Shaheed Diwas March 23: 7 lesser known facts about Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh
Shaheed Diwas March 23: 7 lesser known facts about Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh
Shaheed Diwas commemorates the sacrifices of Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar, who were executed by the British on March 23, 1931. India's revolutionary freedom fighters, all in their early twenties, were hanged in the Lahore jail.
Shaheed Diwas is annually celebrated on March 23. The day commemorates the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru, young freedom fighters who were executed for their involvement in the assassination of British police officer John Saunders in 1928.
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Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907 in the village of Banga in Lyallpur district (present-day Faisalabad, Pakistan). A revolutionary, he was hanged for murdering British police officer John Saunders in 1931, at the age of only 23.
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In 1928, Bhagat Singh formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), which later became Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA). Revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan and Chandrashekhar Azad were also part of it.
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In 1928, a protest march led by freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai against the British’s Simon Commission in Lahore, came under baton charge by the police in which Rai was severely injured and later passed away. Singh, along with HSRA members Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad, drew up a plan to avenge Rai's death.
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On December 17, 1928, they executed their plan at the district police headquarters in Lahore but they later realised that instead of James Scott, they have mistakenly killed Scott’s assistant John P Saunders.
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On April 8, 1929, Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Assembly. Following the incident, Singh and Dutt did not ran away and stood there shouting ‘Inquilab Zindabad.’ They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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During interrogation, the British came to know about his involvement in the death of John Saunders. On March 23, 1931, Singh was executed along with Rajguru and Sukhdev.
