DNA Special: 'Bhagat Singh Zindabad' slogan echoes in Pakistan

On March 23, 1931, the great revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivram Hari Rajguru were hanged by the British government in Lahore central jail. Bhagat Singh wanted to see India free from the shackles of the British, and in his India, there was also today's Pakistan and Bangladesh. At that time, India was not partitioned and perhaps even Bhagat Singh did not imagine that the country for which he is sacrificing his life will one day be divided on the basis of religion.

Every year on the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh but today, perhaps for the first time, slogans commemorating Shaheed Bhagat Singh were also raised in Pakistan and his sacrifice was also remembered. At the place where he was hanged, the people of Pakistan today organized a Shaheedi Diwas programme.

Today, on the occasion of the death anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, we will also introduce you to the traitors of India who gave false testimony against Bhagat Singh and were garlanded by the British Government with prizes and money. Many of them were given 50-50 acres of land as gifts. Even in those days, 20 thousand rupees in cash were given to them as a reward. Some police officers were promoted and some people were sent to London to study.

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged for the murder of British police officer John Saunders. The Simon Commission was a big reason behind this incident.

This was in 1928, when on October 30, the Simon Commission, a team of seven Englishmen, arrived in Lahore. The Commission was established in the year 1927, with the objective of working on constitutional reforms in India and to make them stronger by changing the powers of the British rule.

When all the members of the Commission reached Lahore on October 30, they protested. One of the major reasons for the protest was that not a single Indian was included in this commission while the constitutional reforms were about the system of India. In such a situation, Lala Lajpat Rai led the revolutionary party and took to the streets against this commission. The British were so alarmed by this revolt that they began to suppress it.

James A. Scott was the Superintendent of Police of Lahore and he ordered a lathi charge on Lala Lajpat Rai and other protesters. Lala Lajpat Rai was also brutally lathi-charged and badly injured. On November 17, 1928, 18 days after this brutal lathi charge, Lala Lajpat Rai died and his death filled the revolutionaries with fury. It was decided that his death would be avenged.

Several revolutionaries, including Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad, had planned to assassinate James Scott. For this, the date of December 17 was chosen, exactly a month later. But many historians believe that the wrong target of the revolutionaries changed everything.

The English government claimed that the bullets were fired by Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. But their target was John Saunders in place of James Scott, who was the ASP of Lahore and died.

Bhagat Singh and Rajguru were not caught in this incident of 1928. And the case was under investigation. However, in the midst of this investigation, the revolutionaries planned to throw a bomb in the Central Assembly. That's April 8, 1929. On that day, revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt joined the Central Assembly, which is the Parliament House today.

He threw a bomb which exploded. The blast was in protest against the new law brought in by the British at that time, under which the British government could arrest people without evidence and keep them in jails.

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt were arrested after the bomb blast. And both of them were kept in different police stations of Delhi so that they could be interrogated. Bhagat Singh was arrested in this case. But later, when these investigations began, the British government claimed that Bhagat Singh was also involved in the murder of John Saunders. And in this case, there was a separate trial against them.

It is also known as the Lahore conspiracy case, which became very popular at that time. The trial began on May 5, 1930, and lasted until September 11, 1930. And finally, on October 17, 1930, the court pronounced the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.

But there are many things about this case which the English government had hidden from the people of India. In 2018, a petition was filed in a Pakistani court over the execution. It sought to make public the FIR registered in connection with the murder of John Saunders. The FIR was registered at the Anarkali police station in Lahore in December 1928. And there was an eyewitness's statement written in it which suggests that the height of the person who fired at John Saunders was 5 feet 5 inches, while Bhagat Singh's height was 5 feet 10 inches.

Apart from this, it was also written in the FIR that the attacker did not have a turban on his head. Bhagat Singh belonged to Sikhism and he used to wear a turban. The big thing is that the person who was made an eyewitness in the FIR was a policeman posted at the same police station in Lahore. There are some other things related to this case, which indicate that injustice was done to Bhagat Singh during the hearing of this case.

Of the witnesses who were produced against Bhagat Singh in this case, there were four witnesses who were earlier involved in the revolutionary organisation along with Bhagat Singh. The names of these people are Hansraj Vohra, Jayagopal, Phanindranath Ghosh and Manmohan Banerjee. These revolutionaries had become official witnesses against Bhagat Singh and their testimony was considered to be an important basis in the case. While the truth is that the English government gave expensive gifts to these people for this testimony. Jayagopal received a cash reward of Rs 20,00, Phanindranath Ghosh and Manmohan Banerjee were given 50 acres each in Champaran, Bihar, free of cost. Hansraj Vohra was sent by the English government to study at the London School of Economics at their expense. That is, these people got rewards from the English government for getting Bhagat Singh hanged.

Similarly, after the hanging of Bhagat Singh, every police officer of Lahore Central Jail got promotion and other facilities in reward. For example, J.R. Morris, the Jail DSP, was awarded the Medal of King's Police. Apart from this, the investigation officer of this case, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, was made SP after the hanging of Bhagat Singh and then he also became DIG. This is also surprising because in the 200 years of slavery of the English government, there was only one Indian policeman who joined the post of Head Constable and retired from the post of DIG. And that person was Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who investigated this case against Bhagat Singh.

Apart from this, when Bhagat Singh was being hanged, the then Deputy Jail Superintendent of Lahore Jail Mohammad Akbar Khan and his two juniors had tears in their eyes after which he was suspended by the English government. From this, you can guess how much the British hated Bhagat Singh.

The date for the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru was fixed as March 24. But this was the period when the English regime was trembling with Bhagat Singh's thoughts. But the courage on Bhagat Singh's face was clearly visible and he was laughing.

When the news of them being ready for the execution arrived, even then there was no fear on the faces of these revolutionaries. Seeing his expressions, it seemed as if he was waiting for this auspicious occasion and before his execution, the entire jail was echoing with the slogans of Inquilab Zaindabad.

At that time, suddenly the prisoners were asked to go to their respective cells. And after this, the news spread all around that Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev are going to be hanged today. It is said that after this, only three people were happy in the jail and they were - Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Because all three were going to make the supreme sacrifice for the country.

Apart from all three of them, there was mourning and silence among the rest of the inmates of the jail. These three sons of India jumped on to the gallows with a laugh. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru welcomed death while singing patriotic songs.