Nation is celebrating birthday of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the man who sacrificed his life for India’s freedom at the age of 23.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary during his address to the Indian diaspora at San Jose in California.
“Today is September 28 in India and it is the birth anniversary of brave son of India, Bhagat Singh. I salute India’s beloved martyred son,” said Prime Minister Modi as he started his address at SAP center in California.
Born in a Punjabi Sikh family in 1907 at Banga, Bhagat Singh was among the prominent revolutionaries who shaped the base of a grand national movement. Bhagat Singh, an Indian nationalist was considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement.
Singh was born to Kishan Singh and Vidyavati, a patriotic Sikh family, at Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India
Seeking revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the assassination of British police officer John Saunders. With Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. Subsequently they volunteered to surrender and be arrested.
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.