Nihil

On the occasion of 108th Birth Anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, its high time to remember what we have actually done to honour him and whether we, the people of the subcontinent who claim to feel proud of him, have failed to live up his ideas ~ making him just a fashion statement?

The irony is that while most of the youth call him their inspiration, hardly any bother to know for what beliefs he lived and died; what was his ideology. 

Singh was not just a patriot. There were many before and after him who sacrificed their lives. Rather what makes him special among all the patriots was his vision, with a clear perception of independent India. But in the ensuing enthusiasm, most of the people forget, or consciously ignore his contributions as an intellectual and a thinker. For most, his contribution is just that he was executed for the cause of independence.

But while looking at his beliefs, things are much deeper. To take an example, before enrollment in Naujawan Bharat Sabha, which he founded in 1926 in Lahore, he asked the aspiring members “to sign a pledge that he would place the interests of his country above those of his community”.

Even Lala Lajpat Rai, the pillar of extremist nationalism in India, could not escape from the scathing criticism of Singh when he joined hands with the Hindu Mahasabha leaders. Notably, Singh was involved in the murder of British police officer John Saunders, responsible for Rai’s death. This clearly shows that Sigh was not just seeking independence for India (at any cost), rather he had a vision for the country where hardcore religious sentiments leading to communalism, regionalism and exploitation had no space.

“By ‘Revolution’, we mean the ultimate establishment of an order of society which may not be threatened by such breakdown, and in which the sovereignty of the proletariat should be recognized and a world federation should redeem humanity from the bondage of capitalism and misery of imperial wars.”

But the youths today claim to follow Singh on one hand and praise India’s stand in Kashmir, Manipur and Red corridor on the other; hail Singh on one hand and RSS on the other. And BJP’s student wing ABVP, even goes on to use Singh’s pictures on its banners and pamphlets. The worst picture is in the terms of Left ideology in the subcontinent. Not even ten percent youths believe in this ideology (not the Left parties), which advocates for equality and sovereignty of the proletariat. Though Left itself is responsible for its lack of popularity among the youngsters, what is alarming is the hatred of youth brigade against the ideology.

Further, Singh and his Sabha regarded communal amity as central to their political agenda but like the Congress, it did not believe either in the appeasement of all religions or in raising such slogans as ‘Allah o Akbar’, ‘Sat Sri Akal’ and ‘Bande Mataram’ to prove their secularism. On the contrary, they raised just two slogans, ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and ‘Hindustan Zindabad’. And even though he openly claimed to be an atheist and also went on to write the book “Why I am an atheist”, even today, people keep on claiming him to be a hardcore believer in Indian culture and religion.

He stood out in bold relief as a modern national leader and thinker emphasising the separation of religion from politics and State as true secularism.

These things clearly shows how less the youths of this subcontinent know about Shaheed-e-Azam and how hollow their claim and depth of knowledge is. Bhagat Singh needs to be understood. In this current political scenario, while Modi wave is banking on the idea of establishing the Hindu and old Indian culture (Hindutva), Singh’s words suits better; “Any man who stands for progress has to criticize, disbelieve and challenge every item of old faith.”