THE   THREE   MARTYRS   WHO   SHAPED  INDIA’S  FUTURE

The nation salutes these great souls who laid down their lives for the freedom of  the nation. Their unconditional service to nation and never tiring attitude can act as the perfect role model for today’s youth. The present day self-centred youth can take a leaf out of their books and that will be highly beneficial  for our country. People like them are badly needed by our country for tackling many POST-INDEPENDENCE crises that have enveloped our country. Here it is worth mentioning to share the vision of the young man, Bhagat Singh about 'the India after independence'. He said that in independent India role of corporate should be limited and farmers interests should be protected. The present leaders of India should respect his vision and frame the policies accordingly.

BHAGAT  SINGH

Bhagat Singh( 27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a great freedom fighter,  considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He was one of the most prominent faces of the Indian Freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh was born in September 1907  to Kishan Singh and Vidyavati at Chak No. 105, GB, Banga village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India.  His whole family boasted of many freedom fighters. His ancestral village was Khatkar Kalan, near the town of Banga in Nawanshahr district (now renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar) of Punjab. Unlike many Sikhs of his age, Singh did not attend the Khalsa High School in Lahore. Instead, he was enrolled in the Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School (D A V), an Arya Samaji institution. At the age of 14, he was among those in his village who welcomed protestors against the killing of a large number of unarmed people at Gurudwara Nankana Sahib on 20 February 1921. He became disillusioned with Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence after Gandhi called off the non-cooperation movemen. After this he came to the conclusion that armed revolution was the only way of ending colonialism in India. Hence he became involved in numerous revolutionary organisations and formed a union of revolutionaries by the name NAUJAVAN BHARAT SABHA. He started propagating the message of armed revolution in Punjab. In 1928 he came in contact with CHANDRASHEKHAR AZAD and the two likeminded revolutionaries formed the HINDUSTAN SAMAJWADI PRAJATANTRA SANGHA.   

Seeking revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the murder of British police officer John Saunders. Soon after, together with Batukeshwar Dutt,  he threw two bombs and some leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while chanting slogans of  INQUILAB ZINDABAD  and  DEATH TO COLONIALISM. The two men were arrested, as they had planned to be. Held on this charge, he gained widespread national support when he underwent a 116-day fast in jail, demanding equal rights for British and Indian political prisoners. During this time, sufficient evidence was brought against him for a conviction in the Saunders case, after trial by a Special Tribunal and appeal at the Privy Council in England. He was convicted and subsequently hanged for his participation in the murder, aged 23.  

Bhagat Singh gained immense public support for his revolutionary acts .

Subhas Chandra Bose said that  "Bhagat Singh had become the symbol of the new awakening among the youth”

Rajguru

Shivaram Hari Rajguru (24 August 1908 – 23 March 1931) was a great revolutionary and freedom fighter from Khed, near Pune . He was an accomplice of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev, and took part in the murder of a British police officer, J. P. Saunders, at Lahore in 1928. The reason behind the murder was to avenge the death of veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai who died due to injuries sustained during a police beating. 

He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army, who wanted India to be freed from British rule by any means whether violent or non violent . Rajguru was only 23 years old when he was hanged but his martyrdom was not in vain for it inspired the youth to take up cudgels against oppression from Britishers .

Sukhdev

Sukhdev was born in LUDHIANA in Punjab. He was also a great revolutionary as well as a freedom fighter. As a child he had witnessed the cruelty of the British rulers towards the Indian. This impelled him to fight for a free India and as a result he joined the HINDUSTAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION. He collaborated with Bhagat Singh and founded the NAUJAWAN BHARAT SABHA to inspire the youth of India to join the freedom struggle. He was also involved in the murder of J.P SAUNDERS, along with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. Sukhdev along with his associates was arrested after the bombing of the CENTRAL LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY on 8^th April 1929. While in jail he was involved in the prison hunger strike of 1929. He was just 24 years old when he was martyred for the country

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case and ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931. They were hanged on 23 March 1931 at 7:30 pm  in the Lahore jail.  The government was wary of the public reaction so instead of handing over the dead bodies to their relatives they were put into gunny bags and smuggled out through the back wall. A truck carried the gunny bags to the banks of the Satluj river near FIROZPUR. There the bodies were disposed off in the river but the public got the wind of the affair and reached the river banks. They then collected the bodies of all the three and took them to the village where they were given a proper funeral. That place is now known HUSSAINIWALA