Civil society representatives, intellectuals, writers, poets and students gathered at Shadman Chowk on Friday to commemorate the death anniversary of freedom fighter Sardar Bhagat Singh and to pay tribute to him for services rendered during the independence movement.
The participants lighted candles in front of a huge portrait of Bhagat Singh and demanded that the Shadman Chowk be renamed after the freedom fighter.
Bhagat Singh, one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian freedom movement, was hanged at the place now called Shadman Chowk on 23 March 1931 on the charges of treason against the British government.
The participants highlighted Bhagat Singh’s struggle and ideology and termed him a hero of the sub-continent.
Representatives from the Bhagat Singh Foundation, the International Punjabi Congress, the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies, South Asia Free Media Association, including Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Malik, Imtiaz Alam, Amna Malik, Saeeda Diep and Zahid Akkasi also participated in the event.
They demanded that the Indian and Pakistani governments declare all freedom fighters to be national heroes.
They said the freedom fighters gave the messages of tolerance, brotherhood and peace in the society and raised their voices against injustice and unfair distribution of resources in the society.
Zahid Akkasi informed that the Punjab home secretary sent a telegram on 17 March 1931 to the home department, fixing Bhagat Singh’s execution for 23 March 1931 revoking the earlier decision the hanging to take palce on March 24.
He added that it was probably for the first time that a prisoner was executed in the evening.
Quoting Bhagat Singh’s brief essay titled, ‘Long Live the Revolution’, he said Bhagat Singh wanted to change the structure of society. “People generally get accustomed to the established order of things and begin to tremble at the very idea of change. It is this lethargic spirit that needs to be replaced with the revolutionary spirit,” the essay stated.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Imran Rasool, a student, said he came to know about Bhagat Singh when he watched an Indian movie.
He demanded that the government include the biography of Bhagat Singh in the history syllabus so that students could learn know the struggles for independence against the British government.
He said Bhagat Singh was a national hero as he belonged and that despite differences in religion, he should be respected for his struggles and the sacrifices he made.
Bhagat Singh’s legacy lives on
