Shaheed Diwas 2021 (Martyr’s Day 2021 ) Story of Bhagath Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar
23rd March, a day where we lost three extraordinary revolutionaries of India. This day is admired as Martyrs Day. It is celebrated to pay tribute to three heroes who were hanged to death by the British namely Bagath Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru. They were considered as the source of inspiration for the youth of India. During such a young age they stood forward for independence and fought with courage.
Bhagat Singh
On 27th September 1907, a baby boy was born in the village of Lahore who grew up to become a freedom fighter. Bhagath Singh hails from a family of revolutionaries. His father Sardar Kishan Singh and Uncle Swaran Singh were released from prison shortly after Bhagath Singh was born.
Bhagath Singh grew up wanting to fight the British. Being a child his only dream was freedom. At his young age itself, his idol was Kartar Singh, who was a 20-year-old martyr who sacrificed his life for independence. The issue of independence was never far from his mind especially when the Rowlatt Act was passed under which the government could imprison anyone without a trial. Numerous gatherings and protests took place. One such gathering took place in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh, where a massacre took place. The General Dyer forces shot the unarmed protestors which resulted in killing hundreds. The death of those people left an extreme impact on him. He joined the Hindustan Republic association and worked towards educating the peoples about the importance of independence. He started the Nav Jawan Bharat Sabha in Lahore.
He joined Lala Lajpat Rai in a protest against Simon Commission. The government ordered a baton charge. Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally injured and led to death. Together with his friends Rajgur and Chandrasekhar Azad he plotted to avenge Lajpat Rai’s death and went to Kolkata. He was against the regulations made for laborers. He joined Batukeshwar Dutt to create a smoke bomb that will not cause any harm. He planned to bomb the Central Assembly. Bhagath Singh and his associates Rajguru and Sukhdev were imprisoned and were shocked to see the condition of the Indian prisoners. He started an indefinite hunger strike and it continued for almost 64 days.
Bhagath Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev was ordered to be hanged on 24, March 1931. But the British were afraid of the protests and hanged him on 23rd March. But instead of trembling with fear at his imminent fate, he proudly embraced death. The raging spirit of Bhagath Singh had inspired millions around the nation to follow his path and win freedom. He sacrificed his life at the very young age of 23.
“They kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas”
Sukhdev Thapar
A freedom fighter who struck fear into the heart of the British Empire and infused new energy into India and anti-colonial activities. Sukhdev along with legendary Bhagath Singh and Rajguru sacrificed his life for the independence of India.
He was born on May 15 1907 in Ludhiana. Sukdev lost his father at the age of 3. Since then Lala Achint Ram took care of him. Young Sukhdev was reported to have been physically abused since childhood as he refused to salute British soldiers. He was highly influenced by the freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. Shaheed Sukhdev along with other eminent revolutionaries established Nav Jawan Bharat Sabha at Lahore. It was an organization to gear up the youth and went to educate them at the National College of Lahore. He was the chief of the Punjab unit of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA). He organized revolutionary cells in Punjab and other areas of north India to set India free from the shackles of the British.
Shaheed Sukhdev actively participated in numerous protests. One of the major hunger strikes by Shaheed Sukhdev was the prison hunger strike of 1929. The strike was against the discrimination of white prisoners and the native prisoners.
Due to his bombing in the Central Legislative assembly he along with legendary Bhagath Singh and Shaheed Shivaram Rajguru was sentenced to death at a very young age of 23.
Shivram Hari Rajguru
Shivaram Hari Rajguru, a middle-class man was born on 24th August 1908, at Khed in the Pune district of Maharashtra. Rajguru grew up by facing injustice and abuse from the British in India. These tortures built a strong desire in Rajguru to join the revolutionaries in their battle for India’s freedom. Chandrashekhar Azad was his role model. His inspiring words and his love towards the nation grasped Rajguru’s imagination and became a member of the HSRA.
He met Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev and they became friends with the same intentions. The Simon Commission arrived in India in February 1928, to suggest constitutional reforms. The prejudiced decision of not having a single Indian member in the Commission led to much anger and disappointment among Indians. Rajaguru had also accompanied Bhagath Singh and Sukhdev while seeking revenge for the death of the much-loved freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. The trio killed Assistant Superintendent of Police John Saunders, the British police officer who was responsible for the lathi charge and revenged.
Soon after, Bhagat Singh and fellow revolutionaries threw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly. They didn’t try to escape, instead, the plan was to get caught. They intended to use the court as a platform to advocate Indian independence and the young men were imprisoned.
Their vicious nationalism and sacrifice also aroused a lot of people to join and support the freedom movement. Thousands of people gathered at different places to pay homage to India’s beloved sons after they were hanged on March 23, 1931, and cremated on the banks of the Sutlej River in Punjab’s Hussainwala Shivaram Rajguru was only 22.
As Bhagat Singh himself said, “Bombs and pistols do not make revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas”.
The trio of these three revolutionaries will always remain as an icon for the youth of our country.
