Who is Bhagat Singh?

Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family in Banga village of Faisalabad district (previously called Lyallpur), now in Pakistan's Punjab province, on 27 September 1907. As his family was deeply inspired by nationalism, he too became actively involved in the country's freedom movements.

 

He quit education at the age of thirteen and got admitted to the National College in Lahore, where he studied European revolutionary movements. When his parents tried to get him married, Bhagat Singh left home for Kanpur. In 1926, Bhagat Singh established the 'Naujavan Bharat Sabha (Youth Society of India) and joined the Hindustan Republican Association (later known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association). During that time, he met many anti-colonial activists.

 

In December 1928, Bhagat Singh, along with Sukhdev and Rajguru, planned to avenge the death of Indian nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai and plotted to assassinate the Superintendent of Police James Scott in Lahore.

 

However, in a case of mistaken identity, John Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police was shot. To avoid being recognised and arrested for the crime, Bhagat Singh escaped from Lahore to Calcutta after shaving his beard and cutting his hair.

 

In April 1929, Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed the Central Assembly Hall in Delhi, and shouted the slogan of “Inquilab Zindabad!”. He was later arrested after the incident.

 

Bhagat Singh and his revolutionary comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged by the British on March 23, 1931, in the Lahore Conspiracy case.