Excerpts : Camaraderie
December 25, 2019
23 March, 1931, Began like any other day in
Lahore Central Jail.
The three young revolutionaries were moved out
of their cells to prepare them for the hanging. BHAGAT SINGH, SUKHDEV THAPAR
and SHIVARAM RAJGURU locked arms and strode behind the sentries and broke into
their favourite freedom song:
Kabhi woh din bhi ayega
Ke jab azad hum honge
Yeh apni hi zamin hogi
Yeh apna aasman hoga
Shahidon ki chitaon par
Lagenge har baar mele
Watan par marne walon ka
Yahi nam-o-nishan hoga.
(Someday that day will come when we are free/
This will be our land and our sky/
People will gather in the grounds where once/
Martyr’s pyres were lit/
A tribute to all those who/
Gave their lives for their land.)
The three men were weighed - they all had
gained weight -and asked to take their last bath. They were then dressed in
black robes. Their faces were left uncovered. Jail warden Charat Singh
whispered into Bhagat Singh’s ears to pray to Wahe Guru. Bhagat replied, ‘All
my life I have never prayed. As a matter of fact, I have many a times abused
God for the miseries of the poor. If I were to ask now for His forgiveness, He
will say, “Here is a coward who seeks forgiveness because his end has come”,
declining with a smile.
Dusk fell as the prisoners waited to hear the
sound of footsteps in the passage outside their cells. When the jail gong
struck six they heard muffled voices in the distance accompanied by the thud of
heavy boots and faint snatches of a familiar song, ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hein…’ And then the sound ‘Inquilab Zindabad!’ and ‘Hindustan Azad Ho!’ rent the air. The
prisoners began to sing ‘mai rang de mera
basanti chola..’ (Mother prepare my clothes for martyrdom) and fervently
shouted ‘LONG LIVE REVOLUTION’ and ‘DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM!’ their urgent
voices resounding through the corridors of Lahore Central Jail.
The three men to be sentenced to death stood
on separate wooden planks, with a deep ditch running below them. Bhagat Singh
stood in the centre. He wanted to fulfil his mother's last wish and shout ‘LONG
LIVE REVOLUTION’ from the scaffold.
The noose was tightened around the necks of
the three young revolutionaries. Their hands and feet were tied. They kissed
the rope that looped their necks. Then the hangman asked who would go first.
Sukhdev said that he would. The hangman pulled the ropes one by one and kicked
the rafters from under their feet.
The bodies remained hanging from the scaffold
for a long time. Finally they were brought down and examined by a doctor.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were pronounced dead. One jail officer was so
moved by the courage of the young revolutionaries that he refused the order to
identify the dead. He was suspended on the spot. A junior officer did the job
instead. Two British officers, one of them the superintendent of the jail,
certified the deaths.
This is
an excerpt from the book “WITHOUT FEAR,THE LIFE AND TRIAL OF BHAGAT SINGH” written by renowned journalist and
author - KULDIP NAYAR.
These three great martyrs of our land started
their journey (Rajguru joined the duo in Hindustan Republican Association)
together, fought together, faced conviction together and were hanged together.
Camaraderie has a whole new meaning for these immortal souls.
Excerpts is a series
where we post thoughtful passages from different books that provide for a quick
and easy reading.
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