Why don’t we celebrate Bhagat Singh’s birth or death anniversary as a national holiday?

The reason behind Bhagat Singh’s birth or death anniversaries not being celebrated as a national holiday is that his contribution to the Freedom Movement of India is not as known as appreciated as that of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. And that was because his ideologies contradicted with the ideology of Gandhi who was far more influential than Bhagat Singh.

(Courtesy: Oneindia)

Bhagat Singh, who belonged to the family of freedom fighters, was just 10 years old when he witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. That he collected the blood-soaked soil of the ground in a bottle and decided to give his life for the freedom of India.

In the initial days, Bhagat Singh actively participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement. Then took place the violent Chauri Chaura attack on a police station, which was called off by the Gandhi. This infuriated Bhagat Singh and he realized that freedom was not to be gained with the “non-violent” philosophy of Gandhi.

He used to maintain that “it needs an explosion to make the deaf hear”.

After the incident, Bhagat Singh joined the Young Revolutionary Movement. Later on, he got associated with Hindustan Socialist Republican Movement, which had in it the likes of Lala Lajpat Rai and Chandra Shekhar Azad.

It was the bombing of the Central Assembly in 1929 which got him imprisoned as the “Political Prisoners”.

Now, it is said that Gandhi could stop the hanging of Bhagat Singh had he pressed upon the authorities more firmly than he did. But the Irwin Pact came in the way, of which Gandhi was very protective. He feared that the pact won’t see the light of the day if he made such demands like the suspension of Bhagat Singh’s hanging.

Bhagat Singh wrote a letter to the authorities demanding to be shot to death, which was the right of every Political Prisoner. That, however, was not considered because the glorified death of Bhagat Singh could have filled youth to take to violent acts for the freedom movement.

Neither Gandhi nor the British government wanted Bhagat Singh’s sacrifice to be glorified. This is the truth which has been very conveniently wiped off from the pages of Indian History.

After he was hung, the corpse of Bhagat Singh was burnt on the banks of river Sutlej and his ashes dumped into the river. Gandhi, fearing the spread of his revolutionary ideologies even stopped the inauguration of his memorial after his death.

And that is why he is not a hero, as big as Gandhi, in the eyes of the authoritative History.