Shaheed Bhagat Singh's birth anniversary: 8 facts about the jewel of Indian freedom struggle

Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the legendary revolutionary, continues to inspire young people in modern independent India. Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907, in Banga, Punjab, British India, into a Sikh family. His birth anniversary is widely celebrated across the country.

Here are some facts about the jewel of the Indian freedom struggle

1. In his early days, Bhagat Singh was a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of non-violence.

2. Singh was a Marxist, influenced by the writings of Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Mikhail Bakunin.

3. He founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, a socialist organization with the goal of overthrowing British rule in India, in March 1926. He was arrested and charged in 1927 in connection to the Lahore bombing case, which occurred in 1926. He was released after five weeks.

4. He founded the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) in 1928, which eventually evolved into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA). 

5. In 1928, a protest march organized by freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai against the British Simon Commission in Lahore was met with a baton charge by police, resulting in Rai's severe injury and death. Singh devised a plan to kill police superintendent James Scott and avenge Rai's death with the help of HSRA members Sukhdev, Rajguru, and Chandrashekhar Azad.

6. On December 17, 1928, they carried out their plan at the district police headquarters in Lahore, but they later realized that they had wrongly killed Scott's assistant John P. Saunders.

7. Inspired by French anarchist Auguste Vaillant's bombing of the Chamber of Deputies in 1893, Singh devised a strategy to oppose the Public Safety Bill and Trade Dispute Bill in the Central Legislative Assembly. Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt tossed bombs in the Assembly on April 8, 1929. They wanted to intimidate the British and not kill anyone, but some members were injured. 

8. Singh and Dutt did not flee after throwing the bombs but stood there shouting 'Inquilab Zindabad.' They were arrested and sentenced to life in prison. Singh, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev, were executed on March 23, 1931. The 23rd of March is designated as 'Shaheed Diwas' to honour the trio.

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