Bhagat Singh, a radical thinker and ideologue

Context: Every year on March 23, India observes Shaheed Diwas to honour the sacrifices of Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar — who were hanged by the British authorities in Lahore on March 23, 1931, for their involvement in the killing of J.P. Saunders, a British police officer. This act was a retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, a prominent leader, who was fatally injured during a peaceful protest against British rule. Bhagat Singh’s execution, at the age of 23, left a lasting legacy that shaped the spirit of nationalism in India.

Introduction: Bhagat Singh

• He was a revolutionary, who was martyred in the fight against imperialistic tyranny. 
• Bhagat Singh was a polyglot able to communicate in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and English. 
• Having grown up in an Arya Samaj setting he was also familiar with the fundamentals of Sanskrit.
• His jail notebook is also reflective of the diversity in his literary writings where he draws on the works of important scholars like Karl Marx, Karl Kautsky, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, etc. 

Evolution of ideals

• In one of his earliest writings, Vishwa Prem (Universal Love), published in November 1924, he declares “Visvabandhuta (Universal Brotherhood)! For me the greatest meaning of this word is equality and nothing else.”
• Early idealism is reflected in his belief that, ‘there would be Britishers and Indians all right but not as rulers and the ruled.’ 
• Shift in Perspective:
  • By 1928, the realities of the Indian situation had become more apparent. 
  • In the article Communal Riots and their Solution, he stated that the religions have left the country in communal divisions and the resulting riots have tainted the clean image of India. 
• Critique of Journalism: 
  • He said that the media arouses the public sentiment by writing bold headlines in the newspapers against one or the other and compel people to start fighting with one another.
  • He also stated that, ‘not limited to just one or two places, riots started in many locations just because of the fact that local newspapers had written articles that stoked passions.
• On the responsibility of newspapers:
  • He stated that, ‘the actual duty of newspapers is to educate, to liberate people from narrow-mindedness, eradicate fundamentalism, to help in creating a sense of fraternity among people, and build a common nationalism in India’. 

Interplay of society and politics: 

• Challenging the separation of students and politics:
  • His July 1928 article, Students and Politics, was a sharp response to those who often championed a wall of separation between student life and political activity.
  • He explained that the then Punjab government requiring students to “sign off on an undertaking that they will not take part in political activities,” was to pressurise the students and create fear in their minds. 
• Role of education in Political awareness: 
  • He explained that the basic duty of the student is to study, but also posed a question, ‘is it not part of the education that the youth should know what the conditions are in their country and be enabled to think of solutions for their improvement?’ 
  • He specified that an education which will ‘only equip students for clerical jobs’ is worthless.
  • According to him, students must acquire the knowledge of politics too, and when the need arises they should put questions forward about the actions of those in power. 
• Rediscovering the legacy of Untouchables in India's history: 
  • In ‘the Problem of Untouchability’, he reminded the oppressed untouchables of their role in India’s past.
  • He also wrote that they should unite to stand on their own feet and challenge the existing oppressive order of society.
  • He rejected the belief in Varna system and also the belief in that person’s occupation is based on his/her birth. 

Revolution: Call for change and social transformation: 

Necessity of Revolutionary Spirit:

• In a 1929 article, ‘What is Revolution?’, he responded to the criticism of the idea of revolution that many veterans of the freedom movement had opposed. 
• He wrote that ‘people generally get accustomed to the established order of things and begin to tremble at the very idea of a change’, which is a lethargical spirit that needs to be replaced by the revolutionary spirit.
• In the absence of Revolution, ‘degeneration gains the upper hand and the whole of humanity is led misled by reactionary forces’, further leading to stagnation and paralysis in human progress and society as a whole. 

Anarchism-ideological reflections: 

• In his work titled ‘What is Anarchism?’, published in 1928, he reflected on the ideological propositions of anarchist theory and practice.
• He explained that Anarchists are against God and religion to begin with because they feel this is the root of mental slavery. And then they are against the state because it is the root of physical slavery.
• Anarchists maintain that motivating people with the temptation of heaven, fear of hell or with the iron hand of law is the wrong approach and it is also an insult to a superior being like a human.

Bhagat Singh stated also stated that: 

• Human beings should acquire knowledge freely and work at his will and live life peacefully.
• People presume this might mean that we would be living in the same manner as in the forests in ancient times but they are wrong.
• In ancient times there was ignorance and people were not able to travel far and wide.
• But now we can have knowledge and can live freely by creating relations with all. 

Defining revolution:

• In a ‘Letter to Young Political Workers’, he mentions that, ‘according to our definition of the term, as stated in our statement in the Assembly Bomb Case, revolution means the complete overthrow of the existing social order and its replacement with the socialist order’. 
• For establishing such an order, the immediate aim is the achievement of power.
  • The State and the government machinery is just a weapon in the hands of the ruling class to further and safeguard its interest.
  • The aim of a revolutionary is to snatch the power, and handle it, to utilise it for the consummation of our ideal, i.e., social reconstruction on a new, i.e., Marxist, basis.
  • At the same time, Bhagat Singh mentioned that, along with the fight, we have to educate the masses and create a favourable atmosphere for our social programme.

Reason and Romanticism in Bhagat Singh's philosophy: 

Religion as an obstruction to progress: 

• As an atheist, he had thought organised religion to be a hindrance to the freedom struggle in particular and to social progress in general.
• In an article published 1928, ‘Religion and our Freedom Struggle’, he reflected that ‘Religion’ is a problem that is still present in Indian society.
• He stated that, ‘a clash between people could be instigated with the loud recitation of Koranic verses and Vedic mantras.’ The question is then, why should we not do away with all this once and for all?

The Case against faith: 

• He wrote in, ‘Why I am an Atheist’, that, when man tries to stand on his own two legs and becomes a realist, he shall have to throw faith aside and face all the distress and trouble in which circumstances may land him.
• He also argued that anyone who stands for progress has to criticise, disbelieve and challenge every item of the old faith. Item by item, the person has to reason out every nook and corner of the prevailing faith.
• If after considerable reasoning, one believes in any theory or philosophy, his faith is welcomed. His reasoning can be mistaken and sometimes fallacious. But he is liable to correction because reason is the guiding star of his life.
• However, only faith and blind faith is dangerous as it inhibits critical thinking and makes a person reactionary. 

Nature over conscious power: 

• In explaining his Weltanschauung (a particular philosophy or view of life; the world view of an individual or group) he put forward his belief in the non-existence of a conscious Supreme Being who is guiding and directing the movements of nature.

Bhagat Singh's eventful life was marked by extensive writing and tireless efforts. A meaningful tribute to his legacy as a revolutionary would be to widely engage with his writings.

Read more about Bhagat Singh: 

1. Bhagat Singh’s Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
2. Bhagat Singh
3. Getting it right: a historian’s effort to document the life of Bhagat Singh