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Understanding Bhagat Singh
V.N. Datta
Bhagat Singh
greatly valued criticism and the spirit of self-examination. He
thought that nobody was infallible, not even Mahatma Gandhi who was
followed blindly. He was attracted neither by the Hindu notion of
rebirth nor the Muslim promise of a paradise. As a redist, his eyes
were fixed on the liberation of the poor from the fetters of
exploitation and oppression. In other words, his religion was
liberty
On
the 100th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, which is being
celebrated in the country this year, a number of books are being
published to perpetuate and honour his memory. It is heartening
indeed that K.C. Yadav, a reputed historian on Haryana history, with
the assistance of Bhagat Singh’s nephew, Babbar Singh, has brought
out these four studies. Bipan Chandra’s introduction to the volume
is scintillating and lucid.
Bhagat Singh’s work, Why I am an Atheist, is remarkable indeed that
a youth of barely 23 could write such a revelatory composition of
his intellectual evolution from his experience of a profound
religiosity to complete agnosticism. To this end Bhagat Singh made
his journey in quite a spirited manner. He wrote his essay Why I am
an Atheist in the Central Jail, a few days before he was to be
executed on March 31, 1931. The essay was handed over to his father,
Kishan Singh, after his death. It was published in The People on
September 27, 1931.
Bhagat Singh confesses that he was not studious, and that his
reading was desultory, but very discriminating. Whatever he read, he
assimilated with care, reflected on it, and drew his conclusions
from it. He recognised the potentiality of religion as a source of
arousing the spirit of patriotism, the task which Sachindranath
Sanyal, the author of Bandi Jevan, had undertaken.
It
is clear from Bhagat Singh’s essay that he turned into a confirmed
atheist after reading Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. But he tells us that
it was none too easy for him to be a non-believer, as he was often
torn by serious conflicts. He was subjected to untold harassment by
the police. Lying in prison, he could find consolation in prayers
and meditation. However, the pulls of rationality saved him from
falling into the pit of self-delusion. He decided to stand on his
own, depended on no one, not even on God whom he called ‘artificial
crutches’.
Bhagat Singh greatly valued criticism and the spirit of
self-examination. He thought that nobody was infallible, not even
Mahatma Gandhi who was followed blindly. He was attracted neither by
the Hindu notion of rebirth nor the Muslim promise of a paradise. As
a redist, his eyes were fixed on the liberation of the poor from the
fetters of exploitation and oppression. In other words, his religion
was liberty, his God was Socialism, and his slogan was Inquilab
Zindabad.
 Though the editors have included in the volume the extracts on
Bhagat Singh and his ideology from the writings and speeches of
political leaders and the national press, the exclusion of the Congress Resolution on Bhagat Singh at Karachi (1931) and Jinnah’s
defence of Bhagat Singh in the Central Assembly is baffling.
The
Fragrance of Freedom is a collection of the principal writings of
Bhagat Singh except the last three party manifestoes, which bear the
imprint of his revision. This is a handy volume of hearing Bhagat
Singh’s own voice and knowing his personality. In Section 3, Bhagat
Singh presents the pen-portraits of some of the prominent
revolutionaries who had died for the love of their country.
Originally published in Kirti (March 1928), his account of Madan Lal
Dhingra and his execution of Sir Curzon Willie, broadly speaking, is
amazingly accurate. He is absolutely right that it was Veer Savarkar
who had inspired Dhingra to do the deed. He also gives an extract of
Dhingra’s statement that he had made before he was hanged, and which
Winston Churchill was to describe as one of the finest ever made in
patriotic literature.
In
another article published in Chand (November 1928), Bhagat Singh
draws a vivid and sensitive picture of the revolutionary activities
of Sufi Amba Prasad, Ajit Singh, Lajpat Rai and Ram Bhaj Dutt in the
Agrarian movement launched against Sir Danziel Ibbetan’s policy of
discriminating against the peasantry. During the Agrarian
disturbances, ‘Pagri sambhal o Jatta’, a popular song, was on the
lips of almost every peasant in the Punjab. In another article,
Bhagat Singh pays an eloquent tribute to the sacrifices of Bhai
Balmukund Chibber who was involved in the Delhi conspiracy case, and
was hanged on May 11, 1915. Bhai Balmukund was the first cousin of
the firebrand revolutionary, Bhai Permanand.
Bhagat Singh: Making of a Revolution is an extremely valuable
collection of illuminating articles written by some of the leading
intellectuals and public men, including Ajay Ghosh, Shiva Verma,
Yash Pal and Sohan Singh Josh. The whole volume serves as an
intellectual fare providing a first-class material for understanding
Bhagat Singh’s ideology and multifaceted personality.
Ajay Ghosh was a co-accused in the Lahore conspiracy case who later
became general secretary of the Communist Party. He gives an
authentic account of the last days of Bhagat Singh’s interest in
Socialism, Ghosh wrote that it would be an exaggeration to say that
Bhagat Singh became a Marxist, though he began to stress the need of
armed action as an integral part
 of mass movement. He laments that
to save Bhagat Singh could not be made one of the conditions of the
Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
Dilating on his long association with Bhagat Singh, Sohan Singh Josh
provides a detailed account of Bhagat Singh’s ideology, and the
various influences that had led to its formations. Contrary to Ajay Ghosh’s views, Sohan Singh Josh thinks that Bhagat Singh was a
full-fledged Communist committed to the orthodox ideals of Marxism.
The
final volume is a reprint of Jitendra Nath Sanyal’s biography of
Bhagat Singh published first in 1931. The British Government had
banned this book and threw the author into jail. This work has a
contemporary ring.
These four elegantly and carefully produced volumes offer a rich
reading material for understanding the ideology, sacrifice and
personality of a great patriot Bhagat Singh who faced the gallows
with a smile on his face for the love of his country.
21 March, 2007
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