Bhagat Singh : More Than Just a Fighter
What we can learn from Bhagat Singh’s independent thinking
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You can tell a lot about a person and his/her thought process from their writings. Writing is not only a great habit but it also enhances our thinking capabilities. Which in turn helps us to be a better individual in day-to-day life.
28th September is the birth anniversary of the great Bhagat Singh. Through his writings, we can get an insight into the man. Here I have attempted to summarise that, especially those points which I feel are often neglected by most people while remembering the great man.
A great thinker
Whenever we think about Bhagat Singh, most of us have this image of a revolutionary fighter who fought against the British and gave his life for independence. But we often ignore or forget about the great thinker and to some extent philosopher that Bhagat Singh was. Even in one of his writings, he stated clearly that the traits of revolutionary thinking are “merciless criticism and independent thinking”.
In each of his letters and essays, it is quite evident how independent thinking was his driving force. Be it Congress, the British Government or someone else, whenever anyone blamed him for doing something or questioned anything which he thought was unfair, he went on in-depth to explain why he thought they might be wrong. Or he cleared his stance and the reason behind his action clearly.
His prudent thinking and arguments about the future of India are something I feel everyone should read about. Currently, we live in a state where independent thinking and independent thinkers are crucified. And this is something Bhagat Singh would surely have taken very personally.
Hindi: for the unification of the nation
Bhagat Singh highlighted the importance of having a language that binds us all. And for that purpose, his suggestion was to adopt Hindi. One point he mentioned that was quite poignant:
A Punjabi and a Madrasi must not sit together mute at a gathering, but try to communicate their ideas and emotions, and this should be done in our own language, Hindi, rather than an alien language like English.
In our current socio-political scenario, we have several parties in different parts of India (like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal etc.) who are dead against speaking in Hindi. While Hindi imposition by an institution (i.e. the Indian State) is something we should reject outright, as a language of communication, it has paramount importance. Those in India who have migrated to a different state for a job can only comprehend this.
While this will never be a problem for those who refuse to speak in Hindi even after knowing that, this kind of sub-nationalism often does more harm than good.
Bhagat Singh had also called out his “Muslim brothers” to accept Hindi and be less ignorant about Indian culture and Indianness. One very important point to note here is that he was very open with all the different influences that other languages had on Hindi. He never asked to omit a few words because their origin might be very different.
Political prisoners, under trials vs. convicted
His longstanding debate with the British government was about the treatment received by political prisoners in the jail. How they shouldn’t be treated as war criminals. And how the prisoners who are undergoing trials and who are convicted should be treated differently.
This is also something very pertinent in even today’s world. There has been a very interesting development on this front, very recently. The Odisha government is planning to introduce GPS tracking devices for undertrial prisoners. This will enable them to have a life outside the jail and not be treated like convicted criminals.
Imperialism, Capitalism, Lenin and Marx
As much as he wanted the Britishers to leave India, he was very worried about the process of power transfer. He was sceptical that power would be transferred from the British government to Indian elites. And the “exploitation of a man by a man” would continue.
Lenin and Marx had a significant effect on his way of thinking. And this is again something that I feel is often suppressed by the political leaders of today. He constantly cited them in his letters. He expressed his desire for a ‘revolution’ that will only take place when there is no exploitation.
When it came to religion and the role of a god, his theory was very similar to that of Epicurus
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
And this is not surprising at all! Given the fact that Karl Marx wrote his thesis on Epicurus.
One of the most poignant lines (I thought so) was when he was talking about himself in jail. How disbelief in God hadn’t made his life easy because he knew that there was no all-mighty entity that could save him:
My disbelief in God has turned all the circumstances too harsh and this situation can deteriorate further
We mostly highlight Bhagat Singh the fighter, but in today’s India, we probably need more of Bhagat Singh the independent thinker.
I hope you found it informative and inspiring. He was not only a fighter who sacrificed his life for India’s independence, but also a thinker and a philosopher who advocated for independent thinking, national unity, and social justice. You can read more about his writings and philosophy in the links I provided at the end of the article. Thank you for reading and have a great day.
What are some of the lessons that you learned from Bhagat Singh’s life and philosophy? How do you apply them in your own life? Share your thoughts with me by replying to this email or leaving a comment on my blog.
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Reading links:
Jail Diary and Other Writings: https://www.amazon.in/Diary-Other-Writings-General-Press/dp/9390492394
Without Fear: The Life & Trial of Bhagat Singh : https://www.amazon.in/Without-Fear-Kuldip-Nayar/dp/9350292203/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_3/257-7305956-6445657?pd_rd_w=QY0QT&content-id=amzn1.sym.c3daf87c-2802-47b7-8fa4-23dc91a4fca7&pf_rd_p=c3daf87c-2802-47b7-8fa4-23dc91a4fca7&pf_rd_r=CJAZB5HDHAE5PTFJ07B3&pd_rd_wg=RhOR5&pd_rd_r=91f0b7fe-e2f8-41aa-a439-7086b9c83947&pd_rd_i=9350292203&psc=1
Image Source: https://images.news18.com/ibnlive/uploads/2022/03/bhagat-singh.png
