This is how they wanted us to be free. They succeeded.
‘IT TAKES A LOUD VOICE TO MAKE THE DEAF HEAR’
On 8 April 1929, Bhagat Singh along with Batukeshwar Dutt exploded two non-lethal bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly, Delhi to protest the passing of the Defence of India Act.
They offered themselves for arrest. Not only they surrendered themselves to the British police but they used their court as a platform to reach the common people of India.
Through the statements in the court during the trial, they use to amplify their revolutionary thoughts and become popular among the young masses.
Following is the account of statements and arguments given by Bhagat Singh in the British court during his trial. Each line will make every Indian proud.
The motive behind exploding bombs –
“We are no lawyers and nor the masters of the English language. Therefore, please do not expect oratory from us. Leaving all other issues for our lawyers to deal with, I will confine myself to just one point – What was our motive, and to what extent are we guilty. Our country is going through a critical phase. In this situation, it seemed right to us to sound a warning, and we did this as loudly as we could in a manner that we think is appropriate. We may be wrong. Our thoughts on this and those of the learned judge may not match, but this cannot mean that we are denied permission to express our opinion. It was necessary to give a warning. Frustration and misery increase with every passing day. If the affliction is not treated swiftly and appropriately, it can turn dangerous. No human power will be able to halt its progress. It is our belief that had those in power acted correctly and at the right time, the bloody revolution would not have erupted in France and Russia. People in power can change the course of events. We wanted to give a timely warning. Had we aimed to kill a few people, we would have failed in our mission. My Lords, this was our motive and the spirit behind our action.”
Bhagat Singh on the strength of bombs and labeling them as ‘lunatics’ by the British Government –
“Had we had no idea of the strength of the bombs we were using, would we have flung them into a chamber where respected national leaders like Pandit Motilal Nehru, Shri Kelkar, Shri Jayker were present? Would we have risked the lives of our leaders? We are not mad and had we been, we would have been locked up in a lunatic asylum and not in jail. We had full knowledge about the strength of bombs. It would have been easy to throw the bombs at the occupied benches; aiming them carefully at an empty space was an extremely difficult task. Had those who flung the bombs not been sound of mind, the bombs would have landed on the occupied benches and not in the empty spaces between them. We should not be dealt with in an inappropriate manner, nor should inappropriate opinions be expressed about us. As a matter of punishment, it is irrelevant to us.”
Bhagat Singh called it a practical protest –
“We humbly claim to be no more than serious students of the history and conditions of our country and her aspirations. Our practical protest was against the institution which since its birth has eminently helped to display not only its worthlessness but its far-reaching power for mischief. The more we have pondered, the more we have been convinced that it exists only to demonstrate to the world India’s humiliation and helplessness. Time and again the national demand has been pressed by the people’s representatives only to find the waste paper basket as its final destination”
Bhagat Singh claimed to attack institutions and not to kill or harm any individual –
“Solemn resolutions passed by the House have been contemptuously trampled underfoot on the floor of the so-called Indian Parliament. In short, we have utterly failed to find any justification for the existence of an institution which, despite all its pomp and splendor, organized with the hard-earned money of the sweating millions of India, is only a hollow show and mischievous make-believe. Alike, have we failed to comprehend the mentality of the public leaders who help the government to squander public time and money on such a manifestly stage-managed exhibition of India’s helpless subjection.”
Why exploding the bombs was not a violent movie?
“We bore no personal grudge or malice against any one of those who received slight injuries or against any other person in the assembly. On the contrary, we repeat that we hold human life sacred beyond words, and would sooner lay down our own lives in the service of humanity than injure anyone else. Force when aggressively applied is ‘violence’ and is, therefore, morally unjustifiable, but when it is used in the furtherance of a legitimate cause, it has its moral justification.”
Terrorist?
Bhagat Singh made his motive very clear behind this attack on the British Government, but sadly he and others are still termed as ‘Terrorist’ in a few of our history textbooks.
Is this the way, a nation honors its martyrs? Is this the way, a nation remembers its martyrs? If yes, then we should stop wishing for more Azad’s, Bhagats, Sukhdevs, or Rajgurus to be born in this nation. Period!
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