March is the month of the Martyrdom. India’s most-beloved martyr, Bhagat Singh, was hanged at the age of 23 at Lahore Jail this day in 1931.
Bhagat Singh was an Indian socialist considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. Seeking revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the murder of British police officer John Saunders. He eluded efforts by the police to capture him. Soon after, together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he and an accomplice threw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly. The two men were arrested, as they had planned to be. Held on this charge, he gained widespread national support when he underwent a 116-day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for British and Indian political prisoners.
During this time, sufficient evidence was brought against him for a conviction in the Saunders case, after trial by a Special Tribunal and appeal at the Privy Council in England. He was convicted and subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder, aged 23. His legacy prompted youth in India to begin fighting for Indian independence and he continues to be a youth idol in modern India, as well as the inspiration for several films. He is commemorated with a large bronze statue in the Parliament, as well as a range of other memorials.
The Tribune carried the news of the execution as its flier in its edition published on March 25, 1931, brought out from Lahore.
The youth of India still draw tremendous amount of inspiration from Singh. He was voted the “Greatest Indian” in a poll by the Indian magazine India Today in 2008, ahead of Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi. During the centenary of his birth, a group of intellectuals set up an institution named Bhagat Singh Sansthan to commemorate him and his ideals.
Several films have been made capturing the life and times of Singh. The first is the long-ignored Shaheed-e-Azad Bhagat Singh (1954), followed by Shaheed Bhagat Singh (1963), starring Shammi Kapoor as Bhagat Singh. Two years later, Manoj Kumar portrayed Bhagat Singh in an immensely popular and landmark film, Shaheed. Three major films about Singh were released in 2002 but all were unsuccessful: Shaheed-E-Azam, 23 March 1931: Shaheed and The Legend of Bhagat Singh. The 2006 film Rang De Basanti is a film drawing parallels between revolutionaries of Bhagat Singh’s era and modern Indian youth.
In 2008, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), a non-profit organisation, co-produced a 40-minute documentary on Bhagat Singh entitled Inqilab, directed by Gauhar Raza. The trio have been an inspiration for a number of plays in India and Pakistan, that continue to attract crowds.
