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Journalism of Courage
Bhagat Singh, whose 75th shaheedi divas is being observed currently, has suffered both at the hands of his admirers as well as detractors. Some film-makers have almost trivialised him and he has been served poorly by his historians and biographers.
Asked by the military tribunal what he meant by 8220;inquilab8221; revolution, he replied that his revolution was neither the cult of the bomb nor the pistol, nor even the philosophy of vendetta. By revolution he meant the establishment of a new order based on social justice and economic equality; India, which was once a golden sparrow, has become a land of sorrow. The tribunal sentenced him to death by hanging.
According to Manmath Nath Gupta, Bhagat Singh8217;s colleague and comrade, he was a 8220;symbol of the fight for socialism more than any person or party has8221; Bhagat Singh and His Times, 1977. He adds that Bhagat Singh was neither a 8220;dead mental principle nor an empty political vow8221;.
A great tragedy, Thomas Hardy once observed, is never tragic. That is why Bhagat Singh8217;s name after 75 years comes to the mind like a gentle reminder of all the very best in an Indian. A man who stole the spark of the angels to kindle the forest fire. A Pied Piper, whose freedom tune made every listener want to follow his trail.
In the long struggle for freedom, Bhagat Singh is like Shelley8217;s 8216;Prometheus Unbound8217;, longing for the reign of love and a society where thrones, altars, judgment seats, prisons, are a thing of the past. And where man remains sceptre-less, free, uncircumcised, equal; exempt from awe, worship; just gentle, wise and human.
The heart-rending story of his life and the even more heart-rending story of his death is crying for a new biographer who can bring out the real Bhagat. My own book on him is 25 years old.
