Bhagat Singh was born on 28 September, 1907 at Banga, Lyallpur district, in a family which was already involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj.
Since his family was already supporting the freedom struggle, the spirit of patriotism flew in Bhagat Singh's blood.
At the mere age of 13, Bhagat Singh joined the freedom movements and made school his secondary choice.He followed Gandhi's non-cooperation movement till the time Gandhi withdrew the non-cooperation movement after the 'Chauri-Chaura' incident.
Bhagat Singh was unhappy with the decision and decided to isolate himself.
Bhagat Singh was a member of various radical groups like Hindustan Republic Association and had several contacts with the members of Kirti Kisan society.
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. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of revolution.
Subsequently they volunteered to surrender and be arrested.
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 of India, as well as a range of other memorials.
Bhagat Singh, as described by himself in ‘Why I Am An Atheist’ and in ‘The Letter To Young Revolutionaries,’ passed through the phases of being a Gandhian Nationalist to a Romantic Revolutionary, and then after coming under the influence of Terro-(or Anarcho-)Communism for a short period, finally became a convinced Marxist, a follower of Scientific Socialism.
Taking a cue from this, it is assumed that he became a Marxist after 1928 or in the last two years of his life when he was in the prison.
But one must note that underlying the transition from one political phase to another or underlying these breaks, we can discern a consistency and continuity in his ideological development.
Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary activist – and also as a young intellectual – was searching for an ideology and a world-view for human emancipation. This journey began right from his school days and gathered momentum after joining the National College, Lahore.
Bhagat Singh had apparently read a good number of files containing newspaper clippings about Sardar Ajitsingh, Lala Lajpatrai and also major political events, and at least 50 books and booklets, which were written by radicals like Sardar Ajitsingh, Soofi Amba Prasad and Lala Hardayal, on socio-political issues when he was in the Fourth Standard.
At the age of fourteen (1921), in a letter addressed to his Grandfather from DAV School, Lahore, Bhagat Singh wrote enthusiastically in reverse script about the preparations being made by the Railway men to go on strike.
This ideological development led him to become, in 1928, one of the leading persons to reconstitute the HRA (Hindustan Republican Association /Army) as HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association /Army) and this change did not occur at the spur of the moment or as some emotional or utopian outburst, but was a well-thought out strategic step.
And finally, he led the action of throwing harmless bombs in Constituent Assembly to register the protest against the anti-worker Trade Dispute Bill, and Public Safety Bill which was primarily directed against the Marxist/ Communist political activists coming in India from abroad.
This ideological evolution of Bhagat Singh is reflected in various facets of his thought and practice.
Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary not only announced that “when he is convinced of a scientific principle, he lives it." He understood the basic scientific principles and applied these to the realities around and was thus able to effect the direction and outcome of the events qualitatively.
As proclaimed by him that revolution is a social change and for that is only possible by a “Scientific, dynamic, social force“.
We can see that his transcendence to a revolutionary was complete.
Humanism is basic motive force of a revolutionary.
Since his family was already supporting the freedom struggle, the spirit of patriotism flew in Bhagat Singh's blood.
At the mere age of 13, Bhagat Singh joined the freedom movements and made school his secondary choice.He followed Gandhi's non-cooperation movement till the time Gandhi withdrew the non-cooperation movement after the 'Chauri-Chaura' incident.
Bhagat Singh was unhappy with the decision and decided to isolate himself.
Bhagat Singh was a member of various radical groups like Hindustan Republic Association and had several contacts with the members of Kirti Kisan society.
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. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of revolution.
Subsequently they volunteered to surrender and be arrested.
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 of India, as well as a range of other memorials.
Bhagat Singh, as described by himself in ‘Why I Am An Atheist’ and in ‘The Letter To Young Revolutionaries,’ passed through the phases of being a Gandhian Nationalist to a Romantic Revolutionary, and then after coming under the influence of Terro-(or Anarcho-)Communism for a short period, finally became a convinced Marxist, a follower of Scientific Socialism.
Taking a cue from this, it is assumed that he became a Marxist after 1928 or in the last two years of his life when he was in the prison.
But one must note that underlying the transition from one political phase to another or underlying these breaks, we can discern a consistency and continuity in his ideological development.
Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary activist – and also as a young intellectual – was searching for an ideology and a world-view for human emancipation. This journey began right from his school days and gathered momentum after joining the National College, Lahore.
Bhagat Singh had apparently read a good number of files containing newspaper clippings about Sardar Ajitsingh, Lala Lajpatrai and also major political events, and at least 50 books and booklets, which were written by radicals like Sardar Ajitsingh, Soofi Amba Prasad and Lala Hardayal, on socio-political issues when he was in the Fourth Standard.
At the age of fourteen (1921), in a letter addressed to his Grandfather from DAV School, Lahore, Bhagat Singh wrote enthusiastically in reverse script about the preparations being made by the Railway men to go on strike.
This ideological development led him to become, in 1928, one of the leading persons to reconstitute the HRA (Hindustan Republican Association /Army) as HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association /Army) and this change did not occur at the spur of the moment or as some emotional or utopian outburst, but was a well-thought out strategic step.
And finally, he led the action of throwing harmless bombs in Constituent Assembly to register the protest against the anti-worker Trade Dispute Bill, and Public Safety Bill which was primarily directed against the Marxist/ Communist political activists coming in India from abroad.
This ideological evolution of Bhagat Singh is reflected in various facets of his thought and practice.
Bhagat Singh as a revolutionary not only announced that “when he is convinced of a scientific principle, he lives it." He understood the basic scientific principles and applied these to the realities around and was thus able to effect the direction and outcome of the events qualitatively.
As proclaimed by him that revolution is a social change and for that is only possible by a “Scientific, dynamic, social force“.
We can see that his transcendence to a revolutionary was complete.
Humanism is basic motive force of a revolutionary.