Born: 27th September 1907
Died: 23rd March 1931
Shaheed Bhagat Singh the revolutionary hero of the Independence movement was born on 27th September 1907, in Punjab to Kishan Singh and Vidyavati. His birth coincided with the release of his father and two uncles, some of his family members were active in Indian Independence movements, others had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army.
Unlike other Sikh children, Bhagat Singh did not attend the Khalsa High School, instead, he joined the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High School, which was an Arya Samaji institution and which greatly influenced him throughout his life. At the age of 12, his first engagement with the spirit of revolution happened when he went to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. At the age of 14, he became one of the protestors in his village, and then, there was no looking back. Later, he joined the Young Revolutionary Movement and contributed to the violent depose of the British Government in India. In 1923 Singh joined the National College at Lahore. He was a bright student who won various awards and recognitions. In Amritsar, he worked as a writer and editor for the newspaper of Punjabi and Urdu language, publishing socialist theories. The slogan “Inquilab zindabad” (“Long live the revolution”) was written by an Urdu poet and freedom fighter Maulana Hasrat Mohani, and which was popularized by the writings and speeches of Bhagat Singh during the late 1920s. In 1928, Bhagat Singh planned to kill the police chief responsible for the death of Indian writer and politician Lala Lajpat Rai, one of the founders of National College, during a silent march combating the Simon Commission. Due to mistaken identity, a junior officer (J.P. Saunders) was killed, and Bhagat Singh escaped to Lahore. In 1929, Bhagat Singh and one of his associates threw a bomb at the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi to protest the execution of the Defence of Indian Act and surrendered. In 1931, on this day i.e., 23rd March, he was hanged along with his friends Rajguru and Sukhdev, for being involved in dramatic violence against the British. Independence was so precious to him that he smiled happily while laying down his life for the nation.
Swami Vivekanand Subharti University remembers the great folk hero who is known to nearly every person, adults and children for his courage, conviction and sacrifice.
