Bhagat Singh as he was..

'Bhagat Singh' the name itself is enough to fill us with a sense of patriotism and pride. But even after 81 years of his immortality most of us perceive him as a hot-headed youngster. Have you ever wondered there were thousands of youngsters who fought for liberty but why this man still dominates the saga of struggle. A parallel to Gandhi, an extremist according to imperialist Britishers, a dictator according to some fellow revolutionaries and an epitome of valor, Bhagat Singh is a unique phenomena.
          Our society is not mature enough to grasp the ideas of Bhagat Singh even today, let alone those days of sheer ignorance. His vision and ideology should be a far more cherished thing for us than his tales of bomb throwing and shotguns. He himself was of the view that individuals die but ideas survive. His life spanned just for 24 years but he attained a great knowledge and vision of a liberal thinker in his petite life. The man was a voracious reader and largely influenced by Karl, Marx, Lenin, Trotsky and Auguste Vaillant.. Born in a Sikh  family of Arya Samajis he was a staunch follower of Gandhi in his initial days, but found Gandhian approach faulty as he grew up. He went through the stages of mystic atheism , staunch atheism, socialism and anarchism. Denouncing all the prevailing religion based theories of revolution, he acquired a universal view of revolution, dreamed  of  an oppression free society, a classless India. He famously quoted that if Indians can't treat each other with a sense of equality they should not expect Britishers to be justified with them. When there were communal riots between Hindu and Muslims in 1921, he was very depressed to witness that today the same people were quarreling  with each other, who were fighting unified against colonial Britishers yesterday.
             He was a merciless critic and liberal thinker, always believing  in socio-economic reforms than merely transfer of power from Britishers to Indian bourgeoisie.Even he criticized his Lahore College mentor Lala Lajpatrai and fellow revolutionaries for their religious and mystic approach towards revolution. His famous writing 'Why i am an atheist', which he wrote during his incarceration in Lahore jail is seriously not for the fainthearted, because while going through it one can sense  his beliefs going out of the window. He wrote this in response to the criticism he was facing for being vainglorious and his opposition to religion. When fellows pleaded him  to pay reverence to the Almighty in his last days he refused by saying that if in this time of pain and sorrow i will start believing in God than there will be none a great coward than me. Religion and god were never his refuse but still he survived 116 days of fast in quest of his rights of a political prisoner, such was the iron-will of the legend.
           Contemporary Gandhians labelled him as a promoter of violence and Russian agent. But in his views Bhagat Singh never praised swords and guns, he emphasized that only in extreme conditions to let your voice heard against a cruel opponent, one should wield  the arms. He used low intensity bombs to popularize their views and shot fires to avenge innocent killings, but never intended to threaten fellow citizens with extremist behavior. As a shrewd leader he utilized his court trials and proceedings to spread the fire of revolution and always advocated for literacy and unification. People always polarize him from Gandhi on the basis of Violence and non-violence. But the real difference was that Gandhi always emphasized on the change of rulers while Singh always advocated for the change in social system.
         People of some particular parties, region and religion are now claiming over the legacy of Bhagat Singh. But in true sense he trans-gress them all. Gandhians can not claim him due to his bombs and guns, Hindu-Sikh leaders find his atheist views objectionable,communists find his views closer to Naxalism and Naxalites can not claim him as he was against the individual terror. Even we can not contain him to the boundaries of India and nationalism. Every poverty ridden and oppressed in this world can claim him as his hero and take inspiration from his struggle and quest for fundamental rights.
      For me the most phenomenal thing about him is his age, I wonder in disbelief that at 24 when we just start thinking about our job and all, he was there challenging  the established and powerful. Rare would be a man of his vision and stature. As Bhagat Singh himself advocated criticism of the legendary and cherished, you can count his shortcomings anytime. But for his ideology  he will always remain a mentor for millions like me. Hail the hero!