The Biography of Famous Personalities of India will tell you about the controversies, the dark sides of a person that you may have never heard of.
Gandhi’s Efforts for Bhagat Singh
Gandhi’s Efforts for Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh was not a devotee of non-violence, but he did not subscribe to the religion oF violence. He took to violence due to helplessness and to defend his homeland. These heroes had conquered the Fear oF death. Let us bow to them a thousand times For their heroism. —MK Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi had met Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India on 19 March 1931 and pleaded for the remission of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.
But the fact of Gandhiji-Irwin meeting was immediately brought to the notice of the Punjab Governor along with Punjab wing of the colonial administration who strongly felt that Gandhiji might succeed in saving these youthful lives. Hence, setting aside its earlier decision to take these revolutionaries to the gallows on 24 March 1931, they were secretly hanged on 23 March 1931 itself.
Gandhiji also wrote a long letter to Lord Irwin, pleading such remission on 23 March 1931. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Jawaharlal Nehru and Tej Bahadur Sapru had also joined hands to save the lives of these revolutionaries.
In his address at the Karachi Congress on 26 March 1931, Gandhiji made a detailed reference to his various efforts for saving these young lives. He also told the delegates that he had been hopeful that his efforts would bear fruits. The truth is that Gandhiji was to meet the family members of Bhagat Singh on 23 March 1931. On the same date he had written a long letter to the Viceroy in which he had poured out his heartfelt feelings in their entirety. The colonial administration clearly frustrated his efforts by predating the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.
The Karachi Congress passed a resolution drafted by Gandhiji paying glorious tributes to Bhagat Singh and his comrades. The resolution had also expressed deep feelings of condolence and sympathy for the bereaved families of these revolutionaries.
Jawaharlal Nehru had recorded in his autobiography that Gandhiji had tried his level best to save the lives of these revolutionaries but he could not succeed. Gandhiji’s letter to the Viceroy is also available in the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Timeline
- 1907 : 28th September, Birth of Bhagat Singh
- 1919 : 13 April, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
- 1921 : Non-Cooperation Movement Began
- 1922 : 20th February, Chauri-Chaura Massacre, end of Movement
- 1922 : 13th March, Gandhiji Arrested for Movement
- 1922-23 : Akali Movement
- 1925 : 9th August, Kakori Train Robbery by HRA
- 1926 : Dussehra Bomb Case in October
- 1926 : Organised Naujawan Bharat Sabha
- 1926 : Joined Hind Republican Association
- 1928 : 8, 9 September, Transformed HRA into HSRA in Delhi
- 1928 : 30 October, Simon Commission Demonstration
- 1928 : 17 November, Lala Lajpat Rai Martyred
- 1928 : 17 December, Shooting of Saunders at Lahore
- 1929 : Hunger Strike in Jail for several days
- 1929 : 8th April, Bomb Explosion at Assembly
- 1930 : 7th October, End of Trial
- 1931 : 27 February, Chandra Shekhar Azad attained Martyrdom
- 1931 : 23rd March, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru hanged