Shaheed Diwas or Martyr’s Day is celebrated as a tribute to brave hearts who sacrificed their lives for the freedom struggle of India on March 23. It was on this day in 1931 that the British government hanged young freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev in Lahore jail.
While the likes of big leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru were fighting the British with their non-cooperation and non-violence movements, it was these youngsters who took weapons in their hands and tried to upsurge the dominance of the British monarchy.
How did Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev bring momentum to India’s Freedom struggle?
When he was just 21 years of age, Bhagat Singh along with his friends killed a British Officer pumping 8 bullets into his body. This was the same officer who was responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. Just 4 months after that, the group caused an explosion with two non-lethal bombs in New Delhi’s Central Legislative Assembly. They shouted slogans and distributed leaflets leading to their arrest.
When Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were in jail they found that the prisoners were living in very poor conditions. That is why Bhagat Singh went on a hunger strike of 116 days so that the Indian prisoners were offered better conditions. The British authorities from jail feared that these young boys could die due to hunger and hence even tried to break their hunger strike by filling water pitchers with milk so that the freedom fighters could be tempted to break their fast. But it did not work.
Only after a fellow satyagraha Jatindra Nath died then Bhagat Singh was forced to break his fast through an emotional appeal made by the father of the dead freedom fighter. Whenever he was brought to the court for trial he would shoot slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai and so on which grabbed the front page of most of the tabloids in India and abroad.
Bhagat Singh became a symbol of nationalism
Through his actions, sacrifices, and slogans Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev became a symbol of nationalism that fuelled passion for patriotism in young Indians inspiring hundreds of youths to participate in India’s freedom movement.