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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} | ||
{{Infobox person | {{Infobox person | ||
| name | | name = Bhagat Singh | ||
| image | | image = Bhagat Singh 1929.jpg | ||
| caption | | caption = Singh in 1929 | ||
| party | | party = | ||
| native_name | | native_name = | ||
| native_name_lang = Punjabi | | native_name_lang = Punjabi | ||
| other_names | | other_names = ''Shaheed-e-Azam'' | ||
| birth_date | | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1907|09|27}}<ref name=combined-birth-date-27-9> | ||
*{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|year=2004}} | *{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|year=2004}} | ||
*{{citation|year=2021|chapter= Bhagat Singh|title=Encyclopedia Britannica|chapter-url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagat-Singh}} | *{{citation|year=2021|chapter= Bhagat Singh|title=Encyclopedia Britannica|chapter-url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagat-Singh}} | ||
*{{citation|last1=Mittal|first1=Satish Chandra|last2=National Council for Educational Research and Training(India)|title=Modern India: a textbook for Class XII|series=Textbooks from India|volume=18|location=New Delhi|publisher=National Council for Educational Research and Training|page=219|year=2004|oclc=838284530|isbn=9788174501295}} | *{{citation|last1=Mittal|first1=Satish Chandra|last2=National Council for Educational Research and Training(India)|title=Modern India: a textbook for Class XII|series=Textbooks from India|volume=18|location=New Delhi|publisher=National Council for Educational Research and Training|page=219|year=2004|oclc=838284530|isbn=9788174501295}} | ||
*{{citation|last1=Singh|first1=Bhagat|last2=Gupta|first2=D. N.|title=Selected Writings|location=New Delhi|publisher=National Book Trust|year=2007|editor1-last=Gupta|editor1-first=D. N.|editor2-last=Chandra|editor2-first=Bipan|isbn=9788123749419|oclc=607855643|page=xi}}</ref> | *{{citation|last1=Singh|first1=Bhagat|last2=Gupta|first2=D. N.|title=Selected Writings|location=New Delhi|publisher=National Book Trust|year=2007|editor1-last=Gupta|editor1-first=D. N.|editor2-last=Chandra|editor2-first=Bipan|isbn=9788123749419|oclc=607855643|page=xi}}</ref> | ||
| birth_place = [[Banga, Pakistan|Banga]], [[Lyallpur District]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British India]]<br />(present-day [[Faisalabad District, Punjab]], Pakistan) | |||
| birth_place | | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1931|03|23|1907|09|27}} | ||
| death_date | | death_place = [[Central Jail Lahore|Lahore Central Jail]], [[Lahore]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British India]]<br />(present-day [[Lahore District, Punjab]], Pakistan) | ||
| death_place | | death_cause = [[Execution by hanging]] | ||
| death_cause | | monuments = [[Hussainiwala National Martyrs Memorial]] | ||
| monuments | | movement = [[Indian independence movement]] | ||
| movement | | criminal_charges = [[Murder]] of John P. Saunders and Channan Singh<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh>{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|year=2004|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|quote=The trial of Bhagat Singh and a number of his associates from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association for the killing of Saunders and Channan Singh followed. On 7 October 1929 Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar were sentenced to death.Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shiv Ram Hari Rajguru were executed by hanging at the central gaol, Lahore, on 23 March 1931.}}</ref> | ||
| criminal_charges = [[Murder]] of John P. Saunders and Channan Singh<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh>{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|year=2004|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|quote=The trial of Bhagat Singh and a number of his associates from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association for the killing of Saunders and Channan Singh followed. On 7 October 1929 Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar were sentenced to death.Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shiv Ram Hari Rajguru were executed by hanging at the central gaol, Lahore, on 23 March 1931.}}</ref> | | criminal_penalty = [[Capital punishment]] | ||
| criminal_penalty = [[Capital punishment]] | | criminal_status = Executed | ||
| criminal_status | | mother = Vidyavati Kaur | ||
| mother | | father = Kishen Singh Sandhu | ||
| father | | signature = Bhagat-singh-signature.jpg | ||
| notable_works | | notable_works = ''[[Why I Am an Atheist]]'' | ||
| organization | | organization = [[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]]<br />[[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Bhagat Singh''' (27 September 1907<ref name=combined-birth-date-27-9 /> – 23 March 1931) was a [[ | '''Bhagat Singh''' (27 September 1907<ref name=combined-birth-date-27-9 /> – 23 March 1931) was a [[charismatic]] Indian [[revolutionary]]<ref>{{citation|last=Jeffrey|first=Craig|title=Modern India: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=30|year=2017|isbn=978-0-19-876934-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3w7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|quote=Congress was often split on the question of the extent to which all protests should be non-violent. Gandhi, though highly influential, had opponents. It is particularly important to recognize the existence of a socialist, radical wing within the nationalist movement. Historians often discuss this wing with reference to Bhagat Singh, a charismatic Indian revolutionary executed by the British with two other revolutionaries in 1931 for murdering a British police officer.}}</ref> who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer<ref name=assassination-cimbined> | ||
*{{citation|last=Raza|first=Ali|title=Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-108-48184-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snzUDwAAQBAJ|pages=106–107|quote=Bhagat Singh's life epitomized the political journeys of many disaffected youths who took to revolutionary and militant activism. Involved in a (mistaken) high-profile assassination of John Saunders, ...}} | *{{citation|last=Raza|first=Ali|title=Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-108-48184-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snzUDwAAQBAJ|pages=106–107|quote=Bhagat Singh's life epitomized the political journeys of many disaffected youths who took to revolutionary and militant activism. Involved in a (mistaken) high-profile assassination of John Saunders, ...}} | ||
*{{citation|last=Moffat|first=Chris|title=India's Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year = 2019|pages=78–79|isbn=978-1-108-75005-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sqCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|quote=One month after Lajpat Rai's death, at 4:30 pm on 17 December 1928, members of the HSRA ambushed Assistant Superintendent of Police J. P. Saunders as he was leaving the police station on Lahore's College Road. He was shot once by Shivaram Rajguru, and then again by Bhagat Singh." As the two fled through the gates of the DAV College located opposite the station, their comrade Chandrashekhar Azad fired at the pursuing officer, Constable Chanan Singh. Both Singh and Saunders died from their wounds. Amid the chaos, there was some room for farce. Saunders was not the primary target; the HSRA's Jaigopal mistook the assistant for his boss, Mr. Scott, the man who had ordered police to charge the Simon Commission protestors two months earlier. Once it was clear this was a subordinate and not Scott, the revolutionaries scrambled to amend posters prepared in advance to announce the act.}}</ref> in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist.<ref name=combined-misplaced> | *{{citation|last=Moffat|first=Chris|title=India's Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year = 2019|pages=78–79|isbn=978-1-108-75005-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sqCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|quote=One month after Lajpat Rai's death, at 4:30 pm on 17 December 1928, members of the HSRA ambushed Assistant Superintendent of Police J. P. Saunders as he was leaving the police station on Lahore's College Road. He was shot once by Shivaram Rajguru, and then again by Bhagat Singh." As the two fled through the gates of the DAV College located opposite the station, their comrade Chandrashekhar Azad fired at the pursuing officer, Constable Chanan Singh. Both Singh and Saunders died from their wounds. Amid the chaos, there was some room for farce. Saunders was not the primary target; the HSRA's Jaigopal mistook the assistant for his boss, Mr. Scott, the man who had ordered police to charge the Simon Commission protestors two months earlier. Once it was clear this was a subordinate and not Scott, the revolutionaries scrambled to amend posters prepared in advance to announce the act.}}</ref> in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist.<ref name=combined-misplaced> | ||
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== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
Bhagat Singh was born on 27 September 1907<ref name=combined-birth-date-27-9 /> in the village of [[Banga, Pakistan|Banga]] in the [[Faisalabad District|Lyallpur district]] of the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]] in what was then [[British India]] and is today Pakistan; he was the second of seven children—four sons, and three daughters—born to Vidyavati and her husband Kishan Singh Sandhu.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general>{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|year=2004|}}</ref> Bhagat Singh's father and his uncle Ajit Singh were active in progressive politics, taking part in the [[1907 Punjab unrest|agitation around the Canal Colonization Bill]] in 1907, and later the [[Ghadar Movement]] of 1914–1915.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> | Bhagat Singh was born into a [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] [[Sikh]] family on 27 September 1907<ref name=combined-birth-date-27-9 /> in the village of [[Banga, Pakistan|Banga]] in the [[Faisalabad District|Lyallpur district]] of the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]] in what was then [[British India]] and is today Pakistan; he was the second of seven children—four sons, and three daughters—born to Vidyavati and her husband Kishan Singh Sandhu.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general>{{Cite ODNB|id=73519|last=Deol|first=Jeevan Singh|title=Singh, Bhagat [known as Bhagat Singh Sandhu|year=2004|}}</ref> Bhagat Singh's father and his uncle Ajit Singh were active in progressive politics, taking part in the [[1907 Punjab unrest|agitation around the Canal Colonization Bill]] in 1907, and later the [[Ghadar Movement]] of 1914–1915.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> | ||
After being sent to the village school in Banga for a few years, Bhagat Singh was enrolled in the [[Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System|Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School]] in Lahore.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> In 1923, he joined the National College in Lahore, founded two years earlier by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] in response to [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s [[non-cooperation movement]], which urged Indian students to shun schools and colleges subsidized by the British Indian government.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> | After being sent to the village school in Banga for a few years, Bhagat Singh was enrolled in the [[Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System|Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School]] in Lahore.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> In 1923, he joined the National College in Lahore, founded two years earlier by [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] in response to [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s [[non-cooperation movement]], which urged Indian students to shun schools and colleges subsidized by the British Indian government.<ref name=odnb-bhagat_singh_general /> | ||
[[File:Bhagat Singh in jail,1927.jpg|thumb|Singh's photo during his first arrest|408x408px]] | |||
Police became concerned with Singh's influence on youths and arrested him in May 1927 on the pretext that he had been involved in a bombing that had taken place in Lahore in October 1926. He was released on a [[surety]] of Rs. 60,000 five weeks after his arrest.{{sfnp|Singh|Hooja|2007|p=16|ps=}} He wrote for, and edited, [[Urdu]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] newspapers, published in [[Amritsar]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rrtd.nic.in/sardarbhagatsingh.htm |title=Sardar Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) |access-date=11 October 2011 |work=Research Reference and Training Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India |publisher=Government of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930145803/http://www.rrtd.nic.in/sardarbhagatsingh.htm|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> and also contributed to low-priced pamphlets published by the Naujawan Bharat Sabha that excoriated the British.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|pp=99–100|ps=}} He also wrote for ''Kirti'', the journal of the [[Workers and Peasants Party (India)|Kirti Kisan Party]] ("Workers and Peasants Party") and briefly for the ''Veer Arjun'' newspaper, published in [[Delhi]].{{sfnp|Gupta|1997|ps=}}{{efn|He was secretary of the Kirti Kisan Party when it organised an all-India meeting of revolutionaries in September 1928 and he later became its leader.<ref name="Tribune2011">{{cite news |first=Roopinder |last=Singh |title=Bhagat Singh: The Making of the Revolutionary |date=23 March 2011 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110323/main6.htm |work=The Tribune |location=India |access-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930145024/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110323/main6.htm|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|p=100|ps=}} | Police became concerned with Singh's influence on youths and arrested him in May 1927 on the pretext that he had been involved in a bombing that had taken place in Lahore in October 1926. He was released on a [[surety]] of Rs. 60,000 five weeks after his arrest.{{sfnp|Singh|Hooja|2007|p=16|ps=}} He wrote for, and edited, [[Urdu]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] newspapers, published in [[Amritsar]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rrtd.nic.in/sardarbhagatsingh.htm |title=Sardar Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) |access-date=11 October 2011 |work=Research Reference and Training Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India |publisher=Government of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930145803/http://www.rrtd.nic.in/sardarbhagatsingh.htm|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> and also contributed to low-priced pamphlets published by the Naujawan Bharat Sabha that excoriated the British.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|pp=99–100|ps=}} He also wrote for ''Kirti'', the journal of the [[Workers and Peasants Party (India)|Kirti Kisan Party]] ("Workers and Peasants Party") and briefly for the ''Veer Arjun'' newspaper, published in [[Delhi]].{{sfnp|Gupta|1997|ps=}}{{efn|He was secretary of the Kirti Kisan Party when it organised an all-India meeting of revolutionaries in September 1928 and he later became its leader.<ref name="Tribune2011">{{cite news |first=Roopinder |last=Singh |title=Bhagat Singh: The Making of the Revolutionary |date=23 March 2011 |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110323/main6.htm |work=The Tribune |location=India |access-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930145024/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110323/main6.htm|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} He often used pseudonyms, including names such as Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.{{sfnp|Gaur|2008|p=100|ps=}} | ||
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==== Arrest of associates ==== | ==== Arrest of associates ==== | ||
In 1929, the HSRA had set up bomb factories in Lahore and [[Saharanpur]]. On 15 April 1929, the Lahore bomb factory was discovered by the police, leading to the arrest of other members of HSRA, including Sukhdev, [[Kishori Lal]], and Jai Gopal. Not long after this, the Saharanpur factory was also raided and some of the conspirators became informants. With the new information available, the police were able to connect the three strands of the Saunders murder, Assembly bombing, and bomb manufacture.<ref name=Friend /> Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, and 21 others were charged with the Saunders murder.<ref name=Dam /> | In 1929, the HSRA had set up bomb factories in Lahore and [[Saharanpur]]. On 15 April 1929, the Lahore bomb factory was discovered by the police, leading to the arrest of other members of HSRA, including Sukhdev, [[Pandit Kishori Lal|Kishori Lal]], and Jai Gopal. Not long after this, the Saharanpur factory was also raided and some of the conspirators became informants. With the new information available, the police were able to connect the three strands of the Saunders murder, Assembly bombing, and bomb manufacture.<ref name=Friend /> Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, and 21 others were charged with the Saunders murder.<ref name=Dam /> | ||
==== Hunger strike and Lahore conspiracy case ==== | ==== Hunger strike and Lahore conspiracy case ==== | ||
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[[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] spoke in support of the strikers in the Assembly, saying: {{blockquote|The man who goes on hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul, and he believes in the justice of his cause ... however much you deplore them and, however, much you say they are misguided, it is the system, this damnable system of governance, which is resented by the people.<ref>{{cite news |title=When Jinnah defended Bhagat Singh |date=8 August 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080801672000.htm |access-date=2011-10-11 |location=Chennai, India|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930150234/http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080801672000.htm|work=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} | [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] spoke in support of the strikers in the Assembly, saying: {{blockquote|The man who goes on hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by that soul, and he believes in the justice of his cause ... however much you deplore them and, however, much you say they are misguided, it is the system, this damnable system of governance, which is resented by the people.<ref>{{cite news |title=When Jinnah defended Bhagat Singh |date=8 August 2005 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080801672000.htm |access-date=2011-10-11 |location=Chennai, India|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930150234/http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/08/stories/2005080801672000.htm|work=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} | ||
The government tried to break the strike by placing different food items in the prison cells to test the prisoners' resolve. Water pitchers were filled with milk so that either the prisoners remained thirsty or broke their strike; nobody faltered and the impasse continued. The authorities then attempted [[force-feeding]] the prisoners but this was resisted.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=83|ps=}}{{efn|An example of the methods adopted to counterattack attempts at force-feeding is the swallowing of red pepper and boiling water by a prisoner called [[Kishori Lal]]. This combination made his throat too sore to permit entry of the feeding tube.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Ajoy Ghosh |last=Ghosh |first=Ajoy |title=Bhagat Singh as I Knew Him |date=6 October 2007 |orig-year=1945 |url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article353.html |newspaper=Mainstream |access-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930150341/http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article353.html|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} With the matter still unresolved, the Indian Viceroy, [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Irwin]], cut short his vacation in [[Shimla|Simla]] to discuss the situation with jail authorities.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=88|ps=}} Since the activities of the hunger strikers had gained popularity and attention amongst the people nationwide, the government decided to advance the start of the Saunders murder trial, which was henceforth called the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Singh was transported to Borstal Jail, Lahore,{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} and the trial began there on 10 July 1929. In addition to charging them with the murder of Saunders, Singh and the 27 other prisoners were charged with plotting a conspiracy to murder Scott, and waging a war against the King.<ref name=ILJ /> Singh, still on hunger strike, had to be carried to the court handcuffed on a stretcher; he had lost {{convert|14|lb|kg}} from his original weight of {{convert|133|lb|kg}} since beginning the strike.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} | The government tried to break the strike by placing different food items in the prison cells to test the prisoners' resolve. Water pitchers were filled with milk so that either the prisoners remained thirsty or broke their strike; nobody faltered and the impasse continued. The authorities then attempted [[force-feeding]] the prisoners but this was resisted.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=83|ps=}}{{efn|An example of the methods adopted to counterattack attempts at force-feeding is the swallowing of red pepper and boiling water by a prisoner called [[Pandit Kishori Lal|Kishori Lal]]. This combination made his throat too sore to permit entry of the feeding tube.<ref>{{cite news |author-link=Ajoy Ghosh |last=Ghosh |first=Ajoy |title=Bhagat Singh as I Knew Him |date=6 October 2007 |orig-year=1945 |url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article353.html |newspaper=Mainstream |access-date=17 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930150341/http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article353.html|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>}} With the matter still unresolved, the Indian Viceroy, [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Irwin]], cut short his vacation in [[Shimla|Simla]] to discuss the situation with jail authorities.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=88|ps=}} Since the activities of the hunger strikers had gained popularity and attention amongst the people nationwide, the government decided to advance the start of the Saunders murder trial, which was henceforth called the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Singh was transported to Borstal Jail, Lahore,{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} and the trial began there on 10 July 1929. In addition to charging them with the murder of Saunders, Singh and the 27 other prisoners were charged with plotting a conspiracy to murder Scott, and waging a war against the King.<ref name=ILJ /> Singh, still on hunger strike, had to be carried to the court handcuffed on a stretcher; he had lost {{convert|14|lb|kg}} from his original weight of {{convert|133|lb|kg}} since beginning the strike.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} | ||
The government was beginning to make concessions but refused to move on the core issue of recognising the classification of "political prisoner". In the eyes of officials, if someone broke the law then that was a personal act, not a political one, and they were common criminals.{{sfn|Nair|2011|p=121}} By now, the condition of another hunger striker, [[Jatindra Nath Das]], lodged in the same jail, had deteriorated considerably. The Jail committee recommended his unconditional release, but the government rejected the suggestion and offered to release him on bail. On 13 September 1929, Das died after a 63-day hunger strike.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} Almost all the nationalist leaders in the country paid tribute to Das' death. Mohammad Alam and [[Gopi Chand Bhargava]] resigned from the Punjab Legislative Council in protest, and Nehru moved a successful [[Adjournment debate|adjournment motion]] in the Central Assembly as a censure against the "inhumane treatment" of the Lahore prisoners.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=91|ps=}} Singh finally heeded a resolution of the Congress party, and a request by his father, ending his hunger strike on 5 October 1929 after 116 days.<ref name=ILJ /> During this period, Singh's popularity among common Indians extended beyond Punjab.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=92|ps=}} | The government was beginning to make concessions but refused to move on the core issue of recognising the classification of "political prisoner". In the eyes of officials, if someone broke the law then that was a personal act, not a political one, and they were common criminals.{{sfn|Nair|2011|p=121}} By now, the condition of another hunger striker, [[Jatindra Nath Das]], lodged in the same jail, had deteriorated considerably. The Jail committee recommended his unconditional release, but the government rejected the suggestion and offered to release him on bail. On 13 September 1929, Das died after a 63-day hunger strike.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=89|ps=}} Almost all the nationalist leaders in the country paid tribute to Das' death. Mohammad Alam and [[Gopi Chand Bhargava]] resigned from the Punjab Legislative Council in protest, and Nehru moved a successful [[Adjournment debate|adjournment motion]] in the Central Assembly as a censure against the "inhumane treatment" of the Lahore prisoners.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=91|ps=}} Singh finally heeded a resolution of the Congress party, and a request by his father, ending his hunger strike on 5 October 1929 after 116 days.<ref name=ILJ /> During this period, Singh's popularity among common Indians extended beyond Punjab.{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=92|ps=}} | ||
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==== Criticism of the tribunal trial ==== | ==== Criticism of the tribunal trial ==== | ||
Singh's trial has been described by the Supreme Court as "contrary to the fundamental doctrine of criminal jurisprudence" because there was no opportunity for the accused to defend themselves.<ref name=supremecourt>{{cite web |url=http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/sciphoto/photo_m1.html |title=Supreme Court of India – Photographs of the exhibition on the "Trial of Bhagat Singh" |access-date=11 October 2011 |work=Supreme Court of India | Singh's trial has been described by the Supreme Court as "contrary to the fundamental doctrine of criminal jurisprudence" because there was no opportunity for the accused to defend themselves.<ref name=supremecourt>{{cite web |url=http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/sciphoto/photo_m1.html |title=Supreme Court of India – Photographs of the exhibition on the "Trial of Bhagat Singh" |access-date=11 October 2011 |work=Supreme Court of India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930151530/http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/sciphoto/photo_m1.html|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> The Special Tribunal was a departure from the normal procedure adopted for a trial and its decision could only be appealed to the Privy Council located in Britain.<ref name=ILJ /> The accused were absent from the court and the judgement was passed [[ex-parte]].{{sfnp|Nayar|2000|p=96|ps=}} The ordinance, which was introduced by the Viceroy to form the Special Tribunal, was never approved by the Central Assembly or the British Parliament, and it eventually lapsed without any legal or constitutional sanctity.<ref name=rare>{{cite news |first=Chaman |last=Lal |title=Rare documents on Bhagat Singh's trial and life in jail |date=15 August 2011 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2356959.ece |work=The Hindu |access-date=31 October 2011 |location=Chennai, India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930151706/http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2356959.ece|archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> | ||
==== Reactions to the executions ==== | ==== Reactions to the executions ==== | ||
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*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=[[Why I Am an Atheist]]|date=27 September 1931 |publisher=[[National Book Trust]] |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-1-983124-92-1 |language=en}} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=[[Why I Am an Atheist]]|date=27 September 1931 |publisher=[[National Book Trust]] |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-1-983124-92-1 |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagat Singh : ideas on freedom, liberty and revolution : Jail notes of a revolutionary |date=2007 |publisher=Hope India |location=Gurgaon |isbn=9788178710563 |oclc=506510146 |ref=none }} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagat Singh : ideas on freedom, liberty and revolution : Jail notes of a revolutionary |date=2007 |publisher=Hope India |location=Gurgaon |isbn=9788178710563 |oclc=506510146 |ref=none }} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |last2=Press |first2=General |title=Jail Diary and Other Writings |date=31 December 2019 |publisher=GENERAL PRESS |isbn=978-93-89716-06-1 |url=https:// | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |last2=Press |first2=General |title=Jail Diary and Other Writings |date=31 December 2019 |publisher=GENERAL PRESS |isbn=978-93-89716-06-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JV7HDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Ideas of a Nation: Singh, Bhagat |date=28 January 2010 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-81-8475-191-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_Miirb-hsMC |language=en}} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Ideas of a Nation: Singh, Bhagat |date=28 January 2010 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-81-8475-191-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_Miirb-hsMC |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |last2=Press |first2=General |title=No Hanging, Please Shoot Us |date=2 October 2019 |publisher=GENERAL PRESS |isbn=978-93-89440-70-6 |url=https:// | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |last2=Press |first2=General |title=No Hanging, Please Shoot Us |date=2 October 2019 |publisher=GENERAL PRESS |isbn=978-93-89440-70-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3X2zDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=The Complete Writings of Bhagat Singh : Why I am an Atheist, The Red Pamphlet, Introduction to Dreamland, Letter to Jaidev Gupta ... and other works. |date=2020 |publisher=DXBooks |location=Chicago |isbn=9782291088691 |oclc=1153081094 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1153081094}} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=The Complete Writings of Bhagat Singh : Why I am an Atheist, The Red Pamphlet, Introduction to Dreamland, Letter to Jaidev Gupta ... and other works. |date=2020 |publisher=DXBooks |location=Chicago |isbn=9782291088691 |oclc=1153081094 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1153081094}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Selected works of Bhagat Singh |date=2009 |publisher=Big Red Oak |isbn=978-1-4495-5861-1}} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Selected works of Bhagat Singh |date=2009 |publisher=Big Red Oak |isbn=978-1-4495-5861-1}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Śahīda Bhagata Siṃha : dastāvejoṃ ke āine meṃ |date=2007 |publisher=Prakāśana Vibhāga, Sūcanā aura Prasāraṇa Mantrālaya, Bhārata Sarakāra |location=Naī Dillī |isbn=9788123014845 |oclc=429632571 |ref=none }} | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Śahīda Bhagata Siṃha : dastāvejoṃ ke āine meṃ |date=2007 |publisher=Prakāśana Vibhāga, Sūcanā aura Prasāraṇa Mantrālaya, Bhārata Sarakāra |location=Naī Dillī |isbn=9788123014845 |oclc=429632571 |ref=none }} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Letter to my Father |date=15 August 2019 |publisher=Sristhi Publishers & Distributors |url=https:// | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Letter to my Father |date=15 August 2019 |publisher=Sristhi Publishers & Distributors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1EawDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagatasiṃha ke rājanītika dastāveja |year=2008 |publisher=National Book Trust |isbn=978-81-237-5109-2 |url=https:// | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagatasiṃha ke rājanītika dastāveja |year=2008 |publisher=National Book Trust |isbn=978-81-237-5109-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9coVqeEebeIC |language=hi}} | ||
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagat Singh ke siyāsī dastāvez |year=2010 |publisher=National Book Trust, India |url=https:// | *{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Bhagat |title=Bhagat Singh ke siyāsī dastāvez |year=2010 |publisher=National Book Trust, India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EYjQxQEACAAJ |language=ur}} | ||
== References == | == References == | ||