more relevant as country is facing complex socio-political- economic shackles which are accentuated by global free economy. We lament them martyrdom even more today.
Sukhdev was born on 15th May,1907 in Naughara Mohalla in Ludhiana and Bhagat Singh, born on 27th Sep.1907 in a village Banga, District Lyallpur (Chack No.105 RB) which is now part of Pakistan after our Punjab’s unfortunate partition in 1947 at the time of independence. Due to death of his father when Sukhdev was at tender age of 4, his mother moved family to Lyallpur to live in the care of Lala Chint Ram Thapar, paternal uncle at Lyallpur who was a respected nationalist.
S. Ajit Singh, a prominent freedom fighter (Bhagat Singh’s paternal uncle) had proximity with Shere-e-Punjab Lala Lajpat Rai as both were foremost in the then Undivided Punjab’s agitations against the British rulers’ dictates of excessive land revenues and irrigation rates, particularly protests in the year beginning 2007. Lala Chint Ram was also their trusted compatriot as he supported them and also collected funds for many a meeting.
Thus, martyrs’ families knew each other and these children ever since their early childhood and school days watched the freedom movement activities of elders. Bhagat Singh as a child was often taken to many a conferences and rallies in which other senior freedom fighters addressed. Sukhdev, had studied in a Lyallpur school where once he refused to give Salami (Salute) to a British inspector. He often collected
Rani Laxmi Bai (of 1857 fame Gadar Movement) portraits.
Bhagat Singh’s family shifted to Nawankot near Lahore where it had some land. He was admitted first in Khalsa High School but later his father preferred DAV School, Lahore from where he completed his Matriculation Examination. He then joined the National College at Lahore where Punjab Kesri Lala Lajpat Rai was one among prominent in the management. Sukhdev meanwhile had completed his education from Sanatan Dharm High School in Layalpur in 1922. This city had no college then. Sukhdev prevailed upon his uncle for admission in National College, Lahore where Bhagat Singh had got admitted. In fact, this college had wards of all the nationalists who were in the fore front in the then Non-Cooperation Movement of Mahatma Gandhi against the Britishers.
They read and discussed literature of other countries freedom movements hours together. The librarian of Dwarka Das Library at Lahore provided all such books as were asked for by these ardent revolutionary students. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Bhagwati Charan formed a study circle with other likeminded students. Bhagat Singh was an avid reader ahead of his companions. National College teachers too influenced them in their inclinations to join freedom struggle full-fledged. The backdrop of the 1915 Lahore Conspiracy Case ( Ist ) in which Kartar Singh Sarabha, a key figure in the Ghadar Party, was executed for his role in the conspiracy has shaken the young minds. Further, the teenage anguish which these young men were nursing against the firing incident of Jallianbagh Targedy on 13th April,1919 at Amritsar earlier changed their future course of life completely later. Thus, the year 1925 and 1926 in the college shaped them to play a bigger role. The families of martyrs could not resist hem and they refused to marry too.
Bhagat Singh secretly came in support of Kakori Conspiracy Case’s young prisoners of Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) of train robbery of government cash that took place at Kakori, near Lucknow in 1925 as they wanted to fund their struggle. He spent time at Kanpur and Lucknow. Back to Lahore he with other young men formed The Naujawan Bharat Sabha at Lahore with the main aim of awakening political consciousness in the people of Punjab and mobilized the youth, peasants and workers towards the nationalist movement. They distributed literature of their activities. The British CID too kept eye on them but, they operated secretly.
When the Simon Commission from UK visited Lahore on 30th October 1928, Lajpat Rai in a non-violent march gave the slogan “Simon Go Back!”. The police superintendent in Lahore, James A. Scott, ordered lathi charge and personally assaulted Rai to which Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev were a witness to that incident. Later Lajpat Rai had died. The youth in this group pledged to avenge. The revolutionaries’ group of Rajguru, Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad plotted to kill Scott to send a message to the British government However, in a case of mistaken identity, Bhagat Singh was signaled to shoot John P. Saunders, an assistant superintendent of the Lahore Police. He was shot by Rajguru and Singh while leaving the District Police Headquarters in Lahore on 17 December 1928. All these young men hoodwinked police and left in the evening train to Calcutta the next day in disguising and could not be caught.
In the year 1929, the British Government in India tried to pass two bills -The Trade Disputes Bill and the Public Safety Bill in the Delhi Assembly. The sole motive of Britishers’ bill was to restrict activities of revolutionaries. All nationalist opposed the bill. The youthful members of HSRA decided to mark their symbolic protest by raising their voice by exploding 2 bombs in the Assembly Chamber on 8th April,1929. The task was given to Bhagat Singh and B K Dutt. Here this is pertinent to add that other members of HSRA were opposed to exposing and sending of Bhagat Singh for the task knowing well that he was already involved in Saundras killing at Lahore. But it was Sukhdev who annoyingly prevailed upon committee ultimately to send Bhagat Singh in the assembly blast task as he was always confident about Bhagat Singh’s meticulous execution. After throwing bombs and throwing leaflets they shouted ‘Inquilab Jindabaad ”. Both were arrested as they did not run to escape. Incidentally, Sukhdev who was monitoring all operations bicycled parallel to police motorcade in Delhi on that day and later slipped to Lahore where he was arrested from his hideout room . Police got convinced that the mastermind was Sukhdev as from the room some ammunition too was recovered.
The case’s first information report (FIR), was submitted in April 1929 by Hamilton Harding, Senior Superintendent of Police. The case came to be known as 1929 Lahore Conspiracy Case which was officially titled as “Crown versus Sukhdev and others.” The case file mentioned him as Swami alias peasant, son of Ram Lal, of Thapar Khatri caste. All the arrested revolutionaries including Bhagat Singh & B K Dutt were brought to Lahore Central Jail as police strongly believed that conspiracy of their activities was originally hatched in Lahore itself. In this jail, the revolutionaries also went on hunger strike for several days and they were violently forced fed. They were beaten too in the jail. But they kept insisting for same treatment as was given to prisoners of wars arguing that they are waging war against The Crown to free their nation. They spoke their anger to the judges.
The Special Tribunal cunningly formed for the case too regarded Sukhdev to be the brain of the conspiracy with Bhagat Singh as his right arm who both brought expert marksman Rajguru in their plans for the shooting that killed Saunders. A quick judgement of death sentence to the revolutionaries which was ultimately passed on 7th October,1930 unfortunately.
Hanging of martyrs was planned on the morning of 24th March,1931. But, sensing trouble outside jail, the authorities preponed the previous evening of 23rd March. The relatives of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev reached to meet them before hanging. For Sukhdev only his mother Ralidai Thapar and brother Mathuradas Thapar were allowed, whereas uncle Lala Chintram was not allowed to see him despite having carried a letter from Chief Secretary Punjab. Families were not given a fair trial and the trio of Bhagat Singh , Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged
The martyrs struggled together and they died together. There are many a documented anecdotes of their bonds when both Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev argued between themselves and later wept to each other to reconcile. Any effort by vested interests to divide then in martyrdom must be despised.
Brij Bhushan Goyal, Ludhiana—A Social Activist & A Sr. Citizen
