Bhagat Singh

The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 deeply impacted Bhagat Singh’s mind and at the tender age of 13, he turned freedom fighter. He ran away from home to escape marriage, and enrolled with Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Along with Chandrashekar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Bhagat's revolutionary activities became the stuff of folklore.

To counter the revolutionaries, the British enacted the draconian Defence of India Act. Bhagat and Batukeshwar Dutt threw non-lethal bombs and leaflets, in the assembly, stating that ‘it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear’ and that ‘It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas’.

Bhagat was a voracious reader and a very expressive writer. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers. His philosophical and political thinking is found in the diary he wrote in prison. When accused of vanity of not seeking salvation in the face of death, he wrote ‘Why I am an atheist’.

Bhagat Singh remains an inspirational icon but more as an image of a young martyr. We can keep him alive by aligning to his thoughts (found in his writings) that reflect a vision and mission to create a fair, just and humane world. But, the biggest lesson from Bhagat is to pursue the call of our thoughts.

So often, we play blind, deaf and dumb to our own thoughts. We see wrongs happening, but choose to be indifferent. We want to do the needful, but we hold back. We must remember that Bhagat made a difference because he chose not to wait!  We must remember that he died at only 23 years of age.

Thoughts that hold us back should not matter…
We must walk Bhagat Singh talk NOW, not later!

- Pravin K. Sabnis