Who is a revolutionary?

Today, on Bhagat Singh’s 76th martyrdom anniversary, a look back at the hero and his moment

During the last two years of his life Bhagat Singh tried hard to clear the mist of confusion about his position and the objectives of the socialist revolutionary movement he was leading. There was no regret about the murder of the assistant superintendent of police to avenge the national humiliation suffered by the assault on Lala Lajpat Rai. Nor did he rule out the use of violence in a revolutionary struggle. However his ideas had undergone tremendous change. Evidence lies in the books and other literature he read, the notes he took in his diary, and the reminisces of his close comrades.

They point towards an extraordinary seriousness he brought to his own life and that of his comrades. That he was a ‘voracious reader’ was one thing. More significantly, it was that “he was also willing to rethink”, as A.G. Noorani put it. “He had the capacity to brood and to torment his soul over the past”.

He and his comrades of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association had moved beyond the goal of national independence because they felt that would only mean the domination of Indian bourgeoisie and landlords in place of the alien rulers. “What difference for a peasant if Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru replaces Lord Irwin?” he asked. The romance of anarchist ideas and the self-sacrificing radicalism of Irish national struggle had to contend with the ideas of Marx and Lenin. The message delivered by the Bolshevik Revolution was irresistible. The message delivered by the Bolshevik Revolution was irresistible.

Making a revolution, however, was “a serious business”. It was “the creation of hard thinkers and hard workers”. In a letter addressed to “the young political workers”, he candidly discussed and explained the issues he considered important, and laid down clear directions and guidelines. Perhaps, it was also meant to settle scores with contradictory ideas and impulses in his own mind.

The real revolutionary armies, he explained, were in the villages and in factories — the peasants and labourers. But he found the depth of timidity and cowardice among the people distressing. The task of political awakening was formidable. The programme required “at least twenty years for its fulfillment”. If the political workers did not understand that, “then please have mercy. Stop shouting ‘long live revolution”’.

Bhagat Singh had no illusions about the achievements of the Congress and even ridiculed Gandhi’s obsession with non-violence. However, he came to recognise the contribution Gandhi made to political awakening, “paving the way for proletarian revolution”. His Dandi March and Salt Satyagraha had moved “millions of peasants” resulting into what Louis Fischer viewed as “an insurrection without arms”. Over 60,000 were put in jail. The sacrifice needed for a non-violent struggle was no less than the physical courage required for a violent struggle. “The revolutionary must give to the angel of non-violence his due”, Bhagat Singh told his comrades.

It was on the “thorny question” of terrorism, however, that he had to talk more candidly. While it had played a role in the beginning, terrorism was, as he argued, “a confession that the revolutionary mentality has not penetrated down into the masses. It is thus a confession of our failure… It bears the germ of defeat within itself. “

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It seemed that a significant difference to his ideas was made by his hunger strike for the rights of political prisoners — a Gandhian method — which resulted in the martyrdom of Jatindra Nath Das after 63 days of fast. Appreciation came from a galaxy of national political leaders and legal luminaries of the time such as Motilal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, M.R. Jayakar and others. “These men are determined to die. It is not a joke… it is not everybody who can go on starving himself to death”, Jinnah pleaded in the Central Assembly. “The man who goes on hunger-strike has a soul”. The day-to-day coverage given to the proceedings of the trial and the hunger strike by the newspapers, particularly The Tribune and The Hindustan Times aroused public interest and solidarity with him. The action of murder was forgotten. Bhagat Singh became a symbol of sacrifice and bravery in the cause of national dignity. He underlined that all their activities were directed towards an aim: “identifying ourselves with the great movement as its military wing”. He said, “If any body has misunderstood me… let him amend his ideas”.

Bhagat Singh’s extraordinary political maturity and intellectual capability at that young age was instrumental in the making of his legend.

The writer is former professor of political science, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar