Remembering Bhagat Singh: an iconic revolutionary from Punjab

March 23 is celebrated across Pakistan Day. It commemorates the historic Lahore Resolution of 1940 and displays the military and civilian resilience of the nation. One more reason that makes this date memorable is the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, an iconic figure in subcontinent’s struggle for independence.

Born on September 28, 1907, in Banga, now Pakistan’s Punjab, Bhagat Singh emerged as a fearless revolutionary in the face of British colonial rule, which tragically cut his life short but immortalised his memory for the generations to come.

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Through his actions and writings, Bhagat Singh left an indelible mark on the pages of history, symbolising the undying spirit of resistance against tyranny and injustice.

Bhagat Singh was hanged by the British on March 23, 1931, along with his comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev after being tried under charges of hatching a conspiracy against the British Raj.

Historical accounts write that on December 17, 1928, revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru shot and killed Police Assistant Superintendent John Saunders. This case was called the Lahore Conspiracy Case. However, there have been claims that Bhagat Singh was wrongly accused and eventually executed.

About a decade ago, the Lahore police had searched through the records of the Anarkali police station on the court’s order and managed to find the FIR of the murder of Saunders.

Written in Urdu, the FIR was registered with the Anarkali police station on December 17, 1928, at 4.30 PM against two ‘unknown gunmen’. The case was registered under Sections 302, 120 and 109 of the Indian Penal Code.

Media reports say that the special judges of the tribunal handling Bhagat Singh’s case sentenced him to death without hearing 450 witnesses in the case.

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Countless movies and cinematic accounts have immortalised the legacy of the young freedom fighter. In a popular Indian movie “Rang De Basanti”, an account is shared which says that it is reported that no magistrate at the time was willing to supervise Singh’s hanging as was required by law. The execution was supervised instead by an honorary judge, who also signed the three death warrants, as their original warrants had expired.

The jail authorities then broke a hole in the rear wall of the jail, removed the bodies, and secretly cremated the three men. Legend has, they shouted Inquilab Zindabad whilst holding arms all the way to the gallows, the slogan was raised by the whole prison; the walls started reverberating with the slogan.

All three comrades refused to have their heads covered and met death head on, Bhagat in a final letter to his brother, Kultar, he quoted the popular Urdu couplet: Khush raho ahle watan hum to safar karte hain (Goodbye, dear countrymen, we proceed on our journey).

Former Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, during an interview in 2006, recalled a childhood memory watching the burning pyre of Bhagat Singh on the banks of River Sutlej in 1931.

“Bhagat Singh and his two comrades were hanged on March 23, 1931 in Lahore Central Jail. They were hanged very hurriedly and silently so that the outside world wouldn’t know about the hanging,” recalled Gujral.

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Even though there were no 24×7 news channels and social media back in the day, news of their hanging and cremation became public and spread like a jungle fire. People of Lahore and nearby areas rushed to the spot to be part of the funeral. They were devastated to learn about their hero’s hanging.

“Despite the fact that India-Pakistan have so many outstanding issues to resolve, Bhagat Singh unifies people across the Radcliffe Line. He is definitely a hero in Punjab region of Pakistan too. This is not a small thing considering the fact that a non-Muslim does not get the status of hero there. Bhagat Singh was indeed an exception,” Gujral said while adding that it was heartening to see Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary and martyrdom being observed in Pakistan as well.