Whenever we talk about Bhagat Singh, we do get a glimpse of a ardent revolutionary who fought for his mother land. Many intellectuals from modern India consider him as a man who took a path of a revolutionary terrorism. However, time has come to look at the other aspects of this great national hero and martyr. Was he a revolutionary terrorist or a mere Marxist? There are some misconception about Bhagat Singh. Some people consider him only as a man who worked on violent practices to free India. However, there is other side to this hero. He was involved in the death of Saunders, a British officer whose orders forced Lala Lajpat Rai's death. His arrest in the assembly bombing case portray him as a nationalist who works on the path of violence. But the reality lies somewhere else.
Bhagat Singh was a voracious reader. He red about all the socialist and communist movements taken place at that time. Some even consider him great reader than that of Nehru. When he started the career, the impact of Bolshevik revolution of Russia was fresh in his mind. He always wanted to lead a movement of masses. From the revolutions of Soviet Union, Italy and Ireland he was confirmed that only way to go for the struggle for the Independence is from the development of large movement. Only involvement of local people including workers in a non violent way could bring a freedom for India. However, sudden death of Lala Lajpat Rai, One of the prominent leaders of Panjab left him shocked. At the same time previous incidences of Jalianwala Bag massacre and sudden removal of non cooperation movement kept very limited options to him. So he jumped in the violent revolution.
Very few people knew that before his arrest in asembly case he left all personal heroic activities and left the way of revolutionary terrorism. He wanted to establish a mass movement with the support of youths of the country. So in the year 1926 he founded the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha. This organisation worked on constructive principles based on socialism, communism and political enlightenment of youths. This organisation was a huge success with its lantern lectures. Bhagat Singh saw the potential in this organisation. So he left the activities and worked on framing the plan of Independence. However, it was difficult to shift from one idea to other specially when British Officers were looting India.
"The real revolutionary armies are in the factories and villages."One of the major truths which Bhagat Singh accumulated was a fact that only secularism can bring India freedom. He was the first man in India who learned about the importance of secularism even earlier than that of Mahama Gandhi. He did not fear to criticize Lala Lajpat Rai when he turned to communal practices. He fought against Lala Lajpat Rai in a respected way. During his last days he realized that revolutionaries have not even succeeded in establishing contacts with masses. So he requested people to work on the principles of Marxist ideas. the question arises-why did he take a path of revolutionary activities? During early days of struggle his organisation was not finding suitable men. The people of that time did not want the old philosophy of Congress and parliamentary nature of Swarajist. So they were attracted to the philosophy of violent activities. Bhagat Singh saw this as an opportunity to recruit men. So he recruited men on the principles of revolution.
Even before his hanging he requested youths to leave the violent revolutionary practices. He urged people to leave the revolutionary activities and work on constructive principles.
If situation could have been different and the incidences like death of Lala Lajpat Rai and that of removal of non-cooperation movement would not have happened then history might have been different. We might have seen freedom of India achieved through the hands of Bhagat Singh with more mature and communist ways of non-violence.
