Bhagat Singh

I recently came across this website that has a number of letters and writings of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Needlessly to say I was very inspired and moved by what he had to say. But two facts really caught me by surprise:

(1) That he was only 24 years old when he was murdered. Reading his writings and from whatever I had heard of him, I can only marvel at the immense maturity his thought had attained at such a young age. Its not that people do not get famous while young. Sports persons and other celebrities routinely strike gold in early twenties. But Bhagat Singh was different. He was a leader in the truest meaning of the word. As is clear from his writings, he held clear ideas of what he meant by revolution. Of what he intended to achieve by revolution. Rarely do we come across so young a man whose ideas and deeds inspire an entire nation. I read somewhere that the day he was hanged, a significant number of households in Punjab and other parts of India refrained from lighting chulhas.

(2) That he was completely devoid of the fear of death. Somehow, I have never been able to understand how a person can overcome the fear of death. Examples of military valor abound - but I have always tried to convince myself that most of these acts of bravery are in reality reflex actions under the influence of years of military training. Or in other words, I try to convince myself that most of these acts are rush-of-adrenaline affairs and a number of heroes may perhaps have chosen to act differently had they had the time to carefully think through the consequences of their actions. I am sure this inability to accept the bravery of people springs from my own weakness and cowardice. However, reading what Bhagat Singh had to say laid all my doubts to rest. Consider this letter in which he discusses his impending execution,

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[On March 22, the Second Lahore Conspiracy Case convicts, who were locked up in Ward Number 14 (near condemned cells), sent a slip to Bhagat Singh asking if he would like to live. This letter was in reply to that slip.]

COMRADES
The desire to live is natural. It is in me also. I do not want to conceal it. But it is conditional. I don’t want to live as a prisoner or under restrictions. My name has become a symbol of India revolution. The ideal and the sacrifices of the revolutionary party have elevated me to a height beyond which I will never be able to rise if I live.
Today people do not know my weaknesses. If I escape gallows those weaknesses will come before them and the symbol of revolution will get tarnished or perhaps it may vanish altogether. On the other hand, if I mount the gallows boldly and with a smile, that will inspire Indian mothers and they will aspire that their children should also become Bhagat Singh. Thus the number of persons ready to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of our country will increase enormously. It will then become impossible for imperialism to face the tide of the revolution, and all their might and their satanic efforts will not be able to stop its onward march.
Yes, one thing pricks me even today. My heart nurtured some ambitions for doing something for humanity and for my country. I have not been able to fulfil even one thousand parts of those ambitions. If I live I might perhaps get a chance to fulfil them. If ever it came to my mind that I should not die, it came from this end only.
I am proud of myself these days and I am anxiously waiting for the final test. I wish the day may come nearer soon.
Your comrade
Bhagat Singh
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and this,

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Letter to B.K. Dutt
[This letter gives an idea as to what Bhagat Singh expected from those comrades who would escape capital punishment.]

Central Jail, Lahore
November, 1930

DEAR BROTHER,
The judgement has been delivered. I am condemned to death. In these cells, besides myself, there are many others prisoners who are waiting to be hanged. The only prayer of these people is that somehow or other they may escape the moose. Perhaps I am the only man amongst them who is anxiously waiting for the day when I will be fortunate enough to embrace the gallows for my ideal.
I will climb the gallows gladly and show to the world as to how bravely the revolutionaries can sacrifice themselves for the cause.
I will condemned to death, but you are sentenced to transportation for life. You will live and, while living, you will have to show to the world that the revolutionaries not only die for their ideals but can face every calamity. Death should not be a means to escape the worldly difficulties. Those revolutionaries who have by chance escaped the gallows for the ideal but also bear the worst type of tortures in the dark dingy prison cells.

Yours
Bhagat Singh
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This was clearly a man who carefully evaluated what he wanted and chose death for a just cause over life. And that is why people still chant Long Live Bhagat Singh while no one really cares a damn about Lord Irwin, the then British Viceroy.

Long Live Bhagat Singh!