Pakistan to exhibit archives of Bhagat Singh case trial

The Pakistan government will for the first time put on display the case file of the trial of legendary Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh among other historical documents here tomorrow.

This was decided at a meeting of the Punjab government top bureaucrats, headed by chief secretary Zahid Saeed, which proclaimed the revolutionary Singh as "hero of both India and Pakistan".

"The meeting decided that Bhagat Singh was the Independence movement hero of both India and Pakistan. The people of the country have the right to know about his (Singh) and his comrades' great struggle to get freedom from the British Raj," an official of the Punjab government told PTI today.

The exhibition will take place at the Anarkali tomb in Lahore which houses the Punjab Archive Department.

The official said letters written by Singh from jail to his father and for getting 'A Class' after declaring himself and others as political prisoners and books, newspapers, record of the hotels where he and others stayed when underground would also be exhibited.

The application Singh had written for facilities carried his signatures.

"The revolutionary significantly did not end each application with the customary 'yours truly' or 'obediently'. Instead he chose the words 'Yours etc. etc.' showing his resilience in the face of tyranny," the official said.

The case file contents to be displayed tomorrow also include the court's order convicting him and his associates Rajguru and Sukhdev, black warrants and the jailer's report confirming their hanging.

The locations where Singh and his associates used to stay, including a factory on Ravi Road, a rented house in Gowalmandi, another in Mozang and in Kashmir Building on McLeod Road, admission register of a comrade from the DAV college, books, novels and revolutionary literature which Bhagat Singh would read are also being displayed.

The books include 'Punjab Tragedy', 'Zakhmi Punjab', 'Ganga Das Dakoo', 'Sultana Dakoo', 'The Evolution of Sinn Fein' and 'History of the Sinn Fein Movement'.

The case files contain documents showing how the British India police and agencies had busted the team of Singh comprising around 25 members from different parts of India and established their links with the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army and the Naujawan Bharat Sabha.

Singh was hanged by British rulers on March 23, 1931 at the age of 23 in Lahore, after being tried under charges for hatching a conspiracy against the colonial government. The case was filed against Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru for allegedly killing British police officer John P Saunders.

The documents to be displayed also include postmortem reports of Saunders and constable Charan Singh, the official said.