|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bhagat Singh: Why I am an
Atheist
On the 100th birth anniversary of Bhagat
Singh, which is being celebrated in the country this year, a number of
books are being published to perpetuate and honour his memory. It is
heartening indeed that K.C. Yadav, a reputed historian on Haryana
history, with the assistance of Bhagat Singh’s nephew, Babbar Singh,
has brought out these four studies. Bipan Chandra’s introduction to
the volume is scintillating and lucid. Bhagat Singh’s work, Why I
am an Atheist, is remarkable indeed that a youth of barely 23 could
write such a revelatory composition of his intellectual evolution from
his experience of a profound religiosity to complete agnosticism. To
this end Bhagat Singh made his journey in quite a spirited manner. He
wrote his essay Why I am an Atheist in the Central Jail, a few
days before he was to be executed on March 31, 1931. The essay was
handed over to his father, Kishan Singh, after his death. It was
published in The People on September 27, 1931. Bhagat Singh
confesses that he was not studious, and that his reading was desultory,
but very discriminating. Whatever he read, he assimilated with care,
reflected on it, and drew his conclusions from it. He recognised the
potentiality of religion as a source of arousing the spirit of
patriotism, the task which Sachindranath Sanyal, the author of Bandi
Jevan, had undertaken. It is clear from Bhagat Singh’s essay that
he turned into a confirmed atheist after reading Marx, Lenin and
Trotsky. But he tells us that it was none too easy for him to be a
non-believer, as he was often torn by serious conflicts. He was
subjected to untold harassment by the police. Lying in prison, he could
find consolation in prayers and meditation. However, the pulls of
rationality saved him from falling into the pit of self-delusion. He
decided to stand on his own, depended on no one, not even on God whom he
called ‘artificial crutches’. Bhagat Singh greatly valued criticism
and the spirit of self-examination. He thought that nobody was
infallible, not even Mahatma Gandhi who was followed blindly. He was
attracted neither by the Hindu notion of rebirth nor the Muslim promise
of a paradise. As a redist, his eyes were fixed on the liberation of the
poor from the fetters of exploitation and oppression. In other words,
his religion was liberty, his God was Socialism, and his slogan was Inquilab
Zindabad. Though the editors have included in the volume the
extracts on Bhagat Singh and his ideology from the writings and speeches
of political leaders and the national press, the exclusion of the
Congress Resolution on Bhagat Singh at Karachi (1931) and Jinnah’s
defence of Bhagat Singh in the Central Assembly is baffling. The
Fragrance of Freedom is a collection of the principal writings of
Bhagat Singh except the last three party manifestoes, which bear the
imprint of his revision. This is a handy volume of hearing Bhagat Singh’s
own voice and knowing his personality. In Section 3, Bhagat Singh
presents the pen-portraits of some of the prominent revolutionaries who
had died for the love of their country. Originally published in Kirti
(March 1928), his account of Madan Lal Dhingra and his execution of Sir
Curzon Willie, broadly speaking, is amazingly accurate. He is absolutely
right that it was Veer Savarkar who had inspired Dhingra to do the deed.
He also gives an extract of Dhingra’s statement that he had made
before he was hanged, and which Winston Churchill was to describe as one
of the finest ever made in patriotic literature. In another article
published in Chand (November 1928), Bhagat Singh draws a vivid
and sensitive picture of the revolutionary activities of Sufi Amba
Prasad, Ajit Singh, Lajpat Rai and Ram Bhaj Dutt in the Agrarian
movement launched against Sir Danziel Ibbetan’s policy of
discriminating against the peasantry. During the Agrarian disturbances, ‘Pagri
sambhal o Jatta’, a popular song, was on the lips of almost every
peasant in the Punjab. In another article, Bhagat Singh pays an eloquent
tribute to the sacrifices of Bhai Balmukund Chibber who was involved in
the Delhi conspiracy case, and was hanged on May 11, 1915. Bhai
Balmukund was the first cousin of the firebrand revolutionary, Bhai
Permanand. Bhagat Singh: Making of a Revolution is an extremely
valuable collection of illuminating articles written by some of the
leading intellectuals and public men, including Ajay Ghosh, Shiva Verma,
Yash Pal and Sohan Singh Josh. The whole volume serves as an
intellectual fare providing a first-class material for understanding
Bhagat Singh’s ideology and multifaceted personality. Ajay Ghosh was
a co-accused in the Lahore conspiracy case who later became general
secretary of the Communist Party. He gives an authentic account of the
last days of Bhagat Singh’s interest in Socialism, Ghosh wrote that it
would be an exaggeration to say that Bhagat Singh became a Marxist,
though he began to stress the need of armed action as an integral part
of mass movement. He laments that to save Bhagat Singh could not be made
one of the conditions of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Dilating on his long
association with Bhagat Singh, Sohan Singh Josh provides a detailed
account of Bhagat Singh’s ideology, and the various influences that
had led to its formations. Contrary to Ajay Ghosh’s views, Sohan Singh
Josh thinks that Bhagat Singh was a full-fledged Communist committed to
the orthodox ideals of Marxism. The final volume is a reprint of
Jitendra Nath Sanyal’s biography of Bhagat Singh published first in
1931. The British Government had banned this book and threw the author
into jail. This work has a contemporary ring. These four elegantly and
carefully produced volumes offer a rich reading material for
understanding the ideology, sacrifice and personality of a great patriot
Bhagat Singh who faced the gallows with a smile on his face for the love
of his country.
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
