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| When Bhagat Singh kissed the gallows and embraced death |
The timing of Bhagat Singh's execution was somewhat unusual. The execution was not to be carried out early in the morning, but at 7:30 in the evening of March 23, i.e. after sunset.
The Chief Superintendent of Lahore Jail, Major PD Chopra, was walking towards the gallows, accompanied by a 23-year-old thin young man, Bhagat Singh, and two of his companions.
Deputy Jail Superintendent Muhammad Akbar Khan was trying hard to hold back his tears while watching this whole scene.
The man who headed for the gallows had probably become the most famous person in India at that time. Bhagat Singh was accompanied by his two colleagues Sukhdev and Rajguru.
All three had requested the British government that given their status as political prisoners, they should not be hanged like common criminals but should be shot dead.
But the British government rejected his request. Bhagat Singh was walking between the other two prisoners. Sukhdev was on his left and Rajguru on his right.
While walking, Bhagat Singh was singing a song 'Dil se nickle gi na mur ke bhi watan ki alfat, meri mati se bhi khushbooye watan aye.'' Both companions were joining their voices.
Bhagat Singh kissed the gallows before his execution. Satvendra Jas writes in his book 'The Execution of Bhagat Singh' that 'Bhagat Singh sacrificed his life for the country to realize this moment but he was waiting for this moment. It was planned. He put the noose around his own neck. After Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were also hanged.
Bhagat Singh's hands and feet were tied at the time of execution.
Kuldeep Nair writes in his book 'What Fair, The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh' that 'The executioner asked who will go first? Sukhdev replied I will go first. The executioner ordered the hanging three times in succession. The noose was pulled, after which the bodies of the three hung from the gallows for a long time.
After that, the doctors there declared him dead. A prison officer present was so impressed by the courage of these young revolutionaries that he refused to identify their bodies. He was immediately suspended.
The first plan was that the last rites of these three would be performed in the jail itself, but then it was thought that the crowd standing outside would get excited seeing the rising smoke. Therefore, it was decided that his last rites will be performed in Kasur district on the banks of Sutlej.
The back wall of the prison collapsed overnight. A truck was brought in from there. The bodies of these three were dragged and thrown into these trucks.
Manmath Nath Gupta writes in his book 'History of Indian Revolutionary Movement' that 'two priests were waiting for these bodies on the banks of river Sutlej. The bodies of these three were placed on a pyre and set on fire. After the burning pyre was extinguished in the morning, the half-burnt bodies were thrown into the river Sutlej.
Later this place was identified as Chowki No. 201. As soon as the police and the priest left, the villagers waded into the water. The body parts were removed from the water and then properly cremated.
Bhagat Singh and his accomplices were scheduled to be hanged on March 24 but were hanged 11 hours before the scheduled time. As soon as this news spread, there was a wave of outrage among the Indian people.
The New York newspaper "Daily Worker" described this execution as the bloodiest work of the British Labor government. Mahatma Gandhi, who was visiting Karachi during those days, was indirectly responsible for these executions.
Satvinder Singh writes that 'as soon as Gandhiji's train reached Karachi station, the protesters put black flowers in their hands in protest. He was alleged to have discussed the future of India with Lord Arun, but the condition of not executing Bhagat Singh was not given.
Jawaharlal Nehru certainly condemned these executions in strong terms.
Shri Ram Bakshi in his book 'Revolutionary and British Raj' writes that 'I admire the courage and sacrifice of a man like Bhagat Singh. Few people have courage like Bhagat Singh. The Viceroy would be mistaken if he thought we did not appreciate his courage. They should ask their hearts that if Bhagat Singh was an Englishman and had taken this step for England, what would he have done?
In the first decade of the twentieth century, the fire of rebellion against the British had spread throughout the country. Bhagat Singh's uncle Ajit Singh and father Kishan Singh were both members of the Ghadar Party.
On the day Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September 1907, his father and uncle were released from British prison.
Earlier Bhagat Singh's name was Bhaganlal. In 1923, he entered the National College, Lahore.
He was good at his studies. He was proficient in Urdu, Hindi, Gurmukhi, English, and Sanskrit languages.
In the year 1924, the family started pressuring them to get married.
After failing to convince his parents, Bhagat Singh left his home in Lahore and came to Kanpur.
There he worked in the weekly newspaper 'Pratap' of the famous freedom fighter Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. He used to write articles in this newspaper under the name Balwant.
In Kanpur, he met other freedom fighters Batukeshwar Dutt, Shiv Verma, and BK Sinha.
Ajay Ghosh has written in his book 'Bhagat Singh and His Comrades' that 'I was introduced to Bhagat Singh by Batkeshwar Dutt. He was tall and very thin in those days. The clothes were old and very quiet. He looked like an educated boy. They didn't have that much self-confidence. I didn't like them that much at first glance. I told this to Batukeshwar Dutt even after he left.
He further writes that 'within two years there was a drastic change in Bhagat Singh's personality. He became a very good orator. He used to speak with such power, passion, and sincerity that people could not help but follow him. He became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association in 1924. Chandrashekhar Azad was their leader and Bhagat Singh became very close to him.
In 1927, Bhagat Singh was arrested for the first time in connection with the Kakuri incident. In fact, he changed his name and wrote an article titled 'Vidrohi' in support of this incident.
He was also accused of a bomb blast at the Dussehra fair in Lahore. He was later released from jail on good behavior. When the Simon Commission came to India in the same year, Lala Lajpat Rai strongly opposed it.
During the protest, SPJA Scott ordered Lathi to charge the crowd. They saw Lala Lajpat Rai from a distance and started pelting him with sticks until he fell on the ground bleeding. Before collapsing, he shouted, "Every stick we get will be a nail in the coffin of the British Empire."
Jawaharlal Nehru condemned this act of the police and called it a 'national shame'. Lala Lajpat Rai died on 17 November. On December 10, 1928, a meeting of revolutionaries from across the country was held in Lahore, which was presided over by Durga Devi, wife of Bhagwati Charan Vohra.
In this meeting, it was decided that Lalaji's death would be avenged. Bhagat Singh and his colleagues wanted to tell the world that India would not tolerate Lalaji's death in silence.
It was decided that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Chandrasekhar Azad, and Jai Gopal would join together in the plan to kill SP Scott. The revolutionaries first visited the place where they were going to kill Scott.
Bhagat Singh produced a red border poster with the words 'Scott Killed' written on it. Later, this handwritten poster was used as evidence against him in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
Jai Gopal, a young colleague, was given the responsibility to tell the trio when Scott arrived at the police station. The number plate of Scott's car was 6728. Jai Gopal was told to memorize this number.
What was surprising was that Jai Gopal had never seen Scott before. Scott did not come to the police station that day. He had taken a day off because his mother-in-law was to come to Lahore from Britain on that day.
When Assistant SP JP Sanders came out of the police station, Jai Gopal thought it was Scott. He gave this information to Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. In the afternoon, when Sanders was coming out of the police station and starting his motorcycle, Rajguru shot him with a German Mauser pistol.
Bhagat Singh kept shouting 'No, no, no he's not Scott' but by then it was too late. When Sanders fell, Bhagat Singh also fired a few shots at his body.
As per the pre-arranged plan, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru ran towards DAV College. There Chandrasekhar Azad had taken a position to cover him.
Freedom fighter Shiv Verma writes in his book that when Bhagat Singh and Rajguru were running away after killing Sanders, a head constable Chanan Singh started chasing them. They did not stop even after Azad screamed, so Rajguru shot them too. At that time, many people were watching this scene from the window of the hostel. One of them was Faiz Ahmed Faiz who later became a great poet.
The next day, posters in red ink were found plastered on the walls of the city, saying 'Sanders is dead'. Lala Lajpat Rai has been avenged. It was impossible to leave Lahore after Sanders' murder. Police were stationed in every corner of the city.
Bhagat Singh cut his hair before killing Sanders. The police did not know about his new attire as they were looking for a Sikh youth with hair and a beard. It was decided that Bhagat Singh would wear the same clothes and board the train. Durga Bhabhi will become his wife.
In his book 'Bhagat Singh the Eternal Rebel', Malvinderjit Singh Barich writes that 'Bhagat Singh was wearing an overcoat and a cap. He had also raised the collar of his coat. He was carrying Durga Bhabhi's son. Bhagat Singh and Durga Bhabhi were in first class while Rajguru was traveling in third class disguised as a servant. Both had loaded revolvers.
After alighting at Lucknow station, he spent a few hours in the waiting room of the station. From here the Rajguru moved to the other side and Bhagat Singh and Durga Bhabhi proceeded to Calcutta where Durga Bhabhi's husband Bhagwati Charan Vohra was already present.
After staying in Calcutta for a few days, Bhagat Singh came to Agra where he rented two houses in the 'Hung Ki Mandi' area. A meeting was held in Agra by Bhagat Singh and his colleagues in which there was a great discussion about the consequences of Sanders' murder. Everyone was sure that the assassination did not have the effect they were all expecting. He expected that a large number of British would leave India due to this fear.
Two bills were to be considered in the Assembly these days. There was a Public Safety Bill that gave the government the right to arrest anyone without trial The second was the Trade Disputes Bill, which prohibited trade unions from going on strike.
On April 8, the day the bills were to be tabled, Bhagat Singh and Batkeshwar Dutt arrived in the central assembly gallery wearing khaki shirts and shorts. At that time many big leaders like Vitthalbhai Patel, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Motilal Nehru were present in the assembly.
Kuldeep Nair writes that Bhagat Singh carefully detonated the bomb at a place where no member of the assembly was present. As soon as the bomb went off, the whole hall went dark. Batkeshwar Dutt threw the second bombshell. Then paper pamphlets started flying from the audience gallery to the assembly. The members of the assembly heard the slogans of 'Inqilab Zindabad' and 'Long live the proletariat'.
On these pamphlets, it was written that 'the deaf need a loud voice to hear.' Both Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt did not try to escape from there. It was already decided that he would give his arrest.
That's when Bhagat Singh surrendered. It was the same pistol that killed Sanders. They knew that the pistol would be the biggest piece of evidence implicating them in Sanders' murder.
Both were taken to different police stations. Bhagat Singh was brought to the Central Police Station and Batukeshwar Dutt to the Chandni Chowk Police Station. His aim was to interrogate both of them separately to find out the truth.
Bhagat Singh and Batokeshwar Dutt were sentenced to life imprisonment for the act, but Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were sentenced to death for Sanders' murder.
A few days before Bhagat Singh's execution, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya sent a telegram to Viceroy Lord Arun demanding that Bhagat Singh's death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. But his request was rejected.
The day after the execution, there was a strike in the whole of Lahore. A condolence procession was taken out from Neela Gumbad in his memory. The location was very close to where Sanders was shot.
Thousands of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs took part in the three-mile-long procession. Men wore black bands on their arms while women protested by wearing black sarees. After passing through the mall, the entire procession halted in the middle of the Pomegranate Bazaar.
Then it was announced that Bhagat Singh's entire family had reached Lahore from Ferozepur with the ashes of the three martyrs.
Three hours later, three coffins laden with flowers became part of the procession. Everyone there had tears in their eyes.
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, editor of an Urdu newspaper read a poem on this occasion. Charat Singh, the warden of the jail where Bhagat Singh was hanged, slowly walked towards his room and began to cry profusely.
In his thirty-year career, he had seen many people hanged. But no one embraced death like Bhagat Singh and his two companions.
After 16 years, 4 months, and 23 days of Bhagat Singh's death, India became independent and the British had to leave the region forever.